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RECORD 


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AND     ILLUSTRATED 


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^COMPENDIUM  OF  BlOGRAPHYg 


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CONTAINING   A 

COMPENDIUM  OF    LOCAL  BIOGRAPHY 

Including  Biographical  Sketclu-s  of  Hundreds  cif  Prominent  Old  Settlers  and  Representa- 
tive Citizens  of  COLUMBIA.  SAUK  and  ADAMS  COUNTIES,  WISCONSIN,    with  a 
Review  of  their  Life  Work;   their  Identity  with  the  Growth  and  Develop- 
ment  of  this  Region;   Reminiscences   of  Personal    History 
and  Pioneer  Life;  and  other  Interesting  and 
\'aluable  Matter  which  sliould  be 
Preserved   in  History. 

ALSO   A 

COMPENDIUM   OF   LOCAL   BIOGRAPHY, 

Containing  Biograiihical  Sketches  of  Hundreds  of '  the  Greatest  Men  and  Celebrities  America  has    I'rodiiced 

iu  Various    Walks  of     Life,    including    Great   Statesmen.   Lawyers,   Jurists,    Scientists,   Editors. 

J'oets.  Writers,  Financiers.   Kailroad   Magnates,  Army  and   Navy  Officers,  Inventors, 

Speculators,  Scouts,  Merchant  Princes,  Humorists,  Electricians.  Educators, 

Preachers,  Philanthropists,  Artists.  Manufacturers,  Abolitionists, 

Kxplorers,   All  tlie   Presidents,   etc. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


GEO.  A.  OGLE  &  CO. 

Engravers  and  Book  Mi" 

1901. 


14 

? 


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Biography  is  the  only   true    History. — Emerson. 

A  people  that   take  no    pride    in    the  noble  achievements  of  remote  ancestors 

will   never  achieve  anything  worthy  to  be  remembered  with 

pride  by  remote  generations. — Macaulay. 


CONTENTS 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Table  of  Contents, 
Introductory,    • 


Compendium  of  National  Biography,  13 

Compendium  of  Local  Biography,  223 


INDEX  TO  FART  I. 


Compendium  of  National  Biography. 


Biographical  Sketches  of  National  Celebrities. 


PAGE 

Abbott,  Lyman 144 

Adams,  Charles  Kendall 143 

Adams,  John 25 

Adams,  John  Quincy 61 

V  Asassiz,  Louis  J.  R 137 

Alger,  Russell  A 173 

Allison,  William  B 131 

Allston,  Washington 190 

Altgeld,  John  Peter 140 

Andrews,  Elisha  B 184 

Anthony,  Susan  B 62 

Armour,  Philip  D 62 

Arnold,  Benedict 84 

Arthur,  Chester  Allen 168 

Astor,  John  Jacob 139 

Audubon,  John  James 166 

Bailey,  James  Montgomery. .  .  177 

Bancroft,  George , 74 

Barnard,  Frederick  A.  P 179 

Barnuni.  Phineas  T 41 

Barrett,  Lawrence 156 

Barton,  Clara 209 

Bayard,  Thomas  Francis 200 

Beard,  William  H 196 

Beauregard,  Pierre  G.  T 203 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward 26 

Bell,  Alexander  Graham 96 

Bennett,  James  Gordon 206 

Benton,  Thomas  Hart 53 

Bergh,  Henry 160 

Bierstadt,  Albert 197 

Billings,  Josh 166 

Blaine,  James  Gillespie 22 

Bland,  Richard  Parks 106 


PAGE 

Boone,  Daniel 36 

Booth,  Edwin 51 

Booth,  Junius  Brutus 177 

Brice,  Calvin  S 181 

Brooks,  Phillips 130 

Brown,  John 61 

Brow-n,  Charles  Farrar 91 

Brush,  Charles  Francis 153 

Bryan,  William  Jennings 158 

Bryant,  William  Cullen 44 

Buchanan,  Franklin 105 

Buchanan,  James 128 

Buckner,  Simon  Bolivar 188 

Burdette,  Robert  J 103 

Burr,  Aaron Ill 

Butler,  Benjamin  Franklin....  24 

Calhoun,  John  Caldwell 23 

Cameron,  James  Donald 141 

Cameron,  Simon 141 

Cammack,  Addison 197 

Campbell,  Alexander 180 

Carlisle,  John  G 133 

Carnegie,  Andrew 73 

Carpenter,  Matthew  Hale 178 

Carson,  Christopher  (Kit) 86 

Cass,  Lewis   110 

Chase,  Salmon  Portland 65 

Childs,  George  W 83 

Choate,  Rufus 207 

Claflin,  Horace  Brigham 107 

Clay,  Henry 21 

Clemens,  Samuel  Langhorne..  86 

Cleveland,  Grover 174 

Clews,  Henry 153 


Clinton,  DeWitt. 

Colfax,  Schuyler 

Conkling,  Alfred 

Conkling,  Roscoe 

Cooley,  Thomas  Mclntyre. 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore... 

Cooper,  Peter 

Copely,  John  Singleton 

Corbin,  Austin 

Corcoran,  W.  W 

Cornell,  Ezra 

Cramp,  William 

Crockett,  David 

Cullom,  Shelby  Moore 

Curtis,  George  William 

Cushman,  Charlotte 

Custer,  George  A 


AGE 

110 
139 
32 
32 
140 
58 
37 
191 
205 
196 
161 
189 
76 
116 
144 
107 
95 


Dana,  Charles  A 88 

"  Danhury  News  Man  " 177 

Davenport,  Fanny 106 

Davis,  Jefferson 24 

Debs,  Eugene  V 132 

Decatur,  Stephen 101 

Deering,  William   198 

Depew,  Chauncey  Mitchell..  ..  209 

Dickinson,  Anna     103 

Dickinson,  Don  M 139 

Dingley,  Nelson,  Jr 215 

Donnelly,  Ignatius 161 

Douglas,  Stephen  Arnold 53 

Douglass,  Frederick 43 

Dow,  Neal 108 

Draper,  John  William 184 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS— PART  I. 


PAGE 

Drexel.  Anthony  Joseph 124 

Dupont,  Henry 198 

Edison,  Thomas  Alva 55 

Edmunds,  George  F 201 

Ellsworth,  OUver 168 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo 57 

Ericsson,  John 127 

Evarts,  William  Maxwell 89 

Farragut,  David  Glascoe 80 

Field,  Cvrus  West 173 

Field,  David  Dudley 126 

Field.  Marshall 59 

Field,  Stephen  Johnson 216 

Fillmore,  Millard 113 

Foote,  Andrew  Hull 176 

Foraker,  Joseph  B 143 

Forrest,  Edwin 92 

Franklin,  Benjamin 18 

Fremont,  John  Charles 29 

Fuller,  Melville  Weston 168 

Fulton,  Robert 62 

Gage,  Lyman  J 71 

Gallatin,  Albert 112 

Garfield,  James  A 163 

Garrett,  John  Work 200 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd 50 

Gates,  Horatio  70 

Gatling,  Richard  Jordan 116 

(George,  Henry _ 203 

Gibbons,  Cardinal  James 209 

Gilmore,  Patrick  Sarsfield 77 

Girard,  Stephen 137 

Gough,  John  B 131 

Gould,  Jay 62 

Gordon,  John  B 215 

Grant,  Ulysses  S 155 

Ciray ,  Asa 88 

Gray,  Elisha 149 

Greeley,  Adolphus  W 142 

Greeley,  Horace 20 

Greene,  Nathaniel 69 

Gresham,  Walter  Quintin 18'3 

Hale,  Edward  Everett 79 

Hall,  Charles  Francis 167 

Hamilton,  Alexander 31 

Hamlin,  Hannibal 214 

Hampton,  Wade   192 

Hancock,  Winlield  Scott 146 

Hanna,  Marcus  Alonzo 169 

Harris.  Isham  G 214 

Harrison,  William  Henry 87 

Harrison,  Benjamin 182 

Harvard,  John 129 

Havemeyer,  John  Craig 182 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel 135 

Hayes,  Rutherford  Birchard.. .   157 
Hendricks,  Thomas  Andrew. .  212 

Henry,  Joseph 105 

Henrv,  Patrick 83 

Hill, David  Bennett 90 

Hobart,  Garrett  A 213 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell 206 

Hooker,  Joseph 52 

Howe,  Elias 130 

Howells,  William  Dean 104 


PAGE 

Houston,  Sam 120 

Hughes,  Archbishop  John 157 

Hughitt,  Marvin 159 

Hull,  Isaac 169 

Huntington,  CoUis  Potter 94 

Ingalls,  John  James 114 

Ingersoll,  Robert  G 85 

Irving,  Washington 33 

Jackson,  Andrew 71 

Jackson,  "  Stonewall  " 67 

Jackson,  Thomas  Jonathan 67 

Jay,  John 39 

Jefferson,  Joseph 47 

Jefferson,  Thomas 34 

Johnson,  Andrew 145 

Johnson,  Eastman   202 

Johnston,  Joseph  Eccleston...  .     86 

Jones,  James  K    171 

Jones,  John  Paul 97 

Jones,  Samuel  Porter 116 

Kane,  Elisha  Kent 125 

Kearney,  Philip 210 

Kenton,  Simon 188 

Knox,  John  Jay 134 

Lamar,  Lucius  Q.  C 201 

Landon,  Melville  D 109 

Lee,  Robert  Edward 38 

Lewis,  Charles  B 193 

Lincoln,  Abraham 135 

Livermore,  Mary  Ashton 131 

Locke,  David  Ross 172 

Logan,  John  .A 26 

Longfellow,  Henry  W'adsvvorth  37 

Longstreet,  James 56 

Lowell,  James  Russell 104 

Mackay,  John  William 148 

Madison,  James 42 

Marshall,  John 156 

Mather,  Cotton 164 

Mather,  Increase.. 163 

Maxim,  Hiram  S 194 

McClellan,  George  Brinton.. .  .  47 

McCormick,  Cyrus  Hall 172 

McDonough,  Com.  Thomas.. .  167 

McKinley,  William. 217 

Meade,  George  Gordon 75 

Medill,  Joseph 169 

Miles,  Nelson  A 176 

Miller,  Cincinnatus  Heine 218 

Miller,  Joaquin 218 

Mills,  Roger  Quarles 211 

Monroe,  lames 64 

Moody,  Dwight  L 207 

Moran,  Thomas   98 

Morgan,  John  Pierpont 208 

Morgan,  John  T 216 

Morris,  Robert 165 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B 124 

Morton,  Levi  P 142 

Morton,  Oliver  Perry 215 

Motley,  John  Lathro'p 130 

"Nye,  Bill" 59 

Nye,  Edgar  Wilson 69 


PAGE 

O'Conor,  Charles 187 

Olney,  Richard 133 

Paine,  Thomas 147 

Palmer,  John  M 196 

Parkhurst,  Charles  Henry 160 

"Partington,  Mrs." 202 

Peabody,  George 170 

Peck,  George  W 187 

Peffer,  William  A 164 

Perkins,  Eli 109 

Perry,  Oliver  Hazard 97 

Phillips,  Wendell 30 

Pierce,  Franklin 122 

Pingree,  Hazen  S 212 

Plant,  Henry  B 192 

Poe,  Edgar  Allen 69 

Polk,  James  Knox 102 

Porter,  David  Dixon 68 

Porter,  Noah 93 

Prentice,  George  Denison..  .  .  119 
Prescott,  William  Hickling. .  ..  96 
Pullman,  George  Mortimer....  121 

Quad,  M 193 

Quay  Matthews 171 

Randolph,  Edmund 136 

Read,  Thomas  Buchanan 132 

Reed,  Thomas  Brackett 208 

Reid,  Whitelaw 149 

Roach,  John 190 

Rockefeller,  John  Davison....   195 

Root,  George  Frederick 218 

Rothermei;  Peter  F 113 

Rutledge,  John 57 

Sage,  Russell 211 

Schofield,  John  .McVllister 199 

Schurz,  Carl 201 

Scott,  Thomas  Alexander 204 

Scott,  Winfield 79 

•Seward,  William  Henry 44 

Sharon,  William 166 

Shaw,  Henry  W 166 

Sheridan,  Phillip  Henry 40 

Sherman,  Charles  R 87 

Sherman,  John 86 

ShiUaber,  Benjamin  Penhallow  202 

Sherman,  William  Tecumseh..  30 

Smith,  Edmund  Kirby 114 

Sousa,  John  Philip... 60 

Spreckels,  Claus 169 

Stanford,  Leiand , 101 

Stanton,  Edwin  McMasters...  179 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady 126 

Stephens,  Alexander  Hamilton  32 

Stephenson,  Adlai  Ewing...    .  141 

Stewart,  Alexander  T 68 

Stewart,  William  Morris 213 

Stowe,        Harriet       Elizabeth 

Beecher  66 

Stuart,  James  E.  B 122 

Sumner,  Charles 34 

Talmage,  Thomas  DeWitt. .. .  60 

Taney,  Roger  Brooke 129 

Taylor,  Zacharv 108 

Teller,  Henrv  M 127 


TABLE   OF  COXTENTS—rART  I. 


PAGE 

Tesla,  Xikola 193 

Thomas,  George  H 73 

Thomas,  Theodore 172 

Thurman,  Allen  G S'O 

Thurston,   John  M Ifili 

Tildeii,  Samuel  J 48 

Tillman,  Benjamin  Ryan 119 

Toombs,  Robert 205 

"  Twain,  Mark  " , 8(i 

Tyler,  John  93 

Van  Buren,  Martin 78 

Vanderbilt,  Cornelius  3") 

Vail,  Alfred 154 

Vest,  George  Graham 214 


PAGE 

\"ilas,  William  Freeman 140 

\"oorhees,  Daniel  Wolsey 95 

Waite,  Morrison  Remich 125 

Wallace,  Lewis 199 

Wallack,  Lester 121 

Wallack,  John  Lester 121 

Wanamaker,  John   89 

Ward,  "Artemus  " 91 

Washburne,  Elihu  Benjamin. .  189 

Washington,  George 17 

Walson,  Thomas  E 178 

Watterson,  Henry 7() 

Weaver,  James  B 123 

Webster,  Daniel 19 


PAGE 

Webster,  Noah 49 

Weed,  Thurlow  91 

West,  Benjamin 115 

Whipple,  Henry  Benjamin.  . . .  161 

White,  Stephen  \' 162 

Whitefield,  George 150 

Whitman,  Walt 197 

Whitney,  Eli 120 

Whitney,  William  Collins 92 

Whittier,  John  Greenleaf 67 

Willard,  Frances  E 133 

Wilson,  William  L 180 

Winchell,  Alexander 175 

Windom,  William 138 


PORTRAITS  OF  NATIONAL  CELEBRITIES. 


1'A(;f, 

Alger,  Russell  .\ 16 

.Allison,  William  B 99 

Anthonv,  Susan  B 63 

Armour,  Philip  D 151 

Arthur,  Chester  A   81 

Barnum,  Phineas  T 117 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward 27 

Blaine,  James  G 151 

Booth,  Edwin 63 

Bryan,  Wm.  J 63 

Bryant,  William  CuUen 185 

Buchanan,  James   81 

Buckner,  Simon  B 16 

Butler  Benjamin  F 151 

Carlisle,  John  G   151 

Chase,  Salmon  P 16 

Childs,  George  W 99 

Clay,  Henry 81 

Cleveland,  Grover 45 

Cooper,  Peter 99 

Dana,  Charles  A 151 

Depew.Chauncey  M 117 

Douglass,  Fred 63 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo 27 

Evarts,  William  M 99 

Farragut,  Com.  D.  G 185 

Field,  Cyrus  W 63 


PAGE 

Field,  Marshall 117 

Franklin,  Benjamin   63 

Fremont,  Gen.  John  C 16 

Gage,  Lyman  J 151 

Cartield,  James  A 45 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd 63 

George,  Henry 117 

Gould,   fay       99 

Grant,  Gen.  U.S 185 

Greeley,  Horace 81 

Hampton,  Wade 16 

Hancock,  Gen.  Winfield  S..    ..  185 

Hanna,  MarkA   117 

Harrison,  Benjamin 81 

Hayes,  R.  B 45 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A 81 

Holmes,  Oliver  W 151 

Hooker,  Gen.  Joseph 16 

Ingersoll,  Robert  G 117 

1  rving,  Washington 27 

Jackson,  Andrew 45 

Jefferson,  Thomas  45 

Johnston,  Gen.  J.  E 16 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E 185 

Lincoln,  Abraham 81 

Logan,  Gen.  John  A 16 

Longfellow,  Henry  W 186 


PAGE 

Longstreet,  Gen.  James 16 

Lowell,  James  Russell 27 

McKinley,  William 45 

Morse,  S.  F.  B 185 

Phillips,  Wendell 27 

Porter,  Com.  D.  D 185 

Pullman,  George  M 117 

Quay,  M.  S.   .  ." ...  99 

Reed,  Thomas  B 151 

Sage,  Russell   117 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield 185 

Seward,  William  H 45 

Sherman,  John 99 

Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T 151 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady 27 

.Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher 27 

Sumner,  Charles   ....     45 

Talmage,  T.  DeWitt 63 

Teller,"Henry  M 99 

Thurman,  Allen  G 81 

Tilden,  Samuel  J 117 

\'an  Buren,  Martin 81 

Vanderbilt,  Commodore 99 

Webster,  Daniel 27 

Whittier,  John  G 21 

Washington,  George 45 

Watterson,  Henry 63 


^  -^^^^  ^. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS— PART  II. 

INDEX  TO  PART  II. 

COMPENDIUM    OF  kOCAk    BIOGRAPHY 
OF 

COLUMBIA,  SAUK  AND  ADAMS  COUNTIES, 

WISCOISISIIM. 


PAGE 

Acers,  George 2>-'5 

Allen,  N.  E" 554 

Alverson,  Miles  T 410 

Anacker,  Moritz  B   677 

Anacker,  William  E 839 

Andrus,  William 78'2 

Appel,  George  U 477 

Ashley,  Ernst  P   515 

Ashley,  Hon.  Yates 514 

Atcherson,  Oscar 456 

Austin,  Ch-iuncey  J '245 

Avery,  Hon.  Frank 250 

Ayers,  Charles  J 676 

Ayers,  Royal 675 

Bacon,  David  N 458 

Bacon,  George  V   271 

Bacon.  Rev.  Joseph  F 606 

Bahl,  Peter 385 

Baker,  Charles 683 

Bartholomew,  M.  C. 680 

Bartholomew,  Robert  N 679 

Barton,  John,  Sr 429 

Beach,  Isaac 702 

Bell,  Robert 635 

Bell,  Stewart  C   687 

Bement.  Benjamin  S 505 

Bendixen,  Capt.  Ole  M 388 

Bentley,  .Monroe 716 

Bidwel'l,  William  B .-.  .   547 

Billings,  Dana  D e,52 

Blake,  John  W 550 

Bogue,  Alan .  870 

Bohn,  Christopher  E 725 

Bohn,  Robert  L   587' 

Bolting,  Francis  J 361 

Bonham,  James  L 507 

Bonnell,  David  T 742 

Boutwell,  John   417 

Boutwell,  Simon 416 

Bowen,  Joseph   686 

Bremner  Bros 480 

Brenmer,  Charles  .-\ 481 

Bremner,  George  H 431 

Brimmer,  William 651 

Brown,  Amos   324 

Brown,  Edward  R 4.58 

Brown,  Salmon    2."i6 

Buckley,  Lewis  H 569 

Biillen,  Hon.  Winslow 734 

Bushnell,  J.  .Monroe 479 

Campbell,  Daniel  DeW 279 

Canon,  William  O 578 


I'AGE 

Carpenter,  Newel,  Sr 299 

Cavana jgh,  Perry   646 

Chipman,  William  R   687 

Clapp,  Edwin  O   634 

Clark,  Charles  C     443 

Coapnian,  lames  W    321 

Colbtirn,  Alonzo  W 598 

Colburn,  Harvey  B 563 

Colburn,  J.  P 594 

Colburn,  Sherman 676 

Colby,  Thomas  P 724 

Colby,  Warren  1 301 

Coleman,  Daniel  B 810 

Collins,  Sanlord  A 355 

Collipp,  Platon  G    248 

Colonius,  Charles  A 628 

Condon,  Rev.  Robert  B 510 

Cook,  George  R 682 

Cook,  William 408 

Coplev,  lohn.        .      351 

Corliss,  Dr.  Allen  T 292 

Cottington,  Amos 485 

Coughran,  Samuel 270 

Councelman,  Fernando 714 

Cros^,  Fremont  J ,.  741 

Crothers,  James  .M 284 

Cuddy,  William  T 679 

Cuff,  W'iUiam 619 

Curtis,  F.  C   468 

Curtis,  Harry  H 289 

Dangel,   Peter 697 

Darrow,  Henry  A 498 

Davis,  Rees  J    647 

Decker,  John  R    264 

Delanv,  Charles  W 644 

Delany,  Miles  B 546 

Dering,  Capt.  Oscar  M 349 

Dieruf,  F.  A 658 

Dittbender,  Fritz   320 

Dittbender,  L   820 

Donnelly,  Hugh   ...      487 

Donnelly,  Thomas  W 291 

Dooley.John  H 381 

Dorsett,  A.  D 718 

Doyle,  Lemuel   H 350 

Drager,  Gus 462 

Dunn,  Thomas  W 383 

Eaton,  Clarence  C 260 

F'aton,  Edward 846 

Edmin.ster,  Lewis 272 

Edwards,  Dr.  .Adelbert 745 

Edwards,  William  J 649 


I'AGE 

Effinger,  Ferdinaml 286 

Ellinwood,  Capt.  .A.  P 640 

Ely,  Oscar  Clarke   341 

Emery,  Samuel 606 

English,  John 595 

Epstein,  Henry 69n 

Ernsperger,  Cecil  R 4s8 

Evans,  Jacob  C 533 

Evans,  William  R 452 

Evarts,  C.  L 566 

Evarts,  William  H 566 

Ferris,  John 692 

Field,  Floyd  A 442 

Held,  Henry  A 648 

Fisher,  Edward  J   826 

Fisher,  Dr.  William 265 

Foat,  William  J 419 

Foley,  Martin  F   335 

f'orbush,  Chehar 261 

Ford,  Capt.  Ira  H 253 

Foreman,  Henry   697 

Forrest,  James  F 674 

Foster,  Albert  W 627 

Foster,  John 664 

Fritz,  Christ   840 

Fuhrmann,  Albert   296 

Fuller,  William  W 755 

Galbraith,  William  J 623 

Galston,  Robert   , 495 

Gardner,  Lorenzo ;}i^ 

Gattiker,  John  J - ,  620' 

Gethers,  Henry S4tJ8 

Gilbert,  Warren   876 

Giles,   Frederick 596 

Ginder,  John   520 

Gloeckler,  Theodore  280 

Goman,  John 437 

Goodman,  Maurice 252 

Goodrich,  George 281 

Goodyear,  Darius  A 246 

Gottry,  Edward  C 294 

Grady,  Daniel  H 726 

Graham,  John  McC 715 

Graham,  .Scott  T 716 

(jreen,  Joseph  L 266 

Greenwood,   Robert 686 

Griffin,  John  G 421 

Gunnison,  Pliny  H 695 

Guppy,  Genl.  Joshua  J 228 

Hamilton,  Frederick  B 408 

Hanson,  Hans  A   286 

Harrington,  George 689 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS—PART  II. 


PAGE 

Harris,  Abner  L (i60 

Harris,  Ananias 387 

Harris,  Milo   893 

Harvey,  Ole  J 5S0 

Hasey,  James  H 467 

Hasey,  Jnhn 457 

Haskins,  Daniel  S 748 

Hastings,  Dr.  Thomas  R 42(3 

Hasz,  Rev.  Martin 446 

Hatton,  James '  295 

Hayes,  Philip   408 

Hayes,  William  A 844 

Heath,  De.xter  S 88H 

Hecocks,  .■\.  E 608 

Hendrickson,  Holver 415 

Hennch,  John .558 

Henrich,  Peter 558 

Henry,  Hon.  John  A 345 

Henry,  John  C   540 

Hickey.  Patrick 728 

Hindes,  Hon.  Lemuel  P 74(i 

Hodges.  A.J    819 

Hofstatter,  Stephen 518 

Holden.  Henry  S   (i07 

Holm,  Andrew  O  , 265 

Hopkins,  WdlianiH. 447 

Hotchkiss,  Ernest  A 577 

Hotchkiss,  Mortimer 577 

Hotctikiss,  Ruel 576 

Houghton,  Charles  H 515 

Houston,  John  H   825 

Howland,  Thomas 440 

H  uber.  Urban   710 

Hughes,  William 490 

Hulburt,  Hon.  David  B 800 

Huiburt,  Dr.  Frank  D 444 

Hume,  William  A   711 

Hungerford,  Stei^hen 670 

Hunt,  Dr.  Frank  O -.588 

Hutchinson,  Henry 574 

Hyatt,  Mrs.  Amelia 618 

Hyatt,  William  F 619 

Island  Woolen   Mills,  The. .. .   752 

Jacobs,  Marion 450 

Jamieson,  Hugh 665 

Jarvis,  John  C   609 

Jaques,  Peter  G    6-56 

Jenkins,  Dr.  George  W 688 

Jerome,  John 812 

Jones,  Chester 750 

Jones,  James  E 485 

Jones,  Nelson 871 

Jones,  Norman 358 

Kahl,  William  H 567 

Keach,  Henry  H 757 

Keith,  George  C 527 

Kelley,  Lafayette  M 828 

Kelloge,  Hon.   John 786 

Kendall,  Levi  G 4(15 

Kendall,  William  B 405 

Kershaw,  Thomas  C 731 

Keysar.  Miles  H 600 

King,  Robert  T 482 

King,  William 482 

Kinney,  William  T 708 

Knapp,  Comfort  H 374 

Koch,  Rev.  Otto  H 624 

Kreuger,  Edward 599 


P.^GE 

Krisch,  Alois 865 

Knsch,  Otto 364 

Lachmund,  Paul 705 

Laffan,  John   .530 

Lathrop,  Marvin  E 789 

Lawn,  Dr.  James 290 

Leute,  Thaddeus 400 

Lewis,  Mrs.  Electa  P 691 

Lewis,  Hon.  James  Taylor 221 

Lohr,  Gottlieb 263 

Low,  Capt.  Gideon 787 

Luce,  1  ra  C 704 

Luckow,  Edward  L 625 

McChesney,  Rev.  James  H 259 

McElwam,  Calvin 719 

McFeiridge,  James  A 753 

McLeish,  Mrs.  Jane 266 

McLeish,  William 2()6 

Mc.Mahon,  Hugh 5.57 

McMahon,  John  E 451 

McWiiliams,  Ira 712 

MacKenzie,  James  C. 680 

Maegerlein,  Francis 645 

Mair,  Charles .524 

Mair,  Thomas 404 

Marden,  Rev.  Alfred  C 7.54 

Warden,  iMrs.  Ella  J 7.54 

Marsden,  Dr.  Arthur 261 

Marsh,  Edward  N 418 

Martin,  Charles   459 

Mason,  Arthur  H 616 

Mason,  Herbert  L 588 

Mason,  Hiram  H    288 

Matthews,  Orlando 639 

Ma.vfield,  Edmond .540 

Meredith,  John 599 

Metcalf,  Holton  B 698 

Mever,  William  C 616 

Meyer,  William  C.  A 448 

Miller,  Berdux. 577 

Mitchell,  Dr.  Robert 356 

Morley,  Isaac  W   681 

Morley,  Myron  M 662 

Morse',  Lyman  N 399 

Morse,  Uri.       570 

Murphy,  David 709 

Murphy,  Edward 708 

.Murray,  Lyman  A  439 

Neff,  Curtis  B. 673 

Nehls,  Albert  W   293 

Ninman.  Charles  F 288 

Noble,  George  F " 548 

Norton,  John  B 672 

Noyes,  Col.  D.  K 229 

Nutting-,  Charles  A 693 

Obrecht,  Christian 409 

Obrion,  Horace  S 667 

Olson,  Henry  N 626 

Owen,  John 383 

Owen,  John  G 235 

Owen,  Hon.  William 239 

Paddock,  Hon.  Benjamin  G...   474 

Page,  Henry  D 654 

Palmer,  James  Parson 701 

Pardee,  John 518 

Patrick,  Andrew 685 

Paulson,  Nels 666 

Payne,  George  B 6.65 


PAGE 

Pearson,  Charles 385 

Pearson,  Manelious 384 

Pease,  Dr.  William  A 854 

Pells,  Jeremiah.. .583 

Perry,  Israel 568 

Peterson,  Peter  N 519 

Phelps,  Wilhs 442 

Pierce,  Hon.  Solon  W 224* 

Porter,  Arthur  .\ 610 

Price,  James 623 

Proctor,  Hon.  William  H 242 

Prouty,  John  Byron 372 

Ramsey,  Robert  M 365 

Rathbun,  William  W 274 

Reed,  Calvin  E 244 

Keighard,  Ellis  W 456 

Reighard,  Jacob  H 455 

Reynolds,  Andrew  T 539 

Reynolds,  George  E 688 

Reynolds,  Thomas 638 

Rich,  Henry   751 

Riddle,  Joseph  H 302 

Rice,  Griffith  R 332 

Rice.  Rev.  Thomas  J 832 

Ricliards,  Peter.  .' 668 

Richmond,  John  S   604 

Richmond,  Kiley  S     842 

Ritchev,Rev.  John  H 270 

Ritter,  Frank  L 718 

Robbins,  William  H 313 

Roberts,  Chauncey  F 816 

Roberts,  Foulk  R 700 

Roberts,  Holver   549 

Roberts,  Robert  F 586 

Robertson,  David 730 

Robertson,  David  H 748 

Robertson,  John 282 

Robinson,  James  W .500 

Rockafellow,  C.  T   690 

Rock  wood.  Dr.  Richard  C 660 

Rodgers,  Alexander 518 

Rogers,  Josiah  H 722 

Rooney,  John 366 

Rous,  Francis  M 484 

Rowlands,  John 454 

Rowlands,  Morris  J 493 

Rudd,  Sheldon  W 480 

Rusch,  August 395 

SaniDSon,  Samuel 397 

Sargent,  Edmund  N 713 

Sarrington.  Henry 398 

Sawyer,  Henry • 497 

Schneider,  Carl 460 

Schoff,  Jeremiah  M 831 

.Schroder,  Charles 584 

Schultz,  Christian 667 

Scoon,  Alfred  F 303 

.Scoon,  Lyman  S   303 

Scott,  Charles  A 598 

Scott,  James 617-^ 

Scott,  John 749 

Scott,  Kennedy 422 

Seymour,  Merton  E 576 

Seymour,  Hon.  Silas  J 284 

Shafer,  Elijah  L 753 

Shanahan.  Edward   . .    ........  667 

Shanahan,  Henry  M 727 

Siefert,  August 589 

Simons,  George  T 516 

Smith,  Chester  W   445 


TABLE   OF  COXTEXTS—PART  II. 


I'AOE 

Smith,  John &h 

Smith,  Lewis  J 569 

Smith,  S.K 814 

Snyder,  WilHs  E 526 

Sperbeck,  Martm  G 475 

Spiehr,  Christopher 386 

Stahl,  Samuel 646 

Stanton,  George  P   46.5 

Staudenmayer,  John  G 638 

Staudenmayer,  John  L   686 

Steckelberg,   Henry  740 

Stevens,  Wilham 466 

Stevenson,  David 659 

Stoddard,  Asa 536 

Stoddard,  Charles  H 536 

Stolte,  Edward  G 362 

Stolte,  William 368 

Stone,  James 704 

Stone,  James  A 668 

Streeter,  John  Franklin 651 

Swartz,  George  L 428 

Sweany,  James  A 508 

Sylvester,  William .  292 

Taylor,  Emmons 427 

Taylor,  Hon.  James  H 232 


PAGE 

Teal,  Joseph 829 

Thiessen,  Eugene  C   373 

Thompson,  Charles  R 293 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Harriet 292 

Thompson,  Wallace 654 

Tillotson,  Joseph 489 

Tompkins,  Charles  S   555 

Trumble,  Edward  N 528 

Trumbull,  James  W 664 

Tucker,  Milo  G 476 

Turner,  Hon.  Andrew  J 306 

Underdahl,  Gunder  O 275 

Van  Aernam,  Alfred  E 464 

Van  Aernam,  Charles  A 644 

Van   Alstine,  G.  B   690 

Van  Alstme,  James  F .^£L6, 

\'on  Gonten,  John (z76 

Vroman,  Jacob  R 360 

Vroman,  John  W 499 

Waldref,  Elmer   M 660 

Walreth,  Hamilton 809 

Walton,  John 693 

Walton,  Ruf us  S 693 


I'AGK 

W'aterman,  George  W 233 

Ward,  William 685 

Warren,  Marcus  A 241 

Wentworth,  Hon.  Robert  B.  .  .  226 

White,  John  H .i.56 

Willard,  Hubbard  S. 603 

Willcox,  Alfred   720 

Williams,  John  L.... 407 

Williams,  Peter 671 

Williams,  Robert  M 496 

Williams, Thomas  J 449 

Williams,  Dr.  William  E .584 

Wilson,  Ezra 629 

Wilson,  George  Thomas •')29 

Winnie,  Menzo 311 

Witt,  Fritz 539 

Wohlfert,  Franz ,382 

Wood,  Ned  C 735 

Woodruff,  Martin  R 462 

Worthman,  James  S 721 

Wright,  Joel  B 706 

Wright,  Lemuel  S 305 

York,  Oliver  M ^ 699 

Young,  Hon.  Ephraim  W 2.52 

Young,  William  Henry 744 


SLSLSLSLSUiSUiJiSiSLSiSiJiJiSiSiJLSLSLSLJLSiSiSiJiSLSLSL^ 

I    IRTR©DWeT0RY   [ 


|HE  greatest  of  English  historians,  Macaulay,  and  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  writers  and  profound  thinkers  of  the  present  century,  has 
said:  "The  history  of  a  country  is  best  told  in  a  record  of  the 
lives  of  its  people."  This  is  a  fact  which  is  becoming  more  and 
more  recognized  as  our  people  advance  in  education  and  intelli- 
gence, and  our  own  great  Emerson,  whose  name  stands  at  the 
head  of  American  writers  of  his  day,  in  carrying  forward  and 
emphasizing  the  great  fact  expressed  by  Macaulay,  says:  "Biog- 
raphy is  the  only  true  history."  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  and  preserving 
this  biographical  matter  in  enduring  form  that  the  design  for   this    volume    originated. 

COMPENDIUM    OF    NATIONAL    BIOGRAPHY. 

Regarding  the  fore  part  of  this  volume,  "Part  I,"  which  is  devoted  to  a  "Com- 
pendium OF  National  Biography,"  but  little  need  be  said.  The  lives  of  the  great 
men  and  celebrities  of  America  are  so  inaccessible  to  the  general  public,  and  are  so 
often  in  demand  without  being  accessible,  that  it  has  been  deemed  wise  to  gather 
together  a  vast  number  of  the  biographies  of  our  nation's  greatest  men  and  include 
them  in  this  work  as  a  fitting  preface  to  the  life  histories  and  biographies  of  the 
local  parties  which  follow  and  embrace  the  latter  part  of  the  volume.  It  is  not 
given  to  all  men  to  become  great  in  a  national  sense,  but  the  life  history  of  those 
who  do,  makes  up  the  history  of  our  nation,  and  as  such  the  history  of  their  lives 
should  be  in  every  home  and  library  as  a  means  of  reference  and  education. 

COMPENDIUM    of    LOCAL    BIOGRAPHY. 

That  portion  of  the  volume  devoted  to  a  "Compendium  of  Local  Biography," 
or  "Part  II,"  is  of  the  greatest  value,  and  its  value  will  increase  as  the  years  go  by. 
In  this  department  of  local  biography  is  carried  out  the  object  which  led  to  the  com- 
pilation of  this  work,  in  gathering  together  and  placing  in  enduring  form,  before  it 
becomes  too  late,  the  life  history  of  those  who  have  helped  to  build  up  this  region 
and  who  have  taken  part  in  the  progress  and  development  in  business,  political, 
social,  and  agricultural  affairs.  The  rank  that  any  county  holds  among  its  sister 
counties  depends  largely  upon  the  achievements  of  its  citizens.  Some  add  to  its  rep- 
utation by  efficient  public  .service,   some  by  increasing  its  manufacturing  or  commercial 


INTRODUC  TOR  T. 


interests,  and  some  by  adJiiij^  to  the  ^'cn-  ral  wealth  and  prosperity  in  cultivating;  and 
improving  its  l.iiids.  To  gi\e  a  f.iit.if.d  account  of  the  lives  of  old  settlers  and  rep- 
resentative citizens  of  this  region  is  to  write  its  history  in  the  truest  sense.  Each 
year,  as  it  rolls  its  endless  way  along  the  mighty  pathway  of  time,  is  thinning  the 
ranks  of  those  hardy  pioneers  and  old  settlers  whose  lives  are  so  thoroughly  id.-nti- 
fied  with  this  region.  Tne  relentless  hand  of  death,  pursuing  its  remorseless  and 
unceasing  avocation,  is  cutting  down,  one  by  one,  those  whose  life  histories  should 
be  preserved  as  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  growth  and  development  of  this  region. 
The  necessity  for  the  collection  and  preservation  of  this  matter,  before  it  becomes 
too  late,    is  the  object   of   this  work. 

Instead  of  going  to  musty  records  and  taking  therefrom  dry  statistical  matter  and 
official  generalities,  which  can  be  appreciated  by  but  few,  our  corps  of  writers  have 
gone  direct  to  the  people,  to  the  men  and  women  who  have  by  their  enterprise  and 
industry,  brought  about  the  development  found  in  this  region,  and  from  their  lips 
have  written  the  story  of  their  life  struggles.  No  more  interesting  or  instructive  mat- 
ter could  be  presented  to  an  intelligent  public.  In  this  department,  devoted  to  Loc.-\l 
Biography,  will  be  found  a  record  of  many  whose  lives  are  worthy  the  imitation  of 
coming  generations.  It  tells  how  some,  commencing  life  in  poverty,  by  industry  and 
economy  have  accumulated  wealth.  It  tells  how  others,  with  limited  advantages  for 
securing  an  education,  have  become  learned  men  and  women,  with  an  inflLience 
widely  e.xtended.  It  tells  of  men  who  have  risen  from  the  lower  walks  of  life  to 
eminence,  and  whose  names  have  become  famous.  It  tells  of  those  in  every  walk  in 
life  who  have  striven  to  succeed,  and  records  how  success  has  usually  crowned  their 
efforts.  It  tells,  also,  of  many,  very  many,  who,  not  seeking  the  applause  of  the 
world,  have  pursued  "the  even  tenor  of  their  way,"  content  to  have  it  said  of  them 
as  Christ  said  of  the  woman  performing  a  deed  of  mercy,  —  "they  have  done  what 
they  could."  It  tells  how  many,  in  the  pride  and  strength  of  young  manhood,  left 
the  plow  and  the  anvil,  the  lawyer's  office  and  the  counting  room,  left  every  trade 
and  profession,  and  at  their  country's  call  went  forth  valiantly  "to  do  or  die,"  for 
the  cause  and  principles  they  held  so  dear.  In  the  life  of  every  man  and  of  every 
woman  is  a  lesson  that  should  not  be  lost  upon  those  who  follow  after. 

Coming  generations  will  appreciate  this  volume  and  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  treas- 
ure, from  the  fact  that  it  contains  so  much  that  would  never  find  its  way  into  pub- 
lic records,  and  which  would  otherwise  be  inaccessible  and  lost  forever.  Great  care 
has  been  taken  in  the  compilation  of  this  work,  and  every  opportunity  for  revision 
possible  given  to  those  represented  to  insure  correctness  in  what  has  been  written, 
and  the  publishers  feci  warranted  in  saying  that  they  give  to  their  readers  a  work 
with   very  few,    if  any,   errors  of   consequence. 

In  closing  this  brief  introductory  the  memorable  words  of  Carlyle  fittingly  e.xpress 
the  hope,  aim,  and  desire  of  the  publishers  in  the  compilation  of  this  volume:  "Let 
the  record  be  made  of  the  men  and  things  of  to-day,  lest  they  pass  out  of  memory 
to-morrow  and  are  lost  Then  perpetuate  them,  not  upon  wood  or  stone  that  crum- 
bles to  dust,    but  chronicled  in  picture  and  in  words  that  endure  forever." 


l^^i^^i^^;^, 


COMPENDIUM  OF  BIOGRAPHY 


Celebrated  Americans 


^^^ 


'^i^'^^'^z^'^g' 


i\ 


G 


|EORGE    WASHINGTON, 
'g,  ^   m      ■    f  the  first  president  of  the  Unit- 
I  Li     ^*^^   f  ed  States,  called  the  "Father 
-»>i»)\<i>ii\)t»n»n^   of    his  Country,"    was    one  of 
^^'^^yf^       the  most  celebrated  characters 
VfefSy         in  history.     He  was  born  Feb- 
*  ruary   22,     1732,   in  Washing- 

ton Parish,  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia. 
His  father,  Augustine  Washington,  first 
married  Jane  Butler,  who  bore  him  four 
children,  and  March  6,  1730,  he  -married 
Mary  Ball.  Of  si.x  children  by  his  second 
marriage,  George  was  the  eldest. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  years  of 
Washington,  beyond  the  fact  that  the  house 
in  which  he  was  born  was  burned  during  his 
early  childhood,  and  that  his  father  there- 
upon moved  to  another  farm,  inherited  from 
his  paternal  ancestors,  situated  in  Stafford 
county,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock, and  died  there  in  1743.  From  earliest 
childhood  George  developed  a  noble  charac- 
ter. His  education  was  somewhat  defective, 
being  confined  to  the  elementary  branches 
taught  him  by  his  mother  and  at  a  neighbor- 
ing school.  On  leaving  school  he  resided 
some  time  at  Mount  Vernon  with  his  half 


brother,  Lawrence,  who  acted  as  bis  guar» 
dian.      George's  inclinations  were  for  a  sea- 
faring career,    and  a  midshipman's  warrant 
was  procured  for  him;  but  through  the  oppo- 
sition of  his  mother  the  project  was  aban- 
doned, and  at  the  age  of  si.xteen   he   was 
appointed  surveyor  to  the  immense  estates 
of  the  eccentric  Lord  Fairfa.x.     Three  years 
were  passed  by  Washington  in  a  rough  fron- 
tier life,  gaining  experience  which  afterwards 
proved    very    essential  to  him.      In    175 1, 
when  the  Virginia  militia  were  put  under 
training  with  a  view  to  active  service  against 
France,  Washington,  though  only  nineteen 
years  of  age,  was  appointed  adjutant,  with 
the   rank  of    major.       In    1752    Lawrence 
Washington  died,  leaving  his  large  property 
to   an  infant   daughter.      In  his  will  George 
was  named  one  of  the  executors  and  as  an 
eventual  heir  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  by  the 
death  of  the  infant  niece,  soon  succeeded  to 
that  estate.     In   1753  George  was  commis- 
sioned   adjutant-general    of     the    Virginia 
militia,    and  performed  important   work  at 
the    outbreak    of    the    French    and    Indian 
war,  was  rapidly  promoted,  and  at  the  close  of 
that  war  we  find  him  commander-in-chief  of 


u 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


all  the  forces  raised  in  Virginia.  A  cessation 
of  Indian  hostilities  on  the  frontier  havjng 
followed  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from 
the  Ohio,  he  resigned  his  commission  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  forces, 
and  then  proceeded  to  Williamsburg  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  Virginia  Assembly,  of  which 
he  had  been  elected  a  member. 

January  17,  1759,  Washington  married 
Mrs.  Martha  (Dandridge)  Curtis,  a  young 
and  beautiful  widow  of  great  wealth,  and 
devoted  himself  for  the  ensuing  hf  teen  years 
to  the  quiet  pursuits  of  agriculture,  inter- 
rupted only  by  the  annual  attendance  in 
winter  upon  the  colonial  legislature  at 
Williamsburg,  until  summoned  by  his  coun- 
try to  enter  upon  that  other  arena  in  which 
his  fame  was  to  become  world-wide.  The 
war  for  independence  called  Washington 
into  service  again,  and  he  was  made  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  colonial  forces,  and 
^^■as  the  most  gallant  and  conspicuous  figure 
in  that  bloody  struggle,  serving  until  Eng- 
land acknowledged  the  independence  of 
each  of  the  thirteen  States,  and  negotiated 
with  them  jointly,  as  separate  sovereignties. 
December  4,  1783,  the  great  commander 
took  leave  of  his  officers  in  most  affection- 
ate and  patriotic  terms,  and  went  to  An- 
napolis, Maryland,  where  the  congress  of 
the  States  was  in  session,  and  to  that  body, 
when  peace  and  order  prevailed  everywhere, 
resigned  his  commission  and  retired  to 
Mount  Vernon. 

It  was  in  1789  that  W'ashington  was 
called  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  na- 
tion. The  inauguration  took  place  April 
30,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  multi- 
tude which  had  assembled  to  witness  the  new 
and  imposing  ceremony.  In  the  manifold  de- 
tails of  his  civil  administration  Washington 
proved  himself  fully  equal  to  the  requirements 
of  his  position.      In  1792,  at  the  second  presi- 


dential election,  Washington  was  desirous 
to  retire;  but  he  yielded  to  the  general  wish 
of  the  country,  and  was  again  chosen  presi- 
dent. At  the  third  election,  in  1796,  he 
was  again  most  urgently  entreated  to  con- 
sent to  remain  in  the  executive  chair.  This 
he  positively  refused,  and  after  March  4, 
1797,  he  again  retired  to  Mount  Vernon 
for  peace,  quiet,  and  repose. 

Of  the  call  again  made  on  this  illustrious 
chief  to  quit  his  repose  at  Mount  Ver- 
non and  take  command  of  all  the  United 
States  forces,  with  rank  of  lieutenant-gen- 
eral, when  war  was  threatened  with  France 
in  179S,  nothing  need  here  be  stated,  ex- 
cept to  note  the  fact  as  an  unmistakable 
testimonial  of  the  high  regard  in  which  he 
was  still  held  by  his  countrymen  of  all 
shades  of  political  opinion.  He  patriotic- 
ally accepted  this  trust,  but  a  treaty  of 
peace  put  a  stop  to  all  action  under  it.  He 
again  retired  to  Mount  Vernon,  where  he 
died  December  14,  1799,  in  the  sixty-eighth 
year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  depos- 
ited in  a  family  vault  on  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac,  at  Mount  Vernon,  where  they  still 
lie  entombed. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  an  eminent 
American  statesman  and  scientist,  was 
born  of  poor  parentage,  January  17,  1706, 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts.  He  was  appren- 
ticed to  his  brother  James  to  learn  the  print- 
er's trade  to  prevent  his  running  away  and 
going  to  sea,  and  also  because  of  the  numer- 
ous family  his  parents  had  to  support  (there 
being  seventeen  children,  Benjamin  being 
the  fifteenth).  He  was  a  great  reader,  and 
soon  developed  a  taste  for  writing,  and  pre- 
pared a  number  of  articles  and  had  them 
published  in  the  paper  without  his  brother's 
knowledge,  and  when  the  authorship  be- 
came known  it  resulted  in  difficulty  for  tiie 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


young  apprentice,  although  his  articles  had 
been  received  with  favor  by  the  public. 
James  was  afterwards  thrown  into  prison  for 
political  reasons,  and  young  Benjamin  con- 
ducted the  paper  alone  during  the  time.  In 
1823,  however,  he  determined  to  endure  his 
bonds  no  longer,  and  ran  away,  going  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived  with  only 
three  pence  as  his  store  of  wealth.  With 
these  he  purchased  three  rolls,  and  ate  them 
as  he  walked  along  the  streets.  He  soon 
found  employment  as  a  journeyman  printer. 
Two  years  later  he  was  sent  to  England  by 
the  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
promised  the  public  printing,  but  did  not  get 
it.  On  his  return  to  Philadelphia  he  estab- 
lished the  "Pennsylvania  Gazette,"  and 
soon  found  himself  a  person  of  great  popu- 
larity in  the  province,  his  ability  as  a  writer, 
philosopher,  and  politician  having  reached 
the  neighboring  colonies.  He  rapidly  grew 
in  prominence,  founded  the  Philadelphia  Li- 
brary in  1842,  and  two  years  later  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  and  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  made 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  in  London  in 
1775.  His  world-famous  investigations  in 
electricity  and  lightning  began  in  1746.  He 
became  postmaster-general  of  the  colonies 
in  1753,  having  devised  an  inter-colonial 
postal  system.  He  advocated  the  rights  of 
the  colonies  at  all  times,  and  procured  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1766.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Continental  congress  of  1775, 
and  in  1776  was  a  signer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  being  one  of  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  draft  that  paper.  He  rep- 
resented the  new  nation  in  the  courts  of 
Europe,  especially  at  Paris,  where  his  simple 
dignity  and  homely  wisdom  won  him  the 
admiration  of  the  court  and  the  favor  of  the 
people.  He  was  governor  of  Pennsylvania 
lour  years;  was  also  a  member  of   the  con- 


vention in  1787  that  drafted  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

His  writings  upon  political  topics,  anti- 
slavery,  finance,  and  economics,  stamp  him 
as  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  his  time, 
while  his  "Autobiography"  and  "Poor 
Richard's  Almanac"  give  him  precedence  in 
the  literary  field.  In  early  life  he  was  an 
avowed  skeptic  in  religious  matters,  but 
later  in  life  his  utterances  on  this  subject 
were  less  extreme,  though  he  never  ex- 
pressed approval  of  any  sect  or  creed.  He 
died  in  Philadelphia  April  17,  1790. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.— Of  world  wide 
reputation  for  statesmanship,  diplo- 
macy, and  oratory,  there  is  perhaps  no  more 
prominent  figure  in  the  history  of  our  coun- 
try in  the  interval  between  181 5  and  1861, 
than  Daniel  Webster.  He  was  born  at 
Salisbury  (now  Franklin),  New  Hampshire, 
January  18,  1782,  and  was  the  second  son 
of  Ebenezer  and  Abigail  (Eastman)  Webster. 
He  enjoyed  but  limited  educational  advan- 
tages in  childhood,  but  spent  a  few  months 
in  1797,  at  Phillip  Exeter  Academy.  He 
completed  his  preparation  for  college  in  the 
family  of  Rev.  Samuel  Wood,  at  Boscawen, 
and  entered  Dartmouth  College  in  the  fall 
of  1797.  He  supported  himself  most  of  the 
time  during  these  years  by  teaching  school 
and  graduated  in  1801,  having  the  credit  of 
being  the  foremost  scholar  of  his  class.  He 
entered  the  law  office  of  Hon.  Thomas  W. 
Thompson,  at  Salisbury.  In  1S02  he  con- 
tinued his  legal  studies  at  Fryeburg,  Maine, 
where  he  was  principal  of  the  academy  and 
copyist  in  the  office  of  the  register  of 
deeds.  In  the  office  of  Christopher  Gore, 
at  Boston,  he  completed  his  studies  in 
1804-5,  ^^'^  w^s  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the 
latter  year,  and  at  Boscawen  and  at  Ports- 
mouth soon  rose  to  eminence  in    his  profes- 


20 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


sion.  He  became  known  as  a  federalist 
but  did  not  court  political  honors;  but,  at- 
tracting attention  by  his  eloquence  in  oppos- 
ing the  war  with  England,  he  was  elected 
to  congress  in  1812.  During  the  special 
session  of  May,  18 13,  he  was  appointed  on 
the  committee  on  foreign  affairs  and  made 
his  maiden  speech  June  10,  181 3.  Through- 
out this  session  (as  afterwards)  he  showed 
his  mastery  of  the  great  economic  questions 
of  the  day.  He  was  re-elected  in  18 14.  In 
1 8 16  he  removed  to  Boston  and  for  seven 
years  devoted  himself  to  his  profession, 
earning  by  his  arguments  in  the  celebrated 
"Dartmouth  College  Case"  rank  among 
the  most  distinguished  jurists  of  the  country. 
In  1820  Mr.  Webster  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  state  convention  of  Massachusetts,  to 
revise  the  constitution.  The  same  year  he 
delivered  the  famous  discourse  on  the  "  Pil- 
grim fathers,"  which  laid  the  foundation  for 
his  fame  as  an  orator.  Declining  a  nomi- 
nation for  United  States  senator,  in  1822  he 
was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  congress 
and  was  re-elected  in  1824  and  1826,  but  in 
1827  was  transferred  to  the  senate.  He 
retained  his  seat  in  the  latter  chamber  until 
1841.  During  this  time  his  voice  was  ever 
lifted  in  defence  of  the  national  life  and 
honor  and  although  politically  opposed  to 
him  he  gave  his  support  to  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Jackson  in  the  latter's  con- 
test with  nullification.  Through  all  these 
years  he  was  ever  found  upon  the  side  of 
right  and  justice  and  his  speeches  upon  all 
the  great  questions  of  the  day  have  be- 
come household  words  in  almost  every 
family.  In  1841  Mr.  Webster  was  appointed 
secretary  of  state  by  President  Harrison 
and  was  continued  in  the  same  office  by 
President  Tyler.  While  an  incumbent  of 
this  office  he  showed  consummate  ability  as 
a  diplomat  in  the  negotiation  of  the  "Ash- 


burton  treaty  "  of  August  9,  1849,  which 
settled  many  points  of  dispute  between  the 
United  States  and  England.  In  May,  1843, 
he  resigned  his  post  and  resumed  his  pro- 
fession, and  in  December,  1845,  took  his 
place  again  in  the  senate.  He  contributed 
in  an  unofficial  way  to  the  solution  of  the 
Oregon  question  with  Great  Britain.i«'j847, 
He  was  disappointed  in  1848  in  not  receiv- 
ing the  nomination  for  the  presidency.  He 
became  secretary  of  state  under  President 
Fillmore  in  1850  and  in  dealing  with  all  the 
complicated  questions  of  the  day  showed  a 
wonderful  mastery  of  the  arts  of  diplomacy. 
Being  hurt  in  an  accident  he  retired  to  his 
home  at  Marshfield,  where  he  died  Octo- 
ber 24,  1852. 

HORACE  GREELEY. —As  journalist, 
author,  statesman  and  political  leader, 
there  is  none  more  widely  known  than  the 
man  whose  name  heads  this  article.  He 
was  born  in  Amherst,  New  Hampshire,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  181 1,  and  was  reared  upon  a  farm. 
At  an  early  age  he  evinced  a  remarkable 
intelligence  and  love  of  learning,  and  at 
the  age  of  ten  had  read  every  book  he  could 
borrow  for  miles  around.  About  182  i  the 
family  removed  to  Westhaven,  Vermont, 
and  for  some  years  young  Greeley  assisted 
in  carrying  on  the  farm.  In  1826  he  entered 
the  office  of  a  weekly  newspaper  at  East 
Poultney,  Vermont,  where  he  remained 
about  four  years.  On  the  discontinuance 
of  this  paper  he  followed  his  father's 
family  to  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania, 
whither  they  had  moved,  and  for  a  time 
worked  at  the  printer's  trade  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. In  1 83 1  Horace  went  to  New 
York  City,  and  for  a  time  found  employ- 
ment as  journeyman  printer.  January, 
1833,  in  partnership  with  Francis  Story,  he 
published  the  Morning  Post,  the  first  penny 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


21 


paper  ever  printed.  This  proved  a  failure 
and  was  discontinued  after  three  weeks. 
The  business  of  job  printing  was  carried  on, 
however,  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Story  in 
July  following.  In  company  with  Jonas 
Winchester,  March  22,  1834,  Mr.  Greeley 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  New 
Yor-licr,  a  weekly  paper  of  a  high  character. 
For  financial  reasons,  at  the  same  time, 
Greeley  wrote  leaders  for  other  papers,  and, 
in  ICS38,  took  editorial  charge  of  the  Jcjfcr- 
sonian,  a  Whig  paper  published  at  Albany. 
In  1840,  on  the  discontinuance  of  that  sheet, 
ha  devoted  his  energies  to  the  Log  Cabin,  a 
campaign  paper  in  the  interests  of  the  Whig 
party.  In  the  fall  of  1841  the  latter  paper 
was  consolidated  with  the  Nci<.<  Yorker,  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Tribune,  the  first  num- 
ber of  which  was  issued  April  10,  184 1.  At 
the  head  of  this  paper  Mr.  Greeley  remained 
until  the  day  of  his  death. 

In  1848  Horace  Greeley  was  elected  to 
the  national  house  of  representatives  to 
fill  a  vacancy,  and  was  a  member  of  that 
body  until  March  4,  1S49.  In  1851  he  went 
to  Europe  and  served  as  a  juror  at  the 
World's  Fair  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Lon- 
don. In  1855,  he  made  a  second  visit  to 
the  old  world.  In  1859  he  crossed  the 
plains  and  received  a  public  reception  at 
San  Francisco  and  Sacramento.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Republican  national  con- 
vention, at  Chicago  in  i860,  and  assisted  in 
the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for 
President.  The  same  year  he  was  a  presi- 
dential elector  for  the  state  of  New  York, 
and  a  delegate  to  the  Loyalist  convention 
at  Philadelphia. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  Mr. 
Greeley  became  a  strong  advocate  of  uni- 
versal amnesty  and  complete  pacification, 
and  in  pursuance  of  this  consented  to  be- 
come one    of  the    bondsmen   for   Jefiferson 


Davis,  who  was  imprisoned  for  treason.  In 
1867  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  New  York 
state  convention  for  the  revision  of  the 
constitution.  In  1870  he  was  defeated  for 
congress  in  the  Sixth  New  York  district. 
At  the  Liberal  convention,  which  met  in 
Cincinnati,  in  May,  1872,  on  the  fifth  ballot 
Horace  Greeley  was  nominated  for  presi- 
dent and  July  following  was  nominated  for 
the  same  office  by  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion at  Baltimore.  He  was  defeated  by  a 
large  majority.  The  large  amount  of  work 
done  by  him  during  the  campaign,  together 
with  the  loss  of  his  wife  about  the  same 
time,  undermined  his  strong  constitution, 
and  he  was  seized  with  inflammation  of  the 
brain,  and  died  November  29,   1872. 

In  addition  to  his  journalistic  work,  Mr. 
Greeley  was  the  author  of  several  meritori- 
ous works,  among  which  were:  "Hints 
toward  reform,"  "Glances  at  Europe," 
"  History  of  the  struggle  for  slavery  exten 
sion,"  "Overland  journey  to  San  Francis- 
co," "The  American  conflict,"  and  "  Rec-- 
ollections  of  a  busy  life." 


HENRY  CLAY.— In  writing  of  this  em- 
inent American,  Horace  Greeley  once 
said:  "He  was  a  matchless  party  chief,  an 
admirable  orator,  a  skillful  legislator,  wield- 
ing unequaled  influence,  not  only  over  his 
friends,  but  even  over  those  of  his  political 
antagonists  who  were  subjected  to  the  magic 
of  his  conversation  and  manners.  "  A  law- 
yer, legislator,  orator,  and  statesman,  few 
men  in  history  have  wielded  greater  influ- 
ence, or  occupied  so  prominent  a  place  in 
the  hearts  of  the  generation  in  which  they 
lived. 

Henry  Clay  was  born  near  Richmond, 
in  Hanover  county,  Virginia,  April  12, 
1777,  the  son  of  a  poor  Baptist  preacher 
who  died  when    Henry  was  but   five  years 


22 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


old.  The  mother  married  again  about  ten 
years  later  and  removed  to  Kentucky  leav- 
ing Henry  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  Richmond. 
Soon  afterward  Henry  Clay  secured  a  posi- 
tion as  copyist  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the 
high  court  of  chancery,  and  four  years  later 
entered  the  law  office  of  Robert  Brooke, 
then  attorney  general  and  later  governor  of 
his  native  state.  In  1797  Henry  Clay  was 
licensed  as  a  lawyer  and  followed  his  mother 
to  Kentucky,  opening  an  office  at  Lexington 
and  soon  built  up  a  profitable  practice. 
Soon  afterward  Kentucky,  in  separating  from 
Virginia,  called  a  state  convention  for  the 
purpose  of  framing  a  constitution,  and  Clay 
at  that  time  took  a  prominent  part,  publicly 
urging  the  adoption  of  a  clause  providing 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  in  this  he 
was  overruled,  as  he  was  fifty  years  later, 
vhen  in  the  height  of  his  fame  he  again  ad- 
vised the  same  course  when  the  state  con- 
stitution was  revised  in  1850.  Young  Clay 
took  a  very  active  and  conspicuous  part  in 
the  presidential  campaign  in  1  800,  favoring 
the  election  of  Jefferson;  and  in  1803  was 
chosen  to  represent  Fayette  county  in  the 
state  'egislature.  In  1806  General  John 
Adair,  then  United  States  senator  from 
Kentucky,  resigned  and  Henry  Clay  was 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  by  the  legislature 
and  served  through  one  session  in  which  he 
at  once  assumed  a  prominent  place.  In 
1807  he  was  again  a  representative  in  the 
legislature  and  was  elected  speaker  of  the 
house.  At  this  time  originated  his  trouble 
with  Humphrey  Marshall.  Clay  proposed 
that  each  member  clothe  himself  and  family 
wholly  in  American  fabrics,  which  Marshall 
characterized  as  the  "  language  of  a  dema- 
gogue." This  led  to  a  duel  in  which  both 
parties  were  slightly  injured.  In  1809 
Henry  Clay  was  again  elected  to  fill  a  va- 
cancy in  the  United  States   senate,  and  two 


j'ears  later  elected  representative  in  tne  low- 
er house  of  congress,  being  chosen  speaker 
of  the  house.  About  this  time  war  was  de- 
clared against  Great  Britain,  and  Clay  took 
a  prominent  public  place  during  this  strug- 
gle and  was  later  one  of  the  commissioners 
sent  to  Europe  by  President  Madison  to  ne- 
gotiate peace,  returning  in  September,  181  5, 
having  been  re-elected  speaker  of  the 
house  during  his  absence,  and  was  re-elect- 
ed unanimously.  He  was  afterward  re- 
elected to  congress  and  then  became  secre- 
tary of  state  under  John  Quincy  Adams. 
In  1 83 1  he  was  again  elected  senator  from 
Kentucky  and  remained  in  the  senate  most 
of  the  time  until  his  death. 

Henry  Clay  was  three  times  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  and  once  very  nearly 
elected.  He  was  the  unanimous  choice  of 
the  Whig  party  in  1844  for  the  presidency, 
and  a  great  effort  was  made  to  elect  him 
but  without  success,  his  opponent,  James  K. 
Polk,  carrying  both  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  by  a  very  slender  margin,  while  either 
of  them  alone  would  have  elected  Clay. 
Henry  Clay  died  at  Washington  June  29, 
1852.  

TAMES  GILLESPIE  BLAINE  was  one 
<J  of  the  most  distinguished  of  American 
statesmen  and  legislators.  He  was  born 
January  31,  1830,  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  received  a  thorough  edu- 
cation, graduating  at  Washington  College  in 
1847.  In  early  life  he  removed  to  Maine 
and  engaged  in  newspaper  work,  becoming 
editor  of  the  Portland  "Advertiser."  While 
yet  a  young  man  he  gained  distinction  as  a 
debater  and  became  a  conspicuous  figure  in 
political  and  public  affairs.  In  1862  he  was 
elected  to  congress  on  the  Republican  ticket 
in  Maine  and  was  re-elected  five  times.  In 
March,   1869,  he'vvas  chosen  speaker  of  the 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


23 


house  of  represtntatives  and  was  re-elected 
in  1 8/ I  and  again  in  1873.  In  1876  he  was 
a  representative  in  the  lower  house  of  con- 
gress and  during  that  year  was  appointed 
United  States  senator  by  the  Governor  to 
fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of 
Senator  Morrill,  who  had  been  appointed 
secretary  of  the  treasury.  Mr.  Blaine 
served  in  the  senate  until  March  5,  1881, 
when  President  Garfield  appointed  him  sec- 
retary of  state,  which  position  he  resigned 
in  December,  1881.  Mr.  Blaine  was  nom- 
inated for  the  presidency  by  the  Republic- 
ans, at  Chicago  in  June,  18S4,  but  was  de- 
feated by  Grover  Cleveland  after  an  exciting 
and  spirited  campaign.  During  the  later 
years  of  his  life  Mr.  Blaine  devoted  most  of 
his  time  to  the  completion  of  his  work 
"Twenty  Years  in  Congress,"  which  had  a 
remarkably  large  sale  throughout  the  United 
States.  Blaine  was  a  man  of  great  mental 
ability  and  force  of  character  and  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  men  of  his  time.  He  was  the  origina- 
tor of  what  is  termed  the  "  reciprocity  idea" 
in  tariff  matters,  and  outlined  the  plan  of 
carrying  it  into  practical  effect.  In  1876 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll  in  making  a  nominating 
speech  placing  Blaine's  name  as  a  candidate 
for  president  before  the  national  Republican 
convention  at  Cincinnati,  referred  to  Blaine 
as  the  "  Plumed  Knight "  and  this  title  clung 
to  him  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
death  occurred  at  Washington,  January  27, 
1893- 


JOHN  CALDWELL  CALHOUN,  a  dis- 
tinguished American  statesman,  was  a 
native  of-  South  Carolina,  born  in  Abbeville 
district,  March  iS,  17S2.  He  was  given 
the  advantages  of  a  thorough  education, 
graduating  at  Yale  College  in  1804,  and 
adopted  the  calling  of  a  lawyer.     A  Demo- 


crat politically,  at  that  time,  he  took  a  fore- 
most part  in  the  councils  of  his   party  and 
was  elected  to  congress  in  iSi  t,  supporting 
the   tariff  of    18 16   and   the  establishing   of 
the  United  States  Bank.     In   18 17  he   be- 
came secretary  of  war  in  President  Monroe's 
cabinet,  and  in  1 824  was  elected  vice-president 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  ticket  with  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  re-elected  in  1 828,  on  the 
ticket  with  General  Jackson.      Shortly  after 
this  Mr.  Calhoun  became  one  of  the  strongest 
advocates  of  free  trade  and  the  principle  of 
sovereignty  of  the  states  and    was    one   of 
the  originators  of  the  doctrine  that    "any 
state  could  nullify   unconstitutional   laws  of 
congress."       Meanwhile    Calhoun     had   be- 
come an  aspirant    for  the.  presidency,  and 
the  fact  that  General  Jackson  advanced  the 
interests  of  his  opponent.  Van   Buren,    led 
to  a  quarrel,  and  Calhoun  resigned  the  vice- 
presidency  in  1832  and  was  elected  United 
States  senator  from  South  Carolina.     It  was 
during  the  same  year  that  a  convention  was 
held  in  South  Carolina  at  which  the  "  Nul- 
lification ordinance  "  was  adopted,  the  ob- 
ject of  which  was  to   test   the  constitution- 
ality of  the  protective  tariff  measures,  and 
to  prevent  if  possible  the   collection   of   im- 
port duties  in  that    state  which  had    been 
levied  more  for  the  purpose  of   ' '  protection  " 
than  revenue.     This  ordinance    was   to  go 
into  effect  in  February,  1833,  and  created  a 
great    deal    of    uneasiness    throughout    the 
country  as  it  was  feared   there   would  be  a 
clash  between  the  state  and  federal  authori- 
ties.     It  was    in  this    serious    condition    of 
public  affairs  that  Henry  Clay  came  forward 
with  the  the   famous    "tariff  compromise" 
of   1833,    to    which    measure    Calhoun    and 
most  of  his  followers  gave  their  support  and 
the  crisis  was   averted.     In  1843    Mr.  Cal- 
houn  was  appointed   secretary  of  state  in 
President  Tyler's  cabinet,  and   it  was  under 


24 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


his  administration  that  the  treaty  concern- 
ing the  annexation  of  Texas  was  negotiated. 
In  1 845  he  was  re-elected  to  the  United 
States  senate  and  continued  in  the  senate 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  March, 
1 850.  He  occupied  a  high  rank  as  a  scholar, 
student  and  orator,  and  it  is  conceded  that 
he  was  one  of  thegreatest  debaters  America 
has  produced.  The  famous  debate  between 
Calhoun  and  Webster,  in  1833,  is  regarded 
as  the  most  noted  for  ability  and  eloquence 
in  the  history  of  the  country. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  BUTLER,  one 
of  America's  most  brilliant  and  pro- 
found lawyers  and  noted  public  men,  was 
a  native  of  New  England,  born  at  Deer- 
field,  New  Hampshire,  November  5,  18 18. 
His  father,  Captain  John  Butler,  .was  a 
prominent  man  in  his  day,  commanded  a 
company  during  the  war  of  1812,  and 
served  under  Jackson  at  New  Orleans. 
Benjamin  F.  Butler  was  given  an  excellent 
education,  graduated  at  Waterville  College, 
Maine,  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1840,  at  Lowell,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  and  gained  a  wide  reputation  for 
his  ability  at  the  bar,  acquiring  an  extensive 
practice  and  a  fortune.  Early  in  life  he 
began  taking  an  active  interest  in  military 
affairs  and  served  in  the  state  militia  through 
all  grades  from  private  to  brigadier-general. 
In  1853  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legisla- 
ture on  the  Democratic  ticket  in  Lowell, 
and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  passage  of 
legislation  in  the  interests  of  labor.  Dur- 
ing the  same  year  he  was  a  member  of  the 
constitutional  convention,  and  in  1859  rep- 
resented his  district  in  the  Massachusetts 
■senate.  When  the  Civil  war  broke  out 
-General  Butler  took  the  field  and  remained 
at   the   front   most  of  the  time  during  that 


bloody  struggle.  Part  of  the  time  he  had 
charge  of  Fortress  Monroe,  and  in  Febru- 
ary, 1862,  took  command  of  troops  forming 
part  of  the  expedition  against  New  Orleans, 
and  later  had  charge  of  the  department  of 
the  Gulf.  He  was  a  conspicuous  figure  dur- 
ing the  continuance  of  the  war.  After  the 
close  of  hostilities  General  Butler  resumed 
his  law  practice  in  Massachusetts  and  in 
1866  was  elected  to  congress  from  the  Es- 
sex district.  In  1882  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  and  in  1884  was  the 
nominee  of  the  "  Greenback"  party  for 
president  of  the  United  States.  He  con- 
tinued his  legal  practice,  and  maintained  his 
place  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
New  England  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  January  10,  1893. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  an  officer,  states- 
<J  man  and  legislator  of  prominence  in 
America,  gained  the  greater  part  of  his  fame 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  president  of  the 
southern  confederacy.  Mr.  Davis  was  born 
in  Christian  county,  Kentucky,  June  3, 
1808,  and  his  early  education  and  surround- 
ings were  such  that  his  sympathies  and  in- 
clinations were  wholly  with  the  southern 
people.  He  received  a  thorough  education, 
graduated  at  West  Point  in  1828,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  served  in  the  army  at  west- 
ern posts  and  in  frontier  service,  first  as 
lieutenant  and  later  as  adjutant.  In  1835 
he  resigned  and  became  a  cotton  planter  in 
Warren  county,  Mississippi,  where  he  took 
an  active  interest  in  public  affairs  and  be- 
came a  conspicuous  figure  in  politics.  In 
1844  he  was  a  presidential  elector  from 
Mississippi  and  during  the  two  following 
3'ears  served  as  congressman  from  his  dis- 
trict. He  then  became  colonel  of  a  iviissis- 
sippi  regiment  in  the  war  with  Mexico  ana 
participated  in  some  of  the  most  severe  lml- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


25 


ties,  being  seriously  wounded  at  Buena 
Vista.  Upon  his  return  to  private  life  he 
again  took  a  prominent  part  in  political  af- 
fairs and  represented  his  state  in  the  United 
States  senate  from  1847  to  1S51.  Hethen 
entered  President  Pierce's  cabinet  as  secre- 
tary of  war,  after  which  he  again  entered 
the  United  States  senate,  remaining  until 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war.  He  then  be- 
came president  of  the  southern  confederacy 
and  served  as  such  until  captured  in  May, 
1865,  at  Irwinville  Georgia.  He  was  held 
as  prisoner  of  war  at  Fortress  Monroe,  until 
1867,  when  he  was  released  on  bail  and 
finally  set  free  in  1868.  His  death  occurred 
December  6,  1889. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  a  man  of  excellent 
abilities  and  was  recognized  as  one  of  the 
best  organizers  of  his  day.  He  was  a 
forceful  and  fluent  speaker  and  a  ready 
writer.  He  wrote  and  published  the  "  Rise 
and  Fall  of  "the  Southern  Confederacy,"  a 
work  which  is  considered  as  authority  by 
the  southern  peopl  • 


JOHN  ADAMS,  the  second  president  of 
the  United  States,  and  one  of  the  moft 
conspicuous  figures  in  the  early  struggles  of 
his  country  for  independence,  was  born  in 
the  present  town  of  Quincy,  then  a  portion 
of  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  October  30, 
'735-  He  received  a  thorough  education, 
graduating  at  Harvard  College  in  1755, 
studied  law  aad  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1758.  He  was  well  adapted  for  this  profes- 
sion and  after  opening  an  office  in  his  native 
town  rapidly  grew  in  prominence  and  public 
favor  and  soon  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
leading  lawyers  of  the  country.  His  atten- 
tion was  called  to  political  affairs  by  the 
passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  in  1765,  and  he 
drew  up  a  set  of  resolutions  on  the  subject 
which  were  very  popular.     In    1768  he  re- 


moved to  Boston  and  became  one  of  the 
most  courageous  and  prominent  advocates 
of  the  popular  cause  and  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Colonial  legislature  from 
Boston.  He  was  one  of  the  delegates  that 
represented  Massjichusetts  in  the  first  Con- 
tinental congress,  which  met  in  September, 
1774.  In  a  letter  written  at  this  crisis  he 
uttered  the  famous  words:  "The  die  is  now 
cast;  I  have  passed  the  Rubicon.  Sink  or 
swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish  with  my 
country,  is  my  unalterable  determination." 
He  was  a  prominent  figure  in  congress  and 
advocated  the  movement  for  independence 
when  a  majority  of  the  members  were  in- 
clined to  temporize  and  to  petition  the  King. 
In  May,  1776,  he  presented  a  resolution  in 
congress  that  the  colonies  should  assume 
the  duty  of  self-government,  which  was 
passed.  In  June,  of  the  same  year,  a  reso- 
lution that  the  United  States  "are,  and  of 
right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent," 
was  moved  by  Richard  H.  Lee,  seconded  by 
Mr.  Adams  and  adopted  by  a  small  majority. 
Mr.  Adams  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
of  five  appointed  June  1 1  to  prepare  a 
declaration  of  independence,  in  support  of 
wliich  he  made  an  eloquent  speech.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  War  in  1776  and 
in  1 778  was  sent  as  commissioner  to  France, 
but  returned  the  following  year.  In  1780 
he  went  to  Europe,  having  been  appointed 
as  minister  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace 
and  commerce  with  Great  Britain.  Con- 
jointly with  Franklin  and  Jay  he  negotiated 
a  treaty  in  1782.  He  was  employed  as  a 
minister  to  the  Court  of  St.  James  from 
1785  to  1788,  and  during  that  period  wrote 
his  famous  "Defence  of  the  American  Con- 
stitutions." In  1789  he  became  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  was  re-elected 
in  1792. 

In  1796   Mr.    Adams  was  chosen   presi- 


26 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


dent  of  the  United  States,  his  competitor 
being  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  became  vice- 
president.  In  1800  he  was  the  Federal 
candidate  for  president,  but  he  was  not 
cordially  supported  by  Gen.  Hamilton,  the 
favorite  leader  of  his  party,  and  was  de- 
feated by  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Adams  then  retired  from  public  life 
to  his  large  estate  at  Quincy,  Mass.,  where 
he  died  July  4,  1826,  on  the  same  day  that 
witnessed  the  death  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 
Though  his  physical  frame  began  to  give  way 
many  years  before  his  death,  his  mental 
powers  retained  their  strength  and  vigor  to 
the  last.  In  his  ninetieth  year  he  was  glad- 
dened by  .the  elevation  of  his  son,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  to  the  presidential  office. 


HENRY  WARD  BEECHER,  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  American  preachers 
and  authors,  was  born  at  Litchfield,  Connec- 
ticut, June  24, 18 13.  His  father  was  Dr.  Ly- 
man Beecher,  also  an  eminent  divine.  At 
an  early  age  Henry  Ward  Beecher  had  a 
strong  predilection  for  a  sea-faring  life,  and 
it  was  practically  decided  that  he  would  fol- 
low this  inclination,  but  about  this  time,  in 
consequence  of  deep  religious  impressions 
which  he  experienced  during  a  revival,  he 
renounced  his  former  intention  and  decided 
to  enter  the  ministry.  After  having  grad- 
uated at  Amherst  College,  in  1834,  he  stud- 
ied theology  at  Lane  Seminary  under  the 
tuition  of  liis  father,  who  was  then  president 
of  that  institution.  In  1847  he  became  pas- 
tor of  the  Plymouth  Congregational  church 
in  Brooklyn,  where  his  oratorical  ability  and 
original  eloquence  attracted  one  of  the  larg- 
est congregations  in  the  country.  He  con- 
tinued to  served  this  church  until  the  time 
of  his  death,  March  8,  1887.  Mr.  Beecher 
also  found  time  for  a  great  amount  of  liter- 
ary work-      For  a  number  of  years  he  was 


editor  of  the  "Independent"  and  also  the 
"  Christian  Union.  "  He  also  produced  many 
works  which  are  widely  known.  Among  his 
principal  productions  are  '  'Lectures  to  Young 
Men,"  "  Star  Papers, "  "Life  of  Christ," 
"Life  Thoughts,"  "Royal  Truths"  (a 
novel),  "Norwood,"  "  Evolution  and  Rev- 
olution," and  "  Sermons  on  Evolution  and 
Religion."  Mr.  Beecher  was  also  long  a 
prominent  advocate  of  anti-slavery  princi- 
ples and  temperance  reform,  and,  at  a  later 
period,  of  the  rights  of  women. 


JOHN  A.  LOGAN,  the  illustrious  states- 
man and  general,  was  born  in  Jackson 
county,  Illinois,  February  9,  1824.  In  his 
boyhood  days  he  received  but  a  limited  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  county. 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  Mexico 
he  enlisted  in  the  First  Illinois  Volunteers 
and  became  its  quartermaster.  At  the  close 
of  hostilities  he  returned  home  and  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  courts  of  Jackson  county 
in  1849.  Determining  to  supplement  his 
education  Logan  entered  the  Louisville  Uni- 
versity, from  which  he  graduated  in  1852 
and  taking  up  the  study  of  law  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  He  attained  popularity  and  suc- 
cess in  his  chosen  profession  and  was  elected 
to  the  legislature  in  1852,  1853,  1856  and 
1857.  He  was  prosecuting  attorney  from 
1853  to  1857.  He  was  elected  to  congress- 
in  1858  to  fill  a  vacancy  and  again  in  i860. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion,  Logan  re- 
signed his  office  and  entered  the  army,  and 
in  September,  1861,  was  appointed  colonel 
of  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  which  he 
led  in  the  battles  of  Belmont  and  Fort  Don- 
elson.  In  the  latter  engagement  he  was 
wounded.  In  March,  1862,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  be  brigadier-general  and  in  the 
following  month  participated  in  the  battles 
of  Pittsburg  Landing.     In  November,  1S62,. 


CUMPEXDJUM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


29- 


for  gallant  conduct  he  was  made  major-gen- 
eral. Throughout  the  Vicksburg  campaign 
he  was  in  command  of  a  division  of  the  Sev- 
enteenth Corps  and  was  distinguished  at 
Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hills  and  in  the 
siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg.  In  October, 
1863,  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  which  he  led  with  great 
credit.  During  the  terrible  conflict  before 
Atlanta,  July  22,  1864,  on  the  death  of 
General  McPherson,  Logan,  assuming  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  led  it 
on  to  victory,  saving  the  day  by  his  energy 
and  ability.  He  was  shortly  after  succeeded 
by  General  O.  O.  Howard  and  returned  to 
the  command  of  his  corps.  He  remained 
in  command  until  the  presidential  election, 
when,  feeling  that  his  influence  was  needed 
at  home  he  returned  thither  and  there  re- 
mained until  the  arrival  of  Sherman  at  Sa- 
vannah, when  General  Logan  rejoined  his 
command.  In  May,  1865,  he  succeeded 
General  Howard  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee.  He  resigned  from  the  army 
in  August,  the  same  year,  and  in  November 
was  appointed  minister  to  Me.xico,  but  de- 
clined the  honor.  He  served  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  fortieth  and  forty-first  con- 
gresses, and  was  elected  United  States  sena- 
tor from  his  native  state  in  1870,  1878  and 
1885.  He  was  nominated  for  the  vice-presi- 
dency in  1884  on  the  ticket  with  Blaine,  but 
was  defeated.  General  Logan  was  the 
author  of  "The  Great  Conspiracy,  its  origin 
and  history,"  published  in  1885.  He  died 
at  Washington,  December  26,  1886. 


JOHN  CHARLES  FREMONT,  the  first 
Republican  candidate  for  president,  was 
born  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  January  21, 
1S13.  He  graduated  from  Charleston  Col- 
lege (South  Carolina)  in  1S30,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  civil  engineering.   He  was  shortly 


afterward  employed  in  the  department  of 
government  surveys  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
constructing  maps  of  that  region.  He  was 
made  lieutenant  of  engineers,  and  laid  be- 
fore the  war  department  a  plan  for  p:  ne- 
trating  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions,  which 
was  accepted,  and  in  1842  he  set  out  upon 
his  first  famous  exploring  e.xpedition  and  ex- 
plored the  South  Pass.  He  also  planned  an 
expedition  to  Oregon  by  a  new  route  further 
south,  but  afterward  joined  his  expedition 
with  that  of  Wilkes  in  the  region  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake.  He  made  a  later  expedi- 
tion which  penetrated  the  Sierra  Nevadas, 
and  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento  river 
valleys,  making  maps  of  all  regions  explored. 
In  1845  he  conducted  the  great  expedi- 
tion which  resulted  in  the  acquisition  of 
California,  which  it  was  believed  the  Mexi- 
can government  was  about  to  dispose  of  to 
England.  Learning  that  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernor was  preparing  to  attack  the  American 
settlements  in  his  dominion,  Fremont  deter- 
mined to  forestall  him.  The  settlers  rallied 
to  his  camp,  and  in  June,  1846,  he  defeated 
the  Mexican  forces  at  Sonoma  Pass,  and  a 
month  later  completely  routed  the  governor 
and  his  entire  army.  The  Americans  at 
once  declared  their  independence  of  Mexico, 
and  Fremont  was  elected  governor  of  Cali- 
fornia. By  this  time  Commodore  Stockton 
had  reached  the  coast  with  instructions  from 
Washington  to  conquer  California.  Fre- 
mont at  once  joined  him  in  that  effort,  which 
resulted  in  the  annexation  of  California  with 
its  untold  mineral  wealth.  Later  Fremont 
became  involved  in  a  difficulty  with  fellow 
officers  which  resulted  in  a  court  martial, 
and  the  surrender  of  his  commission.  He 
declined  to  accept  reinstatement.  He  af- 
terward laid  out  a  great  road  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  to  San  Francisco,  and  became 
the  first  United  States  senator  from  Califor- 


t80 


COMPEXDILM   OF    JUOGRA Pi: }'. 


nia,  in  1S49.  In  1856  he  was  nominated 
hy  the  new  Republican  party  as  its  first  can- 
didate for  president  against  Buchanan,  and 
received  114  electoral  votes,  out  of  296. 

In  1 861  he  was  made  major-general  and 
placed  in  charge  of  the  western  department. 
He  planned  the  reclaiming  of  the  entire 
Mississippi  valley,  and  gathered  an  army  of 
thirty  thousand  men,  with  plenty  of  artil- 
lery, and  was  ready  to  move  upon  the  con- 
federate General  Price,  when  he  was  de- 
prived of  his  command.  He  was  nominated 
for  the  presidency  at  Cincinnati  in  1864,  but 
withdrew.  He  was  governor  of  Arizona  in 
1878,  holding  the  position  four  years.  He 
was  interested  in  an  engineering  enterprise 
looking  toward  a  gre'at  southern  trans-con- 
tinental railroad,  and  in  his  later  years  also 
practiced  law  in  New  York.  He  died  Jul}-  1 3, 
1890. 

WENDELL  PHILLIPS,  the  orator  and 
abolitionist,  and  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  American  history,  was  born  November 
29,  181 1,  at  Boston,  Massachusetts.  He 
received  a  good  education  at  Plarvard 
College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1831, 
and  then  entered  the  Cambridge  Law  School . 
After  completing  his  course  in  that  institu- 
tion, in  1833,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
in  1834,  at  Suffolk.  He  entered  the  arena 
of  life  at  the  time  when  the  forces  of  lib- 
erty and  slavery  had  already  begun  their 
struggle  that  was  to  culminate  in  the  Civil 
war.  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  by  his  clear- 
headed, courageous  declarations  of  the  anti- 
slavery  principles,  had  done  much  to  bring 
about  this  struggle.  Mr.  Phillips  was  not  a 
man  that  could  stand  aside  and  see  a  great 
struggle  being  carried  on  in  the  interest  of 
humanity  and  look  passively  on.  He  first 
iittracted  attention  as  an  orator  in  1837,  at 
a  meeting  that  was  called  to  protest  against 


the  murder  of  the  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy. 
The  meeting  would  have  ended  in  a  few 
perfunctory  resolutions  had  not  Mr.  Phillips 
by  his  manly  eloquence  taken  the  meeting 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  few  that  were  in- 
clined to  temporize  and  avoid  radical  utter- 
ances. Having  once  started  out  in  this  ca- 
reer as  an  abolitionist  Phillips  never  swerved 
from  what  he  deemed  his  duty,  and  never 
turned  br.ck.  He  gave  up  his  legal  practice, 
and  humched  himself  heart  and  soul  in  the 
movement  for  the  liberation  of  the  slaves. 
He  was  an  orator  of  very  great  ability  and 
by  his  earnest  efforts  and  eloquence  he  did 
much  in  arousing  public  sentiment  in  behalf 
of  the  anti-slavery  cause — possibly  more 
than  any  one  man  of  his  time.  After  the 
abolition  of  slavery  Mr.  Phillips  was,  if  pos- 
sible, even  busier  than  before  m  the  literary 
and  lecture  field.  Besides  temperance  and 
women's  rights,  he  lectured  often  and  wrote 
m,uch  on  finance,  and  the  relations  of  labor 
and  capital,  and  his  utterances  on  whatever 
subject  alwaj's  bore  the  stamp  of  having 
emanated  from  a  master  mind.  Eminent 
critics  have  stated  that  it  might  fairly  be 
questioned  whether  there  has  ever  spoken 
in  America  an  orator  superior  to  Phillips. 
The  death  of  this  great  man  occurred  Feb- 
ruary 4,   1884. 


WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN 
was  one  of  the  greatest  generals  that 
the  world  has  ever  produced  and  won  im- 
mortal fame  by  that  strategic  and  famous 
"  march  to  the  Sea,"  in  the  war  of  the  Re- 
bellion. He  was  born  February  8,  1820,  at 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  and  was  reared  in  the 
family  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  as  his 
father  died  when  he  was  but  nine  years  of 
age.  He  entered  West  Point  in  1836,  was 
graduated  from  the  same  in  1840,  and  ap- 
pointed   a   second    lieutenant    in    the    Third 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


311 


Artillery.  He  passed  through  the  various 
grades  of  the  service  and  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  war  was  appointed  colonel  of  the 
Thirteenth  Regular  Infantry.  A  full  history 
of  General  Sherman's  conspicuous  services 
would  be  to  repeat  a  history  of  the  army. 
He  c  inmanded  a  division  at  Shiloh,  and 
W'as  instrumental  in  the  winning  of  that  bat- 
tle, and  WHS  also  present  at  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg.  On  July  4,  1863,  he  was  appointed 
brigadier-general  of  the  regular  army,  and 
shared  with  Hooker  the  victory  of  Mission- 
ary Ridge.  He  was  commander  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  Tennessee  from  October 
27th  until  the  appjintment  of  General 
Grant  as  lieutenant-general,  by  whom  he 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  Mississippi,  which  he  as- 
sumed in  March,  1864.  He  at  once  began 
organizing  the  army  and  enlarging  his  com- 
munications preparatory  to  his  march  upon 
Atlanta,  which  he  started  the  same  time  of 
the  beginning  of  the  Richmond  campaign  by 
Grant.  He  started  on  May  6,  and  was  op- 
posed by  Johnston,  who  had  fifty  thousand 
men,  but  by  consummate  generalship,  he 
cnpturtd  Atlanta,  on  September  2,  after 
Several  months  of  hard  fighting  and  a  severe 
loss  of  men.  General  Sherman  started  on 
his  famous  march  to  the  sea  November  15, 
1864,  and  by  December  10  he  was  before 
Savannah,  which  he  took  on  December  23. 
This  campaign  is  a  monument  to  the  genius 
of  General  Sherman  as  he  only  lost  567 
men  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea.  After  rest- 
ing his  army  he  moved  northward  and  occu- 
pied the  following  places:  Columbia, 
Cheraw.  Fayetteville,  Ayersboro,  Benton- 
ville,  Goldsboro,  Raleigh,  and  April  18,  he 
accepted  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army 
on  a  basis  of  agreement  that  was  not  re- 
ceived by  the  Government  with  favor,  but 
finally  accorded  Johnston  the  same  terms  as 


Lee  was  given  by  General  Grant.  He  was 
present  at  the  grand  review  at  Washington, 
and  after  the  close  of  the  war  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  military  division  of 
the  Mississippi;  later  was  appointed  lieu- 
tenant-general, and  assigned  to  the  militar}' 
division  of  the  Missouri.  When  General 
Grant  was  elected  president  Sherman  became 
general,  March  4,  1869,  and  succeeded  tO' 
the  command  of  the  army.  His  death  oc- 
curred  February    14,   1891,  at  Washington. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  early  American 
statesmen  and  financiers,  was  born  in  Nevis, 
an  island  of  the  West  Indies,  January  11, 
1757,  his  father  being.a  Scotchman  and  his 
mother  of  Huguenot  descent.  Owing  to  the 
death  of  his  mother  and  business  reverses 
which  came  to  his  father,  young  Hamilton 
was  sjnt  to  his  mother's  relatives  in  Santa 
Cruz;  a  few  years  later  was  sent  to  a  gram- 
mar school  at  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey, 
and  in  1773  entered  what  is  now  known  as 
Columbia  College.  Even  at  that  time  he 
began  taking  an  active  part  in  public  affairs 
and  his  speeches,  pamphlets,  and  newspaper 
articles  on  political  affairs  of  the  day  at- 
tracted considerable  attention.  In  1776  he 
received  a  captain's  commission  and  served 
in  Washington's  army  with  credit,  becoming 
aide-de-camp  to  \\'ashington  with  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel.  In  1781  he  resigned  his 
commission  because  of  a  rebuke  from  Gen- 
eral Washington.  He  next  received  com- 
mand of  a  New  York  battalion  and  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Yorktown.  After 
this  Hamilton  studied  law,  served  several 
terms  in  congress  and  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  at  which  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion was  drawn  up.  His  work  connected 
with  "The  Federalist"  at  about  this  time 
attracted    much    attention.      Mr.    Hamilton 


COMPEXDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


was  chosen  as  the  first  secretary  of  the 
United  States  treasury  and  as  such  was  the 
author  of  the  funding  system  and  founder  of 
the  United  States  Bank.  In  1798  he  was 
made  inspector-general  of  the  army  with  the 
rank  of  major-general  and  was  also  for  a 
short  time  commander-in-chief.  In  1804 
Aaron  Burr,  then  candidate  for  governor  of 
New  York,  challenged  Alexander  Hamilton 
to  fight  a  duel.  Burr  attributing  his  defeat 
to  Hamilton's  opposition,  and  Hamilton, 
though  declaring  the  code  as  a  relic  of  bar- 
barism, accepted  the  challenge.  They  met 
at  Weehawken,  New  Jersey,  July  11,  1804. 
Hamilton  declined  to  fire  at  his  adversary, 
but  at  Burr's  first  fire  was  fatally  wounded 
-and  died  July  12,   1804. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  STEPH- 
ENS, vice-president  of  the  southern 
confederacy,  a  former  United  States  senator 
and  governor  of  Georgia,  ranks  among  the 
great  men  of  American  history.  He  was  born 
February  11,  18 12,  near  Crawfordsville, 
Georgia.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia,  and  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1834.  In  1837  he  made  his  debut  in 
political  life  as  a  member  of  the  state  house 
of  representatives,  and  in  1841  declined  the 
nomination  for  the  same  office;  but  in  1842 
he  was  chosen  by  the  same  constituency  as 
state  senator.  Mr.  Stephens  was  one  of 
the  promoters  of  the  Western  and  Atlantic 
Railroad.  In  1843  he  was  sent  by  his  dis- 
trict to  the  national  house  of  representatives, 
which  office  he  held  for  sixteen  consec- 
utive years.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
house  during  the  passing  of  the  Compromise 
Bill,  and  was  one  of  its  ablest  and  most 
active  supporters.  The  same  year  (1850) 
Mr.  Stephens  was  a  delegate  to  the  state 
convention  that  framed  the  celebrated 
"  Georgia  Platform,"  and  was  also   a  dele- 


gate to  the  convention' that  passed  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession,  though  he  bitterly  op- 
posed that  bill  by  voice  and  vote,  yet  he 
readily  acquiesced  in  their  decision  after 
it  received  the  votes  of  the  majority  of  the 
convention.  He  was  chosen  vice-president 
of  the  confederacy  without  opposition,  and 
in  1865  he  was  the  head  of  the  commis- 
sion sent  by  the  south  to  the  Hampton 
Roads  conference.  He  was  arrested  after 
the  fall  of  the  confederacy  and  was  con- 
fined in  Fort  Warren  as  a  prisoner  of  state 
but  was  released  on  his  own  parole.  Mr. 
Stephens  was  elected  to  the  forty-third, 
forty-fourth,  forty-fifth,  forty-sixth  and  for- 
ty-seventh congresses,  with  hardly  more  than 
nominal  opposition.  He  was  one  of  the 
Jeffersonian  school  of  American  politics. 
He  wrote  a  number  of  works,  principal 
among  which  are:  "Constitutional  View 
of  the  War  between  the  States,"  and  a 
' '  Compendium  of  the  History  of  the  United 
States."  He  was  inaugurated  as  governor 
of  Georgia  November  4th,  1882,  but  died 
March  4,  1883,  before  the  completion  of 
his  term. 

ROSCOE  CONKLING  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  and  famous  of  American 
statesmen.  He  was  among  the  most  fin- 
ished, fluent  and  eloquent  orators  that  have 
ever  graced  the  halls  of  the  American  con- 
gress; ever  ready,  witty  and  bitter  in  de- 
bate he  was  at  once  admired  and  feared  by 
his  political  opponents  and  revered  by  his 
followers.  True  to  his  friends,  loyal  to  the 
last  degree  to  those  with  whom  his  inter- 
ests were  associated,  he  was  unsparing  to  his 
foes  and  it  is  said  "never  forgot  an  injury." 
Roscoe  Conkling  was  born  at  Albany, 
New  York,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1829, 
being  a  son  of  Alfred  Conkling.  Alfred 
Conkling  was  also   a   native   of  New  York, 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHf. 


33 


born  at  East  Hampton,  October  12,  1789, 
and  became  one  of  the  most  eminent  law- 
yers in  the  Empire  state;  pubhshed  several 
legal  works;  served  a  term  in  congress;  aft- 
erward as  United  States  district  judge  for 
Northern  New  York,  and  in  1852  was  min- 
ister to  Mexico.  Alfred  Conkling  died  in 
1874. 

Roscoe  Conkling,  whose  name  heads 
this  article,  at  an  early  age  took  up  the 
study  of  law  and  soon  became  successful  and 
prominent  at  the  bar.  About  1846  he  re- 
moved to  Utica  and  in  1858  was  elected 
mayor  of  that  city.  He  was  elected  repre- 
sentative in  congress  from  this  district  and 
was  re-elected  three  times.  In  1867  he  was 
elected  United  States  senator  from  the  state 
of  New  York  and  was  re-elected  in  1873 
and  1S79.  In  May,  1881,  he  resigned  on 
account  of  differences  with  the  president. 
In  March,  1882,  he  was  appointed  and  con- 
firmed as  associate  justice  of  the  United 
States  supreme  court  but  declined  to  serve. 
His  death  occurred  April  18,   1888. 


'ASHINGTON  IRVING,  one  of  the 
most  eminent,  talented  and  popu- 
lar of  American  authors,  was  born  in  New 
York  City,  April  3,  1783.  His  father  was 
William  Irving,  a  merchant  and  a  native  of 
Scotland,  who  had  married  an  English  lady 
and  emigrated  to  America  some  twenty 
years  prior  to  the  birth  of  Washington. 
Two  of  the  older  sons,  William  and  Peter, 
were  partially  occupied  with  newspaper 
work  and  literary  pursuits,  and  this  fact 
naturally  inclined  Washington  to  follow 
their  example.  Washington  Irving  was  given 
the  advantages  afforded  by  the  common 
schools  until  about  sixteen  years  of  age 
when  he  began  studying  law,  but  continued 
to  acquire  his  literary  training  by  diligent 
perusal  at  home  of  the  older  English  writers. 


When  nineteen  he  made  his  first  literary 
venture  by  printing  in  the  "Morning Chroni- 
cle," then  edited  by  his  brother,  Dr.  Peter 
Irving,  a  series  of  local  sketches  under  the 
noui-dc-phimc  oi  "  Jonathan  Oldstyle."  In 
1804  he  began  an  extensive  trip  through 
Europe,  returned  in  1806,  quickly  com- 
pleted his  legal  studies  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  but  never  practiced  the  profession. 
In  1807  he  began  the  amusing  serial  "Sal- 
magundi," which  had  an  immediate  suc- 
cess, and  not  only  decided  his  future 
career  but  long  determined  the  charac- 
ter of  his  writings.  In  1808,  assisted  by 
his  brother  Peter,  he  wrote  "Knickerbock- 
er's History  of  New  York,"  and  in  18 10  an 
excellent  biography  of  Campbell,  the  poet. 
After  this,  for  some  time,  Irving's  attention 
was  occupied  by  mercantile  interests,  but 
the  commercial  house  in  which  he  was  a 
partner  failed  in  1817.  In  1814  he  was 
editor  of  the  Philadelphia  "Analectic  Maga- 
zine." About  1818  appeared  his  "  Sketch- 
Book, "  over  the  noin-de-pluinc  of  '  'Geoffrey 
Crayon,"  which  laid  the  foundation  of  Ir- 
ving's fortune  and  permanent  fame.  This 
was  soon  followed  by  the  legends  of 
"Sleepy  Hollow,"  and  "  Rip  Van  Winkle," 
which  at  once  took  high  rank  as  literary 
productions,  and  Irving's  reputation  was 
firmly  established  in  both  the  old  and  new 
worlds.  After  this  the  path  of  Irving  was 
smooth,  and  his  subsequent  writings  ap- 
peared with  rapidity,  including  "Brace- 
bridge  Hall,"  "The  Tales  of  a  Traveler," 
"  History  of  the  Life  and  Voyages  of  Chris- 
topher Columbus,"  "The  Conquest  of 
Granada,"  "The  Alhambra, "  "  Tour  on 
the  Prairies,"  "Astoria,"  "Adventures  oi 
Captain  Bonneville,"  "Wolfert's  Roost," 
"  Mahomet  and  his  Successors,"  and  "Life 
of  Washington,"  besides  other  works. 

Washington  Irving  was  never  married. 


84 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


He  resided  during  the  closing  years  of  iiis 
life  at  Sunnyside  (Tarrytown)  on  the  Hud- 
son, where  he  died  November  28,  1859. 


CHARLES  SUMNER.— Boldly  outlined 
on  the  pages  of  our  history  stands  out 
the  rugged  figure  of  Charles  Sumner,  states- 
man, lawyer  and  writer.  A  man  of  unim- 
peachable integrity,  indomitable  will  and 
with  the  power  of  tireless  toil,  he  was  a  fit 
leader  in  troublous  times.  First  in  rank  as 
an  anti-slavery  leader  in  the  halls  of  con- 
gress, he  has  stamped  his  image  upon  the 
annals  of  his  time.  As  an  orator  he  took 
front  rank  and,  in  wealth  of  illustration, 
rhetoric  and  lofty  tone  his  eloquence  equals 
anything  to  be  found  in  history. 

Charles  Sumner  was  born  in  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  January  6,  181 1,  and  was 
the  son  of  Charles  P.  and  Relief  J.  Sumner. 
The  family  had  long  been  prominent  in  that 
state.  Charles  was  educated  at  the  Boston 
Public  Latin  School;  entered  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1826,  and  graduated  therefrom  in 
1830.  In  I  83  I  he  joined  the  Harvard  Law 
School,  then  under  charge  of  Judge  Story, 
and  gave  himself  up  to  the  study  of  law 
with  enthusiasm.  His  leisure  was  devoted 
to  contributing  to  the  American  Jurist.  Ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1834  he  was  appointed 
reporter  to  the  circuit  court  by  Judge  Story. 
He  published  several  works  about  this  time, 
and  from  1S35  to  1837  and  again  in  1843 
was  lecturer  in  the  law  school.  He  had 
planned  a  lawyer's  life,  but  in  1845  he  gave 
his  attention  to  politics,  speaking  and  working 
against  the  admission  of  Texas  to  the  Union 
and  subsequently  against  the  Mexican  war. 
In  1848  he  was  defeated  for  congress  on  the 
Free  Soil  ticket.  His  stand  on  the  anti- 
slavery  question  at  that  time  alienated  both 
friends  and  clients,  but  he  never  swerved 
from  his  convictions.    In  185 1  he  was  elected 


to  the  United  States  senate  and  took  his 
seat  therein  December  i  of  that  year.  From 
this  time  his  life  became  the  history  of  the 
anti-slavery  cause  in  congress.  In  August, 
1852,  he  began  his  attacks  on  slavery  by  a 
masterly  argument  for  the  repeal  of  the 
fugitive  slave  law.  On  May  22,  1856,  Pres- 
ton Brooks,  nephew  of  Senator  Butler,  of 
South  Carolina,  made  an  attack  upon  Mr. 
Sumner,  at  his  desk  in  the  senate,  striking 
him  over  the  head  with  a  heavy  cane.  The 
attack  was  quite  serious  in  its  effects  and 
kept  Mr.  Sumner  absent  from  his  seat  in  the 
senate  for  about  four  years.  In  1857,  1863 
and  1869  he  was  re-elected  to  the  office  of 
senator,  passing  some  twenty-three  years  in 
that  position,  always  advocating  the  rights 
of  freedom  and  equity.  He  died  March  il, 
1874.  

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  the  third  pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  was  born 
near  Charlottesville,  Albemarle  county,  Vir- 
ginia, April  13,  1743,  and  was  the  son  of 
Peter  and  Jane  (Randolph)  Jefferson.  He 
received  the  elements  of  a  good  education, 
and  in  1760  entered  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege. After  remaining  in  that  institution  for 
two  years  he  took  up  the  study  of  law  with 
George  Wythe,  of  Williamsburg,  Virginia, 
one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  his  day,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  1767.  He  ob- 
tained a  large  and  profitable  practice,  which 
he  held  for  eight  years.  The  conflict  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies  then 
drew  him  into  public  life,  he  having  for 
some  time  given  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  the  sources  of  law,  the  origin  of  liberty 
and  equal  rights. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  to  the  Virginia 
house  of  burgesses  in  1769,  and  served  in 
that  body  several  years,  a  firm  supporter  of 
liberal    measures,    and,    although    a    slave- 


co^IPEXDlc^^  of  nioGRAriir 


85 


holder  himself,  an  opponent  of  slavery. 
With  others,  he  was  a  leader  among  the  op- 
positi-^n  to  the  king.  He  took  his  place  as 
a  •  ^t  of  the  Continental  congress  June 

75,  and  after  serving  on  several  com- 
mittees was  appointed  to  draught  a  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  which  he  did,  some 
corrections  being  suggested  by  Dr.  Franklin 
and  John  Adams.  This  document  was  pre- 
sented to  congress  June  28,  1776,  and  after 
six  days'  debate  was  passed  and  was  signed. 
In  the  following  September  Mr.  Jefferson 
resumed  his  seat  in  the  Virginia  legislature, 
,  and  gave  much  time  to  the  adapting  of  laws 
of  that  state  to  the  new  condition  of  things. 
He  drew  up  the  law,  the  first  ever  passed  by 
a  legislature  or  adopted  by  a  government, 
which  secured  perfect  religious  freedom. 
June  I,  1779,  he  succeeded  Patrick  Henry 
as  governor  of  Virginia,  an  office  which, 
after  co-operating  with  Washington  in  de- 
fending the  country,  he  resigned  two  years 
later.  One  of  his  own  estates  was  ravaged 
by  the  British,  and  his  house  at  Monticello 
was  held  by  Tarleton  for  several  days,  and 
Jefferson  narrowly  escaped  capture.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1782,  he  accepted 
the  position  of  plenipotentiary  to  France, 
which  he  had  declined  in  1776.  Before 
leaving  he  served  a  short  time  in  congress 
at  Annapolis,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  a 
bill  for  establishing  our  present  decimal  sys- 
tem of  currency,  one  of  his  most  useful  pub- 
lic services.  He  remained  in  an  official  ca- 
pacity until  October,  1789,  and  was  a  most 
active  and  vigilant  minister.  Besides  the 
onerous  duties  of  his  office,  during  this  time, 
he  published  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  sent  to 
the  United  States  seeds,  shrubs  and  plants, 
forwarded  literary  and  scientific  news  and 
gave  useful  advice  to  some  of  the  leaders  of 
the  French  Revolution. 

Mr.  Jefferson  landed  in  Virginia  Novem- 


ber 18,  1789,  having  obtained  a  leave  of 
absence  from  his  post,  and  shortly  after  ac- 
cepted Washington's  offer  of  the  portfolio 
of  the  department  of  state  in  his  cabinet. 
He  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  in 
March,  1791,  and  held  it  until  January  i^ 
1794,  when  he  tendered  his  resignation^ 
About  this  time  he  and  Alexander  Hamilton 
became  decided  and  aggressive  political  op- 
ponents, Jefferson  being  in  warm  sympathy 
with  the  people  in  the  French  revolation 
and  strongly  democratic  in  his  feelings, 
while  Hamilton  took  the  opposite  side.  In 
1796  Jefferson  was  elected  vice-president  of 
the  United  States.  In  1800  he  was  elected 
to  the  presidency  and  was  inaugurated 
March  4,  1801.  During  his  administration, 
which  lasted  for  eight  years,  he  having  been 
re-elected  in  1804,  he  waged  a  successful 
war  against  the  Tripolitan  pirates;  purchased 
Louisiana  of  Napoleon;  reduced  the  public 
debt,  and  was  the  originator  of  many  wise 
measures.  Declining  a  nomination  for  a 
third  term  he  returned  to  Monticello,  where 
he  died  July  4,  1826,  but  a  few  hours  before. 
the  death  of  his  friend,  John  Adams. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  married  January  i, 
1772,  to  Mrs.  Martha  Skelton,  a  young, 
beautiful,  and  wealthy  widow,  who  died 
September  6,  1782,  leaving  three  children, 
three  more  having  died  previous  to  her 
demise. 


CORNELIUS  VANDERBILT,known  as 
"Commodore"  Vanderbilt,  was  the 
founder  of  what  constitutes  the  present  im- 
mense fortune  of  the  Vanderbilt  family.  He 
was  born  May  27,  1794,  at  Port  Richmond, 
Staten  Island,  Richmond  count}',  New 
York,  and  we  find  him  at  sixteen  years  run- 
ning a  small  vessel  between  his  home  and 
New  York  City.  The  fortifications  of  Sta- 
ten and  Long  Islands  were  just  in  course  of 


86 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


construction,  and  lie  carried  tlie  laborers 
from  New  York  to  the  fortifications  in  his 
"  perianger,  "  as  it  was  called,  in  the  day, 
and  at  night  carried  supplies  to  the  fort  on 
the  Hudson.  Later  he  removed  to  New 
York,  where  he  added  to  his  little  fleet.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-three  he  was  free  from 
•debt  and  was  worth  $9,000,  and  in  1817, 
with  a  partner  he  built  the  first  steamboat 
that  was  run  between  New  York  and  New 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  became  her 
captain  at  a  salary  of  $1,000  a  year.  The 
next  year  he  took  command  of  a  larger  and 
better  boat  and  by  1824  he  was  in  complete 
control  of  the  Gibbon's  Line,  as  it  was 
called,  which  he  had  brought  up  to  a  point 
Avhere  it  paid  $40,000  a  year.  Commodore 
Vanderbilt  acquired  the  ferry  between  New 
York  and  Elizabethport,  New  Jersey,  on  a 
fourteen  years'  lease  and  conducted  this  on 
a  paying  basis.  He  severed. his  connections 
with  Gibbons  in  1829  and  engaged  in 
business  alone  and  for  twenty  years  he  was 
the  leading  steamboat  man  in  the  country, 
building  and  operating  steamboats  on  the 
Hudson  River,  Long  Island  Sound,  on  the 
Delaware  River  and  the  route  to'  Boston, 
and  he  had  the  monopoly  of  trade  on  these 
routes.  In  1850  he  determined  to  broaden 
his  field  of  operation  and  accordingly  built 
the  steamship  Prometheus  and  sailed  for 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  where  he  desired  to 
make  a  personal  investigation  of  the  pros- 
pects of  the  American  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Ship  Canal  Company,  in  which  he  had  pur- 
chased a  controlling  interest.  Commodore 
Vanderbilt  planned,  as  a  result  of  this  visit, 
a  transit  route  from  Greytown  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  to  San  Juan  del  Sud  on  the  Pa- 
cific coast,  which  was  a  saving  of  700  miles 
over  the  old  route.  In  1851  he  placed  three 
steamers  on  the  Atlantic  side  and  four  on 
the  Pacific  side  to  accommodate  the  enor- 


mous traffic  occasioned  by  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California.  The  following  year 
three  more  vessels  were  added  to  his  fleet 
and  a  branch  line  established  from  New 
Orleans  to  Greytown.  In  1853  the  Com- 
modore sold  out  hisNicarauguaTransit  Com- 
pany, which  had  netted  him  $1,000,000 
and  built  the  renowned  steam  yacht,  the 
"  North  Star. "  He  continued  in  the  ship- 
ping business  nine  years  longer  and  accu- 
mulated some  $10,000,000.  In  1861  he 
presented  to  the  government  his  magnifi- 
cent steamer  "  Vanderbilt,  "  which  had  cost 
him  $800,000  and  for  which  he  received  the 
thanks  of  congress.  In  1844  he  became 
interested  in  the  railroad  business  which  he 
followed  in  later  years  and  became  one  of 
the  greatest  railroad  magnates  of  his  time. 
He  founded  the  Vanderbilt  University  at  a 
cost  of  $1,000,000.  He  died  January  4, 
1877,  leaving  a  fortune  estimated  at  over 
$100,000,000  to  his  children. 


ANIEL  BOONE  v/as  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  many  American  scouts, 
pioneers  and  hunters  which  the  early  settle- 
ment of  the  western  states  brought  into 
prominence.  Daniel  Boone  was  born  Feb- 
ruary II,  1735,  in  Bucks  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  while  yet  a  young  man  removed 
to  North  Carolina,  where  he  was  married. 
In  1769,  with  five  companions,  he  pene- 
trated into  the  forests  and  wilds  of  Kentucky 
■ — then  uninhabited  by  white  men.  He  had 
frequent  conflicts  with  the  Indians  and  was 
captured  by  them  but  escaped  and  continued 
to  hunt  in  and  explore  that  region  for  over 
a  year,  when,  in  1771,  he  returned  to  his 
home.  In  the  summer  of  1773,  he  removed 
with  his  own  and  five  other  families  into 
what  was  then  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky, 
and  to  defend  his  colony  against  the  savages, 
he  built,  in  1775,  a  fort  at   Boonesborough, 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


37 


on  the  Kentucky  river.  This  fort  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Indians  several  times  in  1777, 
but  they  were  repulsed.  The  following 
year,  however,  Boone  was  surprised  and 
captured  by  them.  They  took  him  to  De- 
troit and  treated  him  with  leniency,  but  he 
soon  escaped  and  returned  to  his  fort  which 
he  defended  with  success  against  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  Indians  in  August,  1778.  His 
son,  Enoch  Boone,  was  the  first  white  male 
child  born  in  the  state  of  Kentucky.  In 
1795  Daniel  Boone  removed  with  his  family 
to  Missouri,  locating  about  forty-five  miles 
west  of  the  present  site  of  St.  Louis,  where 
he  found  fresh  fields  for  his  favorite  pursuits 
— adventure,  hunting,  and  pioneer  life.  His 
death  occurred  September  20,  1820. 


HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFEL- 
LOW, said  to  have  been  America's 
greatest  "  poet  of  the  people,"  was  born  at 
Portland,  Maine,  February  27,  1807.  He 
entered  Bowdoin  College  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen, and  graduated  in  1825.  During  his 
college  days  he  distinguished  himself  in  mod- 
ern languages,  and  wrote  several  short 
poems,  one  of  the  best  known  of  which  was 
the  "Hymn  of  the  Moravian  Nuns."  After 
his  graduation  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
his  father,  but  the  following  year  was  offered 
the  professorship  of  modern  languages  at 
Bowdoin,  with  the  privilege  of  three  years 
study  in  Europe  to  perfect  himself  in  French, 
Spanish,  Italian  and  German.  After  the 
three  years  were  passed  he  returned  to  the 
United  States  and  entered  upon  his  profes- 
sorship in  1829.  His  first  volume  was  a 
small  essay  on  the  "Moral  and  Devotional 
Poetry  of  Spain  "  in  1833.  In  1835  he  pub- 
lished some  prose  sketches  of  travel  under 
the  title  of  "  Outre  Mer,  a  Pilgrimage  be- 
yond the  Sea."  In  1835  he  was  elected  to 
the  chair  of  modern  languages  and  literature 


at  Harvard  University  and  spent  a  year  in 
Denmark,  Sweden  and  Switzerland,  culti- 
vating a  knowledge  of  early  Scandinavian 
literature  and  entered  upon  his  professor- 
ship  in  1836.  Mr.  Longfellow  published  in 
1839  "  Hyperion,  a  Romance,"  and  "Voices 
of  the  Night, "  and  his  first  volume  of  original 
verse  comprising  the  selected  poems  of 
twenty  years  work,  procured  him  immediate 
recognition  as  a  poet.  "  Ballads  and  other 
poems"  appeared  in  1842,  the  "Spanish 
Student  "  a  drama  in  three  acts,  in  1843, 
"The  Belfry  of  Bruges  "  in  1846,  "Evan- 
geline, a  Tale  of  Acadia,"  in  1847,  which 
was  considered  his  master  piece.  In  1845 
he  published  a  large  volume  of  the  "Poets 
and  Poetry  of  Europe,"  1849  "  Kavanagh, 
a  Tale,"  ''The  Seaside  and  Fireside"  in 
1850,  "The  Golden  Legend  "  in  1851,  "The 
Song  of  Hiawatha  "  in  1855,  "  The  Court- 
ship of  Miles  Standish  "  in  1858,  "  Tales  of 
a  Wayside  Inn  "  in  1863;  "  Flower  de  Luce" 
in  1866;"  "New  England  Tragedies"  in 
1869;  "The  Divine  Tragedy"  in  1871; 
"Three  Books  of  Song"  in  1872;  "The 
Hanging  of  the  Crane  "  in  1874.  He  also 
published  a  masterly  translation  of  Dante 
in  1867-70  and  the  "  Morituri  Salutamus," 
a  poem  read  at  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
his  class  at  Bowdoin  College.  Prof.  Long- 
fellow resigned  his  chair  at  Harvard  Univer- 
sity in  1854,  but  continued  to  reside  at  Cam- 
bridge. Some  of  his  poetical  works  have 
been  translated  into  many  languages,  and 
their  popularity  rivals  that  of  the  best  mod- 
ern English  poetry.  He  died  March  24, 
1882,  but  has  left  an  imperishable  fame  as 
one  of  the  foremost  of  American  poets. 


PETER  COOPER  was  in  three  partic- 
ulars— as  a  capitalist  and  manufacturer, 
as  an  inventor,  and  as  a  philanthropist — • 
connected  intimately  with  some  of  the  most 


38 


C0MPEXD7CM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


important  and  useful  accessions  to  the  in- 
dustrial arts  of  America,  its  progress  in  in- 
vention and  the  promotion  of  educational 
and  benevolent  institutions  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  people  at  large.  He  was  born 
in  New  York  city,  February  12,  1791.  His 
life  was  one  of  labor  and  struggle,  as  it  was 
with  most  of  America's  successful  men.  In 
early  boyhood  he  commenced  to  help  his 
father  as  a  manufacturer  of  hats.  He  at- 
tended school  only  for  half  of  each  day  for 
a  single  year,  and  beyond  this  his  acquisi- 
tions were  all  his  own.  When  seventeen 
years  old  he  was  placed  with  John  Wood- 
ward to  learn  the  trade  of  coach-making  and 
served  his  apprenticeship  so  satisfactorily 
that  his  master  oP?red  to  set  him  up  in  busi- 
ness, but  this  he  declined  because  of  the 
debt  and  obligation  it  would  involve. 

The  foundation  of  Mr.  Cooper's  fortune 
was  laid  in  the  invention  of  an  improvement 
in  machines  for  shearing  cloth.  This  was 
largely  called  into  use  during  the  war  of 
1812  with  England  when  all  importations 
of  cloth  from  that  country  were  stopped. 
The  machines  lost  their  value,  however,  on 
the  declaration  of  peace.  Mr.  Cooper  then 
turned  his  shop  into  the  manufacture  of 
cabinet  ware.  He  afterwards  went  into  the 
grocery  business  in  New  York  and  finally  he 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  glue  and  isin- 
glass which  he  carried  on  for  more  than 
fifty  years.  In  1830  he  erected  iron  works 
in  Canton,  near  Baltimore.  Subsequently 
he  erected  a  rolling  and  a  wire  mill  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  which  he  first  success- 
full}'  applied  anthracite  to  the  puddling  of 
iron.  In  these  works,  he  was  the  first  to 
roll  wrought-iron  beams  for  fire-proof  build- 
ings. These  works  grew  to  be  very  exten- 
sive, including  mines,  blast  furnaces,  etc. 
While  in  Baltimore  Mr.  Cooper  built  in 
1830,  after  his  own   designs,  the   first  loco- 


motive engine  ever  constructed  on  this  con- 
tinent and  it  was  successfully  operated  on 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad.  He  also 
took  a  great  interest  and  invested  large  cap- 
ital in  the  extension  of  the  electric  telegraph, 
also  in  the  laying  of  the  first  Atlantic  cable; 
besides  interesting  himself  largely  in  the 
New  York  state  canals.  But  the  most 
cherished  object  of  Mr.  Cooper's  life  was 
the  establishment  of  an  institution  for  the 
instruction  of  the  industrial  classes,  which 
he  carried  out  on  a  magnificent  scale  in  New 
York  city,  where  the  "Cooper  Union" 
ranks  among  the  most  important  institu- 
tions. 

In  May,  1876,  the  Independent  party 
nominated  Mr.  Cooper  for  president  of  the 
United  States,  and  at  the  election  following 
he  received  nearly  100,000  votes.  His 
death  occurred  April  4,  18S3. 


GENERAL  ROBERT  EDWARD  LEE, 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  Confeder- 
ate generals  during  the  Civil  war,  and  one 
of  the  ablest  military  commanders  of  mod- 
ern times,  was  born  at  Stratford  House, 
Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  January  1-9, 
1807.  In  1825  he  entered  the  West  Point 
academy  and  was  graduated  second  in  his 
class  in  1829,  and  attached  to  the  army  as 
second  lieutenant  of  engineers.  For  a 
number  of  years  he  was  thus  engaged  in  en- 
gineering work,  aiding  in  establishing  the 
boundary  line  between  Ohio  and  Michigan, 
and  superintended  various  river  and  harbor 
improvements,  becoming  captain  of  engi- 
neers in  1838.  He  first  saw  field  service  in 
the  Mexican  war,  and  under  General  Scott 
performed  valuable  and  efficient  service. 
In  that  brilliant  campaign  he  was  conspicu- 
ous for  professional  ability  as  well  as  gallant 
and  meritorious  conduct,  winning  in  quick 
succession  the  brevets  of  major,  lieutenant- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir 


39 


colonel,  and  colonel  for  his  part  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Cerro  Gordo,  Contreras,  Cherubusco, 
Chapultepec,  and  in  the  capture  of  the  city 
Mexico.  At  the  close  of  that  war  he  re- 
sumed his  engineering  work  in  connection 
with  defences  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
from  1852  to  1855  was  superintendent  of 
the  Military  Academy,  a  position  which  he 
gave  up  to  become  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Second  Cavalry.  For  several  years  there- 
after he  served  on  the  Texas  border,  but 
happening  to  be  near  Washington  at  the 
time  of  John  Brown's  raid,  October  17  to 
25,  1859,  Colonel  Lee  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  Federal  forces  employed  in  its 
repression.  He  soon  returned  to  his  regi- 
ment in  Texas  where  he  remained  the 
greater  part  of  i860,  and  March  16,  1861, 
became  colonel  of  his  regiment  by  regular 
promotion.  Three  weeks  later,  April  25,  he 
resigned  upon  the  secession  of  Virginia, 
went  at  once  to  Richmond  and  tendered  his 
services  to  the  governor  of  that  state,  being 
by  acclamation  appointed  commander-in- 
chief  of  its  military  and  naval  forces,  with 
the  rank  of  major-general. 

He  at  once  set  to  work  to  organize  and 
develop  the  defensive  resources  of  his  state 
and  within  a  month  directed  the  occupation 
in  force  of  Manassas  Junction.  Meanwhile 
Virginia  having  entered  the  confederacy  and 
Richmond  become  the  capitol,  Lee  became 
one  of  the  foremost  of  its  military  officers 
and  was  closely  connected  with  Jefferson 
Davis  in  planning  the  moves  of  that  tragic 
time.  Lee  participated  in  many  of  the 
hardest  fought  battles  of  the  war  among 
which  were  Fair  Oaks,  White  Lake  Swamps, 
Cold  Harbor,  and  the  Chickahominy,  Ma- 
nassas, Cedar  Run,  Antietam,  Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville,  Malvern  Hill,  Get- 
tysburg, the  battles  of  the  Wilderness  cam- 
paign, all  the  campairns  about  Richmond, 


Petersburg,  Five  Forks,  and  others.  Lee's 
surrender  at  Appomatox  brought  the  war  to 
a  close.  It  is  said  of  General  Lee  that  but 
few  commanders  in  history  have  been  so 
quick  to  detect  the  purposes  of  an  opponent 
or  so  quick  to  act  upon  it.  Never  surpassed, 
if  ever  equaled,  in  the  art  of  winning  the 
passionate,  personal  love  and  admiration  of 
his  troops,  he  acquired  and  held  an  influ- 
ence over  his  army  to  the  very  last,  founded 
upon  a  supreme  trust  in  his  judgment,  pre- 
science and  skill,  coupled  with  his  cool, 
stable,  equable  courage.  A  great  writer  has 
said  of  him:  "x\s  regards  the  proper  meas- 
ure of  General  Lee's  rank  among  the  sol- 
diers of  history,  seeing  what  he  wrought 
with  such  resources  as  he  had,  under  all  the 
disadvantages  that  ever  attended  his  oper- 
ations, it  is  impossible  to  measure  what  he 
might  have  achieved  in  campaigns  and  bat- 
tles with  resources  at  his  own  disposition 
equal  to  those  against  which  he  invariably 
contended." 

Left  at  the  close  of  the  war  without  es- 
tate or  profession,  he  accepted  the  presi- 
dency of  Washington  College  at  Lexington, 
Virginia,  where  he  died  October   12,  1870. 


JOHN  JAY,  first  chief-justice  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  New  York, 
December  12,  1745.  He  took  up  the  study 
of  law,  graduated  from  King's  College 
(Columbia  College),  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1768.  He  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  committee  of  New  York  citizens  to 
protest  against  the  enforcement  by  the 
British  government  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill, 
was  elected  to  the  Continental  congress 
which  met  in  1774,  and  was  author  of  the 
addresses  to  the  people  of  Great  Britian  and 
of  Canada  adopted  by  that  and  the  suc- 
ceeding congress.  He  was  chosen  to  the 
provincial  assembly  of    his    own  state,  and 


40 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


resigned  from  the  Continental  congress  to 
serve  in  that  body,  wrote  most  of  its  public 
papers,  including  the  constitution  of  the  new 
state,  and  was  then  made  chief-justice.  He 
was  again  chosen  as  a  member  of  the  Con- 
tinental congress  in  1778,  and  became  presi- 
dent of  that  body.  He  was  sent  to  Spain 
as  minister  in  1780,  and  his  services  there 
resulted  in  substantial  and  moral  aid  for  the 
struggling  colonists.  Jay,  Franklin,  and 
Adams  negotiated  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
Great  Britain  in  1782,  and  Jay  was  ap- 
pointed secretary  of  foreign  affairs  in  1784, 
and  held  the  position  until  the  adoption  of 
the  Federal  constitution.  During  this  time 
he  had  contributed  strong  articles  to  the 
"Federalist"  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution,  and  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  securing  the  ratification  of  that 
instrument  by  his  state.  He  was  appointed 
by  Washington  as  first  chief-justice  of  the 
United  States  in  1789.  In  this  high  capac- 
ity the  great  interstate  and  international 
questions  that  arose  for  immediate  settle- 
ment came  before  him  for  treatment. 

In  1794,  at  a  time  when  the  people  in 
gratitude  for  the  aid  that  France  had  ex- 
tended to  us,  were  clamoring  for  the  privilege 
of  going  to  the  aid  of  that  nation  in  her 
struggle  with  Great  Britain  and  her  own  op- 
pressors, John  Jay  was  sent  to  England  as 
special  envoy  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with 
that  power.  The  instrument  known  as 
"Jay's  Treaty  "  was  the  result,  and  while 
in  many  of  its  features  it  favored  our  nation, 
yet  the  neutrality  clause  in  it  so  angered  the 
masses  that  it  was  denounced  throughout 
the  entire  country,  and  John  Jay  was  burned 
in  effigy  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The 
treaty  was  finally  ratified  by  Washington, 
and  approved,  in  August,  1795.  Having 
been  elected  governor  of  his  state  for  three 
consecutive   terms,    he     then    retired    from 


active  life,  declining  an  appointment  as 
chief-justice  of  the  supreme  court,  made  by 
John  Adams  and  confirmed  by  the  senate. 
He  died  in  New  York  in  1829. 


PHILLIP  HENRY  SHERIDAN  was 
one  of  the  greatest  American  cavalry 
generals.  He  was  born  March  6,  1831,  at 
Somerset,  Perry  county,  Ohio,  and  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  United  States  Military  Acad- 
emy at  West  Point,  from  which  he  graduat- 
ed and  was  assigned  to  the  First  Infantry  as 
brevet  second  lieutenant  July  i,  1853. 
After  serving  in  Texas,  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
in  Washington  and  Oregon  territories  until 
the  fall  of  1 86 1,  he  was  recalled  to  the 
states  and  assigned  to  the  army  of  south- 
west Missouri  as  chief  quartermaster  from 
the  duties  of  which  he  was  soon  relieved. 
After  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  he  was  quar- 
termaster in  the  Corinth  campaign,  and  on 
May  25  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the 
Second  Michigan  Cavalry.  On  July  i,  in 
command  of  a  cavalry  brigade,  he  defeated 
a  superior  force  of  the  enemy  and  was  com- 
missioned brigadier-general  of  volunteers. 
General  Sheridan  was  then  transferred  to 
the  army  of  the  Ohio,  and  commanded  a 
division  in  the  battle  of  Perrysville  and  also 
did  good  service  at  the  battle  of  Murfrees- 
boro,  where  he  was  commissioned  major- 
general  of  volunteers.  He  fought  with 
great  gallantry  at  Chickamauga,  after  which 
Rosecrans  was  succeeded  by  General  Grant, 
under  whom  Sheridan  fought  the  battle  of 
Chattanooga  and  won  additional  renown. 
Upon  the  promotion  of  Grant  to  lieutenant- 
general,  he  applied  for  the  transfer  of  Gen- 
eral Sheridan  to  the  east,  and  appointed 
him  chief  of  cavalry  in  the  army  of  the 
Potomac.  During  the  campaign  of  1864 
the  cavalry  covered  the  front  and  flanks  of 
the  infantry  until  May  8,  when  it  was  wif.^ 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAriir. 


41 


drawn  and  General  Sheridan  started  on  a 
raid  against  the  Confederate  lines  of  com- 
munication with  Richmond  and  on  May  25 
he  rejoined  the  armj^  having  destroyed  con- 
siderable of  the  confederate  stores  and  de- 
feated their  cavalry  under  General  Stuart  at 
Yellow  Tavern.  The  outer  line  of  defences 
around  Richmond  were  taken,  but  the  sec- 
ond line  was  too  strong  to  be  taken  by  as- 
sault, and  accordingly  Sheridan  crossed  the 
Chickahominy  at  Meadow  Bridge,  reaching 
James  River  May  14,  and  thence  by  White 
House  and  Hanover  Court  House  back  to 
the  army.  The  cavalry  occupied  Cold 
Harbor  May  31,  which  they  held  until  the 
arrival  of  the  infantry.  On  General  Sheri- 
dan's next  raid  he  routed  Wade  Hampton's 
cavalry,  and  August  7  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  Middle  Military  division, 
and  during  the  campaign  of  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley  he  performed  the  unheard  of 
feat  of  "  destroying  an  entire  army."  He 
was  appointed  brigadier-general  of  the  reg- 
ular army  and  for  his  victory  at  Cedar  Creek 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-gen- 
eral. General  Sheridan  started  out  Febru- 
ary 27,  1865,  with  ten  thousand  cavalry 
and  destroyed  the  Virginia  Central  Railroad 
and  the  James  River  Canal  and  joined  the 
army  again  at  Petersburg  March  27.  He 
commanded  at  the  battle  of  Five  Forks,  the 
decisive  victory  which  compelled  Lee  to 
evacuate  Petersburg.  On  April  9,  Lee  tried 
to  break  through  Sheridan's  dismounted 
command  but  when  the  General  drew  aside 
his  cavalry  and  disclosed  the  deep  lines  of 
infantry  the  attempt  was  abandoned.  Gen- 
eral Sheridan  mounted  his  men  and  was  about 
to  charge  when  a  white  flag  was  flown  at  the 
head  of  Lee's  column  which  betokened  the 
surrender  of  the  army.  After  the  war  Gen- 
eral Sheridan  had  command  of  the  army  of 
the  southwest,  of  the  gulf  and   the  depart- 


ment of  Missouri  until  he  was  appointed 
lieutenant-general  and  assigned  to  the  di- 
vision of  Missouri  with  headquarters  at  Chi- 
cago, and  assumed  supreme  command  of 
the  army  November  i,  1883,  which  post  he 
held  until  his  death,  August  5,   1888. 


PHINEAS  T.  BARNUM,  the  greatest 
showman  the  world  has  ever  seen,  was 
born  at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  July  5,  18 10. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  began  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account.  He  opened  a  re- 
tail fruit  and  confectionery  house,  including 
a  barrel  of  ale,  in  one  part  of  an  old  car- 
riage house.  He  spent  fifty  dollars  in  fitting 
up  the  store  and  the  stock  cost  him  seventy 
dollars.  Three  years  later  he  put  in  a  full 
stock,  such  as  is  generally  carried  in  a 
country  store,  and  the  same  year  he  started 
a  Democratic  newspaper,  known  as  the 
"Herald  of  Freedom."  He  soon  found 
himself  in  jail  under  a  sixty  days'  sentence 
for  libel.  During  the  winter  of  1834-5  he 
went  to  New  York  and  began  soliciting  busi- 
ness for  several  Chatham  street  houses.     In 

1835  he  embarked  in  the  show  business  at 
Niblo's  Garden,  having  purchased  the  cele- 
brated "  Joice  Heth"  for  one  thousand  dol- 
lars. He  afterward  engaged  the  celebrated 
athlete,  Sig.  Vivalia,  and  Barnum  made  his 
' '  first  appearance  on  any  stage, "  acting  as  a 
"super"  to  Sig.  Vivalia  on  his  opening 
night.  He  became  ticket  seller,  secretary 
and  treasurer   of  Aaron   Turner's  circus  in 

1836  and  traveled  with  it  about  the  country. 
His  next  venture  was  the  purchase  of  a 
steamboat  on  the  Mississippi,  and  engaged 
a  theatrical  company  to  show  in  the  princi- 
pal towns  along  that  river.  In  1840  he 
opened  Vaux  Hall  Garden,  New  Y^ork,  with 
variety  performances,  and  introduced  the 
celebrated  jig  dancer,  John  Diamond,  to  the 
public.      The   next  year   he   quit   the   show 


42 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArilT. 


business  and  settled  down  in  New  York  as 
agent  of  Sear's  Pictorial  Illustration  of  the 
Bible,  but  a  few  months  later  again  leased 
Vaux  Hall.  In  September  of  the  same  year 
he  again  left  the  business,  and  became 
' '  puff"  writer  for  the  Bowery  Amphitheater. 
In  December  he  bought  the  Scudder  Museum, 
and  a  year  later  introduced  the  celebrated 
Tom  Thumb  to  the  world,  taking  him  to 
England  in  1844,  and  remaining  there  three 
years.  He  then  returned  to  New  York,  and 
in  1849,  through  James  Hall  Wilson,  he  en- 
gaged the  "Swedish  Nightingale,"  Jenny 
Lind,  to  come  to  this  country  and  make  a 
tour  under  his  management.  He  also  had 
sent  the  Swiss  Bell  Ringers  to  America  in 
1844.  He  became  owner  of  the  Baltimore 
Museum  and  the  Lyceum  and  Museum  at 
Philadelphia.  In  1850  he  brought  a  dozen 
elephants  from  Ceylon  to  make  a  tour  of  this 
country,  and  in  1851  sent  the  "  Bateman 
Children"  to  London.  During  185 1  and 
1852  he  traveled  as  a  temperance  lecturer, 
and  became  president  of  a  bank  at  Pequon- 
nock,  Connecticut.  In  1S52  he  started  a 
weekly  pictorial  paper  known  as  the  "  Illus- 
trated News."  In  1865  his  Museum  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  immediately  leased 
the  Winter  Garden  Theatre,  where  he  played 
his  company  until  he  opened  his  own 
Museum.  This  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1868,  and  he  then  purchased  an  interest  in 
the  George  Wood  Museum. 

After  dipping  into  politics  to  some  ex- 
tent, he  began  his  career  as  a  really  great 
showman  in  1871.  Three  years  later  he 
erected  an  immense  circular  building  in  New 
York,  in  which  he  produced  his  panoramas. 
He  has  frequently  appeared  as  a  lecturer, 
some  times  on  temperance,  and  some  times 
on  other  topics,  among  which  were  "Hum- 
bugs of  the  World,"  "Struggles  and 
Triumphs,"  etc.      He  was  owner  of  the  im- 


mense menagerie  and  circus  known  as  the 
"Greatest  Show  on  Earth,"  and  his  fame 
extended  throughout  Europe  and  America. 
He  died  in  1891. 


JAMES  MADISON,  the  fourth  president 
of  the  United  States,  1809-17,  was 
born  at  Port  Conway,  Prince  George  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  March  16,  1751.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  wealthy  planter,  who  lived  on  a  fine 
estate  called  "  Montpelier, "  which  was  but 
twenty-five  miles  from  Monticello,  the  home 
of  Thomas  Jefferson.  Mr.  Madison  was  the 
eldest  of  a  family  of  seven  children,  all  of 
whom  attained  maturity.  He  received  his 
early  education  at  home  under  a  private 
tutor,  and  consecrated  himself  with  unusual 
vigor  to  study.  At  a  very  early  age  he  was 
a  proficient  scholar  in  Latin,  Greek,  French 
and  Spanish,  and  in  1769  he  entered  Prince- 
ton College,  New  Jersey.  He  graduated  in 
1 77 1,  but  remained  for  several  months  after 
his  graduation  to  pursue  a  course  of  study 
under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Witherspoon. 
He  permanently  injured  his  health  at  this 
time  and  returned  to  Virginia  in  1772,  and 
for  two  years  he  was  immersed  in  the  study 
of  law,  and  at  the  same  time  made  extend- 
ed researches  in  theology,  generalliterature, 
and  philosophical  studies.  He  then  directed 
his  full  attention  to  the  impending  struggle 
of  the  colonies  for  independence,  and  also 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  religious  con- 
troversy at  that  time  regarding  so  called 
persecution  of  other  religious  denominations 
by  the  Church  of  England.  Mr.  Madison 
was  elected  to  the  Virginia  assembly  in  1776 
and  in  November,  1777,  he  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  council  of  state.  He  took 
his  seat  in  the  continental  congress  in 
March,  1/80.  He  was  made  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  foreign  relations,  and 
drafted  an   able    memoranda   for  the  use  of 


COMTENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArHY. 


48 


the  American  ministers  to  the  French  and 
Spanish  governments,  that  established  the 
claims  of  the  republic  to  the  territories  be- 
tween the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the 
Mississippi  River.  He  acted  as  chairman  of 
the  ways  and  means  committee  in  1783  and 
as  a  member  of  the  Virginia  legislature  in 
1784-86  he  rendered  important  services  to 
the  state.  Mr.  Madison  represented  Vir- 
giana  in  the  national  constitutional  conven- 
tion at  Philadelphia  in  17S7,  and  was  one  of 
the  chief  framers  of  the  constitution.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  first  four  congresses, 
1789-97,  and  gradually  became  identified 
with  the  anti-federalist  or  republican  party 
of  which  he  eventually  became  the  leader. 
He  remained  in  private  life  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  John  Adams,  and  was  secre- 
tary of  state  under  President  Jefferson.  Mr. 
Madison  administered  the  affairs  of  that 
post  with  such  great  ability  that  he  was  the 
natural  successor  of  the  chief  magistrate 
and  was  chosen  president  by  an  electoral 
vote  of  122  to  53.  He  was  inaugurated 
March  4,  1809,  at  that  critical  period  incur 
history  when  the  feelings  of  the  people  were 
embittered  with  those  of  England,  and  his 
first  term  was  passed  in  diplomatic  quarrels, 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  declaration  of 
war,  June  18,  1812.  In  theautumn  of  that 
year  President  Madison  was  re-elected  by  a 
vote  of  128  to  89,  and  conducted  the  war 
for  three  years  with  varying  success  and 
defeat  in  Canada,  by  glorious  victories  at 
sea,  and  by  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  that 
was  fought  after  the  treaty  of  peace  had 
been  signed  at  Ghent,  December  24,  18 14. 
During  this  war  the  national  capitol  at 
Washington  was  burned,  and  many  valuable 
papers  were  destroyed,  but  the  declaration 
of  independence  was  saved  to  the  country 
by  the  bravery  and  courage  of  Mr.  Madi- 
son's illustrious  wife.      A  commercial  treaty 


was  negotiated  with  Great  Britain  in  181  5, 
and  in  April,  1S16,  a  national  bank  was  in- 
corporated by  congress.  Mr.  Madison  was 
succeeded,  March  4,  1817,  by  James  Monroe, 
and  retired  into  private  life  on  his  estate  at 
Montpelier,    where  he   died  June  28,   1836. 


Frederick;  Douglass,  a  noted 
American  character,  was  a  protege  of 
the  great  abolitionist,  William  Lloyd  Garri- 
son, by  whom  he  was  aided  in  gaining  his 
education.  Mr.  Douglass  was  born  in  Tuck- 
ahoe  county,  Maryland,  in  February,  1817, 
his  mother  being  a  negro  woman  and  his 
father  a  white  man.  He  was  born  in  slav- 
ery and  belonged  to  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Lloyd,  under  which  name  he  went  until  he 
ran  away  from  his  master  and  changed  it  to 
Douglass.  At  the  age  of  ten  years  he  was 
sent  to  Baltimore  where  he  learned  to  read 
and  write,  and  later  his  owner  allowed  him 
to  hire  out  his  own  time  for  three  dollars  a 
week  in  a  shipyard.  In  September,  1838, 
he  fled  from  Baltimore  and  made  his  way  to 
New  York,  and  from  thence  went  to  New 
Bedford,  Massachusetts.  Here  he  was  mar- 
ried and  supported  himself  and  family  by 
working  at  the  wharves  and  in  various  work- 
shops. In  the  summer  of  1841  he  attended 
an  anti-slavery  convention  at  Nantucket, 
and  made  a  speech  which  was  so  well  re- 
ceived that  he  was  offered  the  agency  of  the 
Massachusetts  Anti-slavery  Society.  In  this 
capacity  he  traveled  through  the  New  En- 
gland states,  and  about  the  same  time  he 
published  his  first  book  called  "Narrative 
of  my  Experience  in  Slavery."  Mr.  Doug- 
lass went  to  England  in  1845  and  lectured 
on  slavery  to  large  and  enthusiastic  audi- 
ences in  all  the  large  towns  of  the  country, 
and  his  friends  made  up  a  purse  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  purchased  his 
freedom  in  due  form  of  law. 


44 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


Mr.  Douglass  applied  himself  to  the  de- 
livery of  lyceum  lectures  after  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  and  in  1870  he  became  the  editor 
of  the  "  New  National  Era  "  in  Washington. 
In  1 87 1  he  was  appointed  assistant  secretary 
of  the  commission  to  San  Domingo  and  on 
his  return  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  ter- 
ritorial council  for  the  District  of  Colorado 
by  President  Grant.  He  was  elected  presi- 
dential elector-at-large  for  the  state  of  New 
York  and  was  appointed  to  carry  the  elect- 
oral vote  to  Washington.  He  was  also 
United  States  marshal  for  the  District  of 
Columbia  in  1876,  and  later  was  recorder 
of  deeds  for  the  same,  from  which  position 
he  was  removed  by  President  Cleveland  in 
1886.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  visited 
England  to  inform  the  friends  that  he  had 
made  while  there,  of  the  progress  of  the 
colored  race  in  America,  and  on  his  return 
he  was  appointed  minister  to  Hayti,  by 
President  Harrison  in  18S9.  His  career  as 
a  benefactor  of  his  race  was  closed  by  his 
death  in  February,   1895,  near  Washington. 


WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT.— The 
ear  for  rhythm  and  the  talent  for 
graceful  expression  are  the  gifts  of  nature, 
and  they  were  plentifully  endowed  on  the 
above  named  poet.  The  principal  charac- 
teristic of  his  poetry  is  the  thoughtfulness 
and  intellectual  process  by  which  his  ideas 
ripened  in  his  mind,  as  all  his  poems  are 
bright,  clear  and  sweet.  Mr.  Bryant  was 
born  November  3,  1794,  at  Cummington, 
Hampshire  county,  Massachusetts,  and  was 
educated  at  Williams  College,  from  which 
he  graduated,  having  entered  it  in  18 10. 
He  took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  in  18 15 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  after  practicing 
successfully  for  ten  years  at  Plainfield  and 
Great  Barrington,  he  removed  to  New  York 
in    1825.      The    following  year   he  became 


the  editor  of  the  "Evening  Post,"  which 
he  edited  until  his  death,  and  under  his  di- 
rection this  paper  maintained,  through  a 
long  series  of  years,  a  high  standing  by  the 
boldness  of  its  protests  against  slavery  be- 
fore the  war,  by  its  vigorous  support  of  the 
government  during  the  war,  and  by  the 
fidelity  and  ability  of  its  advocacy  of  the 
Democratic  freedom  in  trade.  Mr.  Bry- 
ant visited  Europe  in  1834,  1845,  1849  and 
1857,  and  presented  to  the  literary  world 
the  fruit  of  his  travels  in  the  series  of  "Let- 
ters of  a  Traveler,"  and  "Letters  from 
Spain  and  Other  Countries."  In  the  world 
of  literature  he  is  known  chiefly  as  a  poet, 
and  here  Mr.  Bryant's  name  is  illustrious, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  He  contributed 
verses  to  the  "Country  Gazette  "  before  he 
was  ten  years  of  age,  and  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  wrote  "  Thanatopsis,"  the  most  im- 
pressive and  widely  known  of  his  poems. 
The  later  outgrowth  of  his  genius  was  his 
translation  of  Homer's  "Iliad"  in  1870 
and  the  "Odyssey"  in  1871.  He  also 
made  several  speeches  and  addresses  which 
have  been  collected  in  a  comprehensive  vol- 
ume called  "  Orations  and  Addresses."  He 
was  honored  in  many  ways  by  his  fellow 
citizens,  who  delighted  to  pay  tributes  of 
respect  to  his  literary  eminence,  the  breadth 
of  his  public  spirit,  the  faithfulness  of  his 
service,  and  the  worth-  of  his  private  char- 
acter. Mr.  Bryant  died  in  New  York  City 
June  12,   1878. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  SEWARD,  the 
secretary  of  state  during  one  of  the 
most  critical  times  in  the  history  of  our 
country,  and  the  right  hand  man  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  ranks  among  the  greatest 
statesmen  America  has  produced.  Mr. 
Seward  was  born  May  16,  1801,  at  Florida, 
Orange  county,    New  York,    and  with  such 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT 


47 


facilities  as  the  place  afforded  he  fitted  him- 
self for  a  college  course.  He  attended 
Union  College  at  Schenectady,  New  York, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  took  his  degree  in 
the  regular  course,  with  signs  of  promise  in 
1820,  after  which  he  diligently  addressed 
himself  to  the  study  of  law  under  competent 
instructors,  and  started  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  1823. 

Mr.  Seward  entered  the  political  arena 
and  in  1828  we  find  him  presiding  over  a 
convention  in  New  York,  its  purpose  being 
the  nomination  of  John  Quincy  Adams  for  a 
second  term.  He  was  married  in  1824  and 
in  1830  was  elected  to  the  state  senate. 
From  1838  to  1842  he  was  governor  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  Mr.  Seward's  next  im- 
portant position  was  that  of  United  States 
senator  from  New  York. 

\V.  H.  Seward  was  chosen  by  President 
Lincoln  to  fill  the  important  office  of  the 
secretary  of  state,  and  b.y  his  firmness  and 
diplomacy  in  the  face  of  difficulties,  he  aided 
in  piloting  the  Union  through  that  period  of 
strife,  and  won  an  everlasting  fame.  This 
great  statesman  died  at  Auburn,  New  York, 
October  10,  1872,  in  the  seventy-second 
year  of  his  eventful  life. 


JOSEPH  JEFFERSON,  a  name  as  dear 
<J  as  it  is  familiar  to  the  theater-going 
world  in  America,  suggests  first  of  all  a  fun- 
loving,  drink-loving,  mellow  voiced,  good- 
natured  Dutchman,  and  the  name  of  "Rip 
Van  Winkle  "  suggests  the  pleasant  features 
of  Joe  Jefferson,  so  intimately  are  play  and 
player  associated  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
have  had  the  good  fortune  to  shed  tears  of 
laughter  and  sympathy  as  a  tribute  to  the 
greatness  of  his  art.  Joseph  Jefferson  was 
born  in  Philadelphia,  February  20,  1829. 
His  genius  was  an  inheritance,  if  there  be 
such,     as    his    great-grandfather,     Thomas 


Jefferson,  was  a  manager  and  actor  in  Eng- 
land. His  grandfather,  Joseph  Jefferson, 
was  the  most  popular  comedian  of  the  New 
York  stage  in  his  time,  and  his  father,  Jos- 
eph Jefferson,  the  second,  was  a  good  actor 
also,  but  the  third  Joseph  Jefferson  out- 
shone them  all. 

At  the  age  of  three  years  Joseph  Jeffer- 
son came  on  the  stage  as  the  child  in  "Pi- 
zarro,"  and  his  training  was  upon  the  stage 
from  childhood.  Later  on  he  lived  and 
acted  in  Chicago,  Mobile,  and  Texas.  After 
repeated  misfortunes  he  returned  to  New 
Orleans  from  Texas,  and  his  brother-in-law, 
Charles  Burke,  gave  him  money  to  reach 
Philadelphia,  where  he  joined  the  Burton 
theater  company.  Here  his  genius  soon  as- 
serted itself,  and  his  future  became  promis- 
ing and  brilliant.  His  engagements  through- 
out the  United  States  and  Australia  were 
generally  successful,  and  when  he  went  to 
England  in  1865  Mr.  Boucicault  consented 
to  make  some  important  changes  in  his 
dramatization  of  Irving's  story  of  Rip  Van 
Winkle,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  at  once  placed 
it  in  the  front  rank  as  a  comedy.  He  made 
a  fortune  out  of  it,  and  played  nothing  else 
for  many  years.  In  later  years,  however, 
Mr.  Jefferson  acquitted  himself  of  the  charge 
of  being  a  one-part  actor,  and  the  parts  of 
"Bob  Acres,"  "Caleb  Plummer"  and 
"Golightly  "  all  testify  to  the  versatility  of 
his  genius. 

GEORGE  BRINTON  McCLELLAN, 
a  noted  American  general,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia,  December  3,  1826.  He 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  in  1846  from  West  Point,  and 
was  breveted  second  lieutenant  of  engineers. 
He  was  with  Scott  in  the  Mexican  war, 
taking  part  in  all  the  engagements  from 
Vera  Cruz  to  the  final  capture  of  the  Mexi- 


48 


C  0\[PEXDIL  'M    OF    BIO  GRA  Plir. 


can  capital,  and  was  breveted  first  lieuten- 
ant and  captain  for  gallantry  displaj'ed  on 
various  occasions.  In  1S57  he  resigned  his 
commission  and  accepted  the  position  of 
chief  engineer  in  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and  became  presi- 
dent of  the  St.  Louis  &  Cincinnati  Railroad 
Company.  He  was  commissioned  major- 
general  by  the  state  of  Ohio  in  1861, 
placed  in  command  of  the  department  of 
the  Ohio,  and  organized  the  first  volunteers 
called  for  from  that  state.  In  May  he  was 
appointed  major-general  in  the  United 
States  army,  and  ordered  to  disperse  the 
confederates  overrunning  West  Virginia. 
He  accomplished  this  task  promptly,  and 
received  the  thanks  of  congress.  After  the 
first  disaster  at  Bull  Run  he  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  department  of  Wash- 
ington, and  a  few  weeks  later  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Upon  retirement 
of  General  Scott  the  command  of  the  en- 
tire United  States  army  devolved  upon  Mc- 
Clellan,  but  he  was  relieved  of  it  within  a 
few  months.  In  March,  1862,  after  elabor- 
ate preparation,  he  moved  upon  Manassas, 
only  to  find  it  deserted  by  the  Confederate 
army,  which  had  been  withdrawn  to  im- 
pregnable defenses  prepared  nearer  Rich- 
mond. He  then  embarked  his  armies  for 
Fortress  Monroe  and  after  a  long  delay  at 
Yorktown,  began  the  disastrous  Peninsular 
campaign,  which  resulted  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  being  cooped  up  on  the  James 
River  below  Richmond.  His  forces  were 
then  called  to  the  support  of  General  Pope, 
near  Washington,  and  he  was  left  without  an 
^army.  After  Pope's  defeat  McClellan  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  troops  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  capital,  and  after  a  thorough  or- 
ganization he  followed  Lee  into  Maryland 
and  the  battles  of  Antietam  and  South  Moun- 
tain   ensued.      The    delay    which     followed 


caused  general  dissatisfaction,  and  he  was  re- 
lieved of  his  command, and  retired  from  active 
service. 

In  1864  McClellan  was  nominated  for 
the  presidency  by  the  Democrats,  and  over- 
whelmingly defeated  by  Lincoln,  three 
states  only  casting  their  electoral  votes  for 
McClellan.  On  election  day  he  resigned 
his  commission  and  a  few  months  later  went 
to  Europe  where  he  spent  several  years. 
He  wrote  a  number  of  military  text- books 
and  reports.  His  death  occurred  October 
29.  1885.  

SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN.— Among  the  great 
statesmen  whose  names  adorn  the  pages 
of  American  history  may  be  found  that  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Known  as  a 
lawyer  of  highest  ability,  his  greatest  claim 
to  immortality  will  ever  lie  in  his  successful 
battle  against  the  corrupt  rings  of  his  native 
state  and  the  elevation  of  the  standard  of 
official  life. 

Samuel  J.  Tilden  was  born  in  New  Leb- 
anon, New  York,  February  9,  1814.  He 
pursued  his  academic  studies  at  Yale  Col- 
lege and  the  University  of  New  York,  tak- 
ing the  course  of  law  at  the  latter.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1841.  His  rare 
ability  as  a  thinker  and  writer  upon  public 
topics  attracted  the  attention  of  President 
Van  Buren,  of  whose  policy  and  adminis- 
tration he  became  an  active  and  efficient 
champion.  He  made  for  himself  a  high 
place  in  his  profession  and  amassed  quite  a 
fortune  as  the  result  of  his  industry  and 
judgment.  During  the  days  of  his  greatest 
professional  labor  he  was  ever  one  of  the 
leaders  and  trusted  counsellors  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
conventions  to  revise  the  state  constitution, 
both  in  1846  and  1867,  and  served  two 
terms  in  the  lower  branch  of  the   state  leg- 


COMPEXDICM    OF    BIOGRArilV 


49 


islature.  He  was  one  of  the  controlling 
spirits  in  the  overthrow  of  the  notorious 
"  Tweed  ring  "  and  the  reformation  of  the 
f;overnment  of  the  city  of  New  York.  In 
1S74  he  was  elected  governor  of  the  state 
of  New  York.  While  in  this  position  he 
assailed  corruption  in  high  places,  success- 
fully battling  with  the  iniquitous  "canal 
ring  "  and  crushed  its  sway  over  all  depart- 
ments of  the  government.  Recognizing  his 
character  and  executive  ability  Mr.  Tilden 
was  nominated  for  president  by  the  na- 
tional Democratic  convention  in  1S76.  At 
the  election  he  received  a  much  larger  popu- 
lar vote  than  his  opponent,  and  184  uncon- 
tested electoral  votes.  There  being  some 
electoral  votes  contested,  a  commission  ap- 
pointed by  congress  decided  in  favor  of  the 
Republican  electors  and  Mr.  Hayes,  the  can- 
didate of  that  party  was  declared  elected. 
In  1880,  the  Democratic  party,  feeling  that 
Mr.  Tilden  had  been  lawfully  elected  to  the 
presidency  tendered  the  nomination  for  the 
same  office  to  Mr.  Tilden,  but  he  declined, 
retiring  from  all  public  functions,  owing  to 
failing  health.  He  died  August  4,  1886. 
By  will  he  bequeathed  several  millions  of 
dollars  toward  the  founding  of  public  libra- 
ries in  New  York  City,  Yonkers,  etc. 


NOAH  WEBSTER.— As  a  scholar,  law- 
yer,  author  and  journalist,  there  is  no 
one  who  stands  on  a  higher  plane,  or  whose 
reputation  is  better  established  than  the 
honored  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch.  He  was  a  native  of  West  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  and  was  born  October  17, 
1758.  He  came  of  an  old  New  England 
family,  his  mother  being  a  descendant  of 
Governor  William  Bradford,  of  the  Ply- 
mouth colony.  After  acquiring  a  solid  edu- 
cation in  early  life  Dr.  Webster  entered 
Yale  College,  from  which    he   graduated  in 


1778.  For  a  while  he  taught  school  in 
Hartford,  at  the  same  time  studying  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1781.  He 
taught  a  classical  school  at  Goshen,  Orange 
county.  New  York,  in  1782-83,  and  while 
there  prepared  his  spelling  book,  grammar 
and  reader,  which  was  issued  under  the  title 
of  "A  Grammatical  Institute  of  the  English 
Language  ,"  in  three  parts,  — so  successful  a 
work  that  up  to  1876  something  like  forty 
million  of  the  spelling  books  had  been 
sold.  In  1786  he  delivered  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  the  English  language  in  the  seaboard 
cities  and  the  following  year  taught  an 
academy  at  Philadelphia.  From  December 
•7.  ^I'^l ^  until  November,  1788,  he  edited 
the  "American  Magazine,  "a  periodical  that 
proved  unsuccessful.  In  1789-93  he  prac- 
ticed law  in  Hartford  having  in  the  former 
year  married  the  daughter  of  William  Green- 
leaf,  of  Boston.  He  returned  to  New  York 
and  November,  1793,  founded  a  daily  paper, 
the  "Minerva,"  to  which  was  soon  added  a 
semi-weekly  edition  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Herald."  The  former  is  still  in  existence 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Commercial  Adver- 
tiser." In  this  paper,  over  the  signature  of 
"  Curtius,"'  he  published  a  lengthy  and  schol- 
arly defense  of   "John  Jay's  treaty." 

In  1798,  Dr.  Webster  moved  to  New 
Haven  and  in  1807  commenced  the  prepar- 
ation of  his  great  work,  the  "American  Dic- 
tionary of  the  English  Language,"  which 
was  not  completed  and  published  until  1828. 
He  made  his  home  in  Amherst,  Massachu- 
setts, for  the  ten  years  succeeding  181 2,  and 
was  instrumental  in  the  establishment  of 
Amherst  College,  of  which  institution  he  was 
the  first  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
During  1824-5  he  resided  in  Europe,  pursu- 
ing his  philological  studies  in  Paris.  He 
completed  his  dictionary  from  the  libraries 
of  Cambridge  University  in    1825,  and  de- 


50 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT 


voted  his  leisure  for  the  remainder  of  his 
life  to  the  revision  of  that  and  his  school 
books. 

Dr.  Webster  was  a  member  of  the  legis- 
latures of  both  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts, was  judge  of  one  of  the  courts  of  the 
former  state  and  was  identified  with  nearly 
all  the  literary  and  scientific  societies  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Amherst  College.  He  died 
in  New  Haven,  May  28,   1843. 

Among  the  more  prominent  works  ema- 
nating from  the  fecund  pen  of  Dr.  Noah 
Webster  besides  those  mentioned  above  are 
the  following:  "Sketches  of  American 
Policy,"  "  Winthrop's  Journal,"  "  A  Brief 
History  of  Epidemics,"  "Rights  of  Neutral 
Nations  in  time  of  War,"  "A  Philosophical 
and  Practical  Grammar  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage," "Dissertations  on  the  English 
Language,"  "A  Collection  of  Essays," 
"The  Revolution  in  France,"  "Political 
Progress  of  Britain,"  "Origin,  History,  and 
Connection  of  the  Languages  of  Western 
Asia  and  of  Europe,"  and  many  others. 


WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON,  the 
great  anti-slavery  pioneer  and  leader, 
was  born  in  Newburyport,  Massachusetts, 
December  12,  1804.  He  was  apprenticed 
to  the  printing  business,  and  in  1828  was  in- 
duced to  take  charge  of  the  "Journal  of  the 
Times"  at  Bennington,  Vermont.  While 
supporting  John  Quincy  Adams  for  the  presi- 
dency he  took  occasion  in  that  paper  to  give 
expression  of  his  views  on  slavery.  These 
articles  attracted  notice,  and  a  Quaker 
named  Lundy,  editor  of  the  "Genius  of 
Emancipation,"  published  in  Baltimore,  in- 
duced him  to  enter  a  partnership  with  him 
for  the  conduct  of  his  paper.  It  soon 
transpired  that  the  views  of  the  partners 
were  not  in  harmony,  Lundy  favoring  grad- 
ual emancipation,    while    Garrison  favored 


immediate  freedom.  In  1850  Mr.  Garrison 
was  thrown  into  prison  for  libel,  not  being 
able  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars  and  costs. 
In  his  cell  he  wrote  a  number  of  poems 
which  stirred  the  entire  north,  and  a  mer- 
chant, Mr.  Tappan,  of  New  York,  paid  his 
fine  and  liberated  him,  after  seven  weeks  of 
confinement.  He  at  once  began  a  lecture 
tour  of  the  northern  cities,  denouncing 
slavery  as  a  sin  before  God,  and  demanding 
its  immediate  abolition  in  the  name  of  re- 
ligion and  humanity.  He  opposed  the  col- 
onization scheme  of  President  Monroe  and 
other  leaders,  and  declared  the  right  of 
every  slave  to  immediate  freedom. 

In  1 83 1  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Isaac  Knapp,  and  began  the  publication  of 
the  "Liberator"  at  Boston.  The  "imme- 
diate abolition  "  idea  began  to  gather  power 
in  the  north,  while  the  south  became 
alarmed  at  the  bold  utterance  of  this  jour- 
nal. The  mayor  of  Boston  was  besought 
by  southern  influence  to  interfere,  and  upon 
investigation,  reported  upon  the  insignifi- 
cance, obscurity,  and  poverty  of  the  editor 
and  his  staff,  which  report  was  widely 
published  throughout  the  country.  Re- 
wards were  offered  by  the  southern  states 
for  his  arrest  and  conviction.  Later  Garri- 
son brought  from  England,  where  an  eman- 
cipation measure  had  just  been  passed, 
some  of  the  great  advocates  to  work  for  the 
cause  in  this  country.  In  1835  a  mob 
broke  into  his  office,  broke  up  a  meeting  of 
women,  dragged  Garrison  through  the  street 
with  a  rope  around  his  body,  and  his  life 
was  saved  only  by  the  interference  of  the 
police,  who  lodged  him  in  jail.  Garrison 
declined  to  sit  in  the  World's  Anti-Slavery 
convention  at  London  in  1840,  because 
that  body  had  refused  women  representa- 
tion. He  opposed  the  formation  of  a  po- 
litical party  with  emancipation  as  its  basis. 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


51 


He  favored  a  dissolution  of  the  union,  and 
declared  the  constitution  which  bound  the 
free  states  to  the  slave  states  "  A  covenant 
with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell. " 
In  1843  he  became  president  of  the  Amer- 
ican Anti-Slavery  society,  which  position  he 
held  until  1865,  when  slavery  was  no  more. 
During  all  this  time  the  "  Liberator  "  had 
continued  to  promulgate  anti-slavery  doc- 
trines, but  in  1865  Garrison  resigned  his 
position,  and  declared  his  work  was  com- 
pleted.    He  died  May  24,  1879. 


JOHN  BROWN  ("Brown  of  Ossawato- 
mie"),  a  noted  character  in  American 
history,  wasbornatTorrington,  Connecticut, 
May  9,  iSoo.  In  his  childhood  he  removed 
to  Ohio,  where  he  learned  the  tanner's 
trade.  He  married  there,  and  in  1855  set- 
tled in  Kansas.  He  lived  at  the  village  of 
Ossawatomie  in  that  state,  and  there  began 
his  fight  against  slavery.  He  advocated  im- 
mediate emancipation,  and  held  that  the 
negroes  of  the  slave  states  merely  waited 
for  a  leader  in  an  insurrection  that  would  re- 
sult in  their  freedom.  He  attended  the 
convention  called  at  Chatham,  Canada,  in 
1859,  and  was  the  leading  spirit  in  organiz- 
ing a  raid  upon  the  United  States  arsenal  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia.  His  plans  were 
well  laid,  and  carried  out  in  great  secrecy. 
He  rented  a  farm  house  near  Harper's  Ferry 
in  the  summer  of  1859,  and  on  October 
1 6th  of  that  year,  with  about  twenty  follow- 
ers, he  surprised  and  captured  the  United 
States  arsenal,  with  all  its  supplies  and 
arms.  To  his  surprise,  the  negroes  did  not 
come  to  his  support,  and  the  next  day  he 
was  attacked  by  the  Virginia  state  militia, 
wounded  and  captured.  He  was  tried  in 
the  courts  of  the  state,  convicted,  and  was 
hanged  at  Charlestown,  December  2,  1859. 
The  raid  and  its   results  had  a  tremendous 


effect,  and  hastened  the  culmination  of  the 
troubles  between  the  north  and  south.  The 
south  had  the  advantage  in  discussing  this 
event,  claiming  that  the  sentiment  which 
inspired  this  act  of  violence  was  shared  by 
the  anti-slavery  element  of  the  country. 

EDWIN  BOOTH  had  no  peer  upon  the 
American  stage  during  his  long  career 
as  a  star  actor.  He  was  the  son  of  a  famous 
actor,  Junius  Brutus  Booth,  and  was  born 
in  1833  at  his  father's  home  at  Belair,  neaf 
Baltimore.  At  the  age  of  si.xteen  he  made  his 
first  appearance  on  the  stage,  at  the  Boston 
Museum,  in  a  minor  part  in  "Richard  III." 
It  was  while  playing  in  California  in  185 1 
that  an  eminent  critic  called  general  atten* 
tion  to  the  young  actor's  unusual  talent. 
However,  it  was  not  until  1863,  at  the  great 
Shakspearian  revival  at  the  Winter  Garden 
Theatre,  New  York,  that  the  brilliancy  of 
his  career  began.  His  Hamlet  held  the 
boards  for  100  nights  in  succession,  and 
from  that  time  forth  Booth's  reputation  was 
established.  In  1868  he  opened  his  own 
theatre  (Booth's  Theater)  in  New  York. 
Mr.  Booth  never  succeeded  as  a  manager, 
however,  but  as  an  actor  he  was  undoubted- 
ly the  most  popular  man  on  the  American 
stage,  and  perhaps  the  most  eminent  one  in 
the  world.  In  England  he  also  won  the 
greatest  applause. 

Mr.  Booth's  work  was  confined  mostly 
to  Shakspearean  roles,  and  his  art  was 
characterized  by  intellectual  acuteness, 
fervor,  and  poetic  feeling.  His  Hamlet, 
Richard  II,  Richard  III,  and  Richelieu  gave 
play  to  his  greatest  powers.  In  1865, 
when  his  brother,  John  Wilkes  Booth, 
enacted  his  great  crime,  Edwin  Booth  re- 
solved to  retire  from  the  stage,  but  waspur- 
suaded  to  reconsider  that  decision.  The 
odium  did    not  in    any  way  attach  to    the 


52 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIO  GRAPH  2: 


great  actor,  and  his  popularity  was  not 
affected.  In  all  his  work  Mr.  Booth  clung 
closel}'  to  the  legitimate  and  the  traditional 
in  drama,  making  no  experiments,  and  offer- 
ing little  encouragement  to  new  dramatic 
authors.  His  death  occurred  in  New  York, 
June  7,   1894. 


JOSEPH  HOOKER,  a  noted  American 
officer,  was  born  at  Hadley,  Massachu- 
setts, November  13,  18 14.  He  graduated 
from  West  Point  Military  Academy  in  1837, 
and  was  appointed  lieutenant  of  artillery. 
He  served  in  Florida  in  the  Seminole  war, 
and  in  garrison  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Mexican  war.  During  the  latter  he  saw 
service  as  a  staff  officer  and  was  breveted 
captain,  major  and  lieutenant-colonel  for 
gallantry  at  Monterey,  National  Bridge  and 
Chapultepec.  Resigning  his  commission  in 
1 833  he  took  up  farming  in  California,  which 
he  followed  until  1861.  During  this  time 
he  acted  as  superintendent  of  military  roads 
in  Oregon.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebel- 
lion Hooker  tendered  his  services  to  the 
government,  and.  May  17,  1861,  was  ap- 
pointed brigadier-general  of  volunteers.  He 
served  in  the  defence  of  Washington  and  on 
the  lower  Potomac  until  his  appointment  to 
the  command  of  a  division  in  the  Third 
Corps,  in  March,  1862.  For  gallant  con- 
duct at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  and  in  the 
battles  of  Williamsburg,  Fair  Oaks,  Fra- 
zier's  Farm  and  Malvern  Hill  he  was  made 
major-general.  At  the  head  of  his  division 
he  participated  in  the  battles  of  Manassas 
and  Chantilly.  September  6,  1S62,  he  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  First  Corps,  and 
in  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and  An- 
tietam  acted  with  his  usual  gallantry,  being 
wounded  in  the  latter  engagement.  On  re- 
joining the  army  in  November  he  was  made 
brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army.      On 


General  Burnside  attaining  the  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  General  Hooker 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  center  grand 
division,  consisting  of  the  Second  and  Fifth 
Corps.  At  the  head  of  these  gallant  men 
he  participated  in  the  battle  of  Fred- 
ericksburg, December  13,  1862.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  General  Hooker  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  in 
May  following  fought  the  battle  of  Chan- 
cellorsville.  At  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
Pennsylvania,  owing  to  a  dispute  with  Gen- 
eral Halleck,  Hooker  requested  to  be  re- 
lieved of  his  command,  and  June  28  was 
succeeded  by  George  G.  Meade.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1863,  General  Hooker  was  given 
command  of  the  Twentieth  Corps  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and 
distinguished  himself  at  the  battles  of  Look- 
out Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Ring- 
gold. In  the  Atlanta  campaign  he  saw 
almost  daily  service  and  merited  his  well- 
known  nickname  of  "  Fighting  Joe."  July 
30,  1864,  at  his  own  request,  he  was  re- 
lieved of  his  command.  He  subsequently 
was  in  command  of  several  military  depart- 
ments in  the  north,  and  in  October,  1868, 
was  retired  with  the  full  rank  of  major-gen- 
eral.     He  died  October  31,   1879. 


JAY  GOULD,  one  of  the  greatest  finan- 
ciers that  the  world  has  ever  produced, 
was  born  May  27,  1836,  at  Roxbury,  Dela- 
ware county,  New  York.  He  spent  his  early 
years  on  his  father's  farm  and  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  entered  Hobart  Academy,  New 
York,  and  kept  books  for  the  village  black- 
smith. He  acquired  a  taste  for  mathematics 
and  surveying  and  on  leaving  school  found 
employment  in  making  the  surveyor's  map 
of  Ulster  county.  He  surveyed  very  exten- 
sively in  the  state  and  accumulated  five  thou- 
sand dollars  as  the  fruits  of  his  labor.     He 


coyrrExnii'M  of  niOGRAriir. 


58 


was  then  stricken  with  typhoid  fever  but  re- 
covered and  made  the  acquaintance  of  one 
Zadock  Pratt,  who  sent  him  into  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  state  to  locate  a  site  for  a 
tannery.  He  chose  a  fine  hemlock  grove, 
built  a  sawmill  and  blacksmith  shop  and 
was  soon  doing  a  large  lumber  business  with 
Mr.  Pratt.  Mr.  Gould  soon  secured  control 
of  the  entire  plant,  which  he  sold  out  just 
before  the  panic  of  1857  and  in  this  year  he 
became  the  largest  stock  holder  in  the  Strouds- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  bank.  Shortly  after  the 
crisis  he  bought  the  bonds  of  the  Rutland 
&  Washington  Railroad  at  ten  cents  on  the 
dollar,  and  put  all  his  money  into  railroad 
securities.  For  a  long  time  he  conducted 
this  road  which  he  consolidated  with  the 
Rensselaer  &  Saratoga  Railroad.  In  1859 
he  removed  to  New  York  and  became  a 
heavy  investor  in  Erie  Railroad  stocks,  en- 
tered that  company  and  was  president  until 
its  reorganization  in  1872.  In  December, 
1880,  Mr.  Gould  was  in  control  of  ten  thou- 
sand miles  of  railroad.  In  1887  he  pur- 
chased the  controlling  interest  in  the  St. 
Louis  &  San  Francisco  Railroad  Co.,  and 
was  a  joint  owner  with  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
&  Santa  Fe  Railroad  Co.  of  the  western 
portion  of  the  Southern  Pacific  line.  Other 
lines  soon  came  under  his  control,  aggregat- 
ing thousand  of  miles,  and  he  soon  was  rec- 
ognized as  one  of  the  world's  greatest  rail- 
road magnates.  He  continued  to  hold  his 
place  as  one  of  the  master  financiers  of  the 
century  until  the  time  of  his  death  which 
occurred  December  2,  1892. 


THOMAS  HART  BENTON,  a  very 
prominent  United  States  senator  and 
statesman,  was  born  at  Hillsborough,  North 
Carolina,  March  14,  1782.  He  removed  to 
Tennessee  in  early  life,  studied  law,  and  be- 
gan   to    practice    at    Nashville   about  18 10. 


During  the  war  of  1S12-1815  he  served  as 
colonel  of  a  Tennessee  regiment  under  Gen- 
eral Andrew  Jackson.  In  18 15  he  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  in  1820  was 
chosen  United  States  senator  for  that  state. 
Having  been  re-elected  in  1826,  he  sup- 
ported President  Jackson  in  his  opposition 
to  the  United  States  bank  and  advocated  a 
gold  and  silver  currency,  thus  gaining  the 
name  of  "  Old  Bullion,"  by  which  he  was 
familiarly  known.  For  many  years  he  was 
the  most  prominent  man  in  Missouri,  and 
took  rank  among  the  greatest  statesmen  of 
his  day.  He  was  a  member  of  the  senate 
for  thirty  years  and  opposed  the  extreme 
states'  rights  policy  of  John  C.  Calhoun. 
In  1852  he  was  elected  to  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives in  which  he  opposed  the  repeal 
of  the  ^fissouri  compromise.  He  was  op- 
posed by  a  powerful  party  of  States'  Rights. 
Democrats  in  Missouri,  who  defeated  him  as  a 
candidate  for  governor  of  that  state  in  1856. 
Colonel  Benton  published  a  considerable 
work  in  two  volumes  in  1854-56,  entitled 
"  Thirty  Years' View,  or  a  History  of  the 
Working  of  the  American  Government  for 
Thirty  Years,  1820-50."  He  died  April  10, 
1858. 

STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.— One 
of  the  most  prominent  figures  in  politic- 
al circles  during  the  intensely  exciting  days 
that  preceded  the  war,  and  a  leader  of  the 
Union  branch  of  the  Democratic  party  was 
the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch. 

He  was  born  at  Brandon,  Rutland  coun- 
ty, Vermont,  April  23,  1813,  of  poor  but 
respectable  parentage.  His  father,  a  prac- 
ticing physician,  died  while  our  subject  was 
but  an  infant,  and  his  mother,  with  two 
small  children  and  but  small  means,  could 
give  him  but  the  rudiments  of  an  education. 


54 


COMPENDJUM   OF    BIOGRAPH}'. 


At  the  age  of  fifteen  young  Douglas  engaged 
at  work  in  the  cabinet  making  business  to 
raise  funds  to  carry  him  through  college. 
After  a  few  years  of  labor  he  was  enabled  to 
pursue  an  academical  course,  first  at  Bran- 
don, and  later  at  Canandaigua,  New  York. 
In  the  latter  place  he  remained  until  1833, 
taking  np  the  study  of  law.  Before  he  was 
twenty,  however,  his  funds  running  low,  he 
abandoned  all  further  attempts  at  educa- 
tion, determining  to  enter  at  once  the  battle 
of  life.  After  some  wanderings  through  the 
western  states  he  took  up  his  residence  at 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  where,  after  teaching 
school  for  three  months,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and' opened  an  office  in  1834. 
Within  a  year  from  that  time,  so  rapidly  had 
he  risen  in  his  profession,  he  was  chosen 
attorney  general  of  the  state,  and  warmly 
espoused  the  principles  of  the  Democratic 
party.  He  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
popular  orators  in  Illinois.  It  was  at  this 
time  he  gained  the  name  of  the  "Little 
Giant."  In  1835  he  resigned  the  position 
of  attorney  general  having  been  elected  to 
the  legislature.  In  184 1  he  was  chosen 
judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  Illinois  which 
he  resigned  two  years  later  to  take  a  seat  in 
congress.  It  was  during  this  period  of  his 
life,  while  a  member  of  the  lower  house, 
that  he  established  his  reputation  and  took 
the  side  of  those  who  contended  that  con- 
.gress  had  no  constitutional  right  to  restrict 
the  extension  of  slavery  further  than  the 
agreement  between  the  states  made  in  1820. 
This,  in  spite  of  his  being  opposed  to  slav- 
ery, and  only  on  grounds  which  he  believed 
to  be  right,  favored  what  was  called  the 
Missouri  compromise.  In  1847  Mr.  Doug- 
las was  chosen  United  States  senator  for 
six  years,  and  greatly  distinguished  himself. 
In  1852  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office. 
During  this  latter    term,    under  his   leader- 


ship, the  "  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  "  was  car- 
ried in  the  senate.  In  1858,  nothwith- 
standing  the  fierce  contest  made  by  his  able 
competitor  for  the  position,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, and  with  the  administration  of  Bu- 
chanan arrayed  against  him,  Mr.  Douglas 
was  re-elected  senator.  After  the  trouble 
in  the  Charleston  convention,  when  by  the 
withdrawal  of  several  state  delegates  with- 
out a  nomination,  the  Union  Democrats, 
in  convention  at  Baltimore,  in  1S60,  nomi- 
nated Mr.  Douglas  as  their  candidate  for 
presidency.  The  results  of  this  election  are 
well  known  and  the  great  events  of  1861 
coming  on,  Mr.  Douglas  was  spared  their 
full  development,  dying  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  ■ 
June  3,  1 86 1,  after  a  short  illness.  His 
last  words  to  his  children  were,  "  to  obey 
the  laws  and  support  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States." 


JAMES  MONROE,  fifth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Westmore- 
land county,  Virginia,  April  28,  1758.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  William  and 
Mary  College,  but  two  years  later  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  having  been 
adopted,  he  left  college  and  hastened  to  New 
York  where  he  joined  Washington's  army  as 
a  military-cadet. 

At  the  battle  of  Trenton  Monroe  per- 
formed gallant  service  and  received  a  wound 
in  the  shoulder,  and  was  promoted  to  a 
captaincy.  He  acted  as  aide  to  Lord  Ster- 
ling at  the  battles  of  Brandywine,  German- 
town  and  Monmouth.  Washington  then 
sent  him  to  Virginia  to  raise  a  new  regiment 
of  which  he  was  to  be  colonel.  The  ex- 
hausted condition  of  Virginia  made  this  im- 
possible, but  he  received  his  commission. 
He  next  entered  the  law  office  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  study  law,  as  there  was  no  open- 
ing   for   him   as  an  officer  in  the  army.      In 


COMTENDILM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


55 


1782  he  was  elected  to  the  Virginia  assem- 
bly, and  the  next  year  he  was  elected  to  the 
Continental  congress.  Realizing  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  old  articles  of  confederation, 
he  advocated  the  calling  of  a  convention  to 
consider  their  revision,  and  introduced  in 
congress  a  resolution  empowering  congress 
to  regulate  trade,  lay  import  duties,  etc. 
This  resolution  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
of  which  he  was  chairman,  and  the  report 
led  to  the  Annapolis  convention,  which 
called  a  general  convention  to  meet  at  Phila- 
delphia in  1787,  when  the  constitution  was 
drafted.  Mr.  Monroe  began  the  practice  of 
law  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  and  was 
soon  after  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  ap- 
pointed as  one  of  the  committee  to  pass 
upon  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  He 
opposed  it,  as  giving  too  much  power  to  the 
central  government.  He  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  senate  in  1789,  where  he 
allied  himself  with  the  Anti-Federalists  or 
"Republicans,"  as  they  were  sometimes 
called.  Although  his  views  as  to  neutrality 
between  France  and  England  were  directly 
opposed  to  those  of  the  president,  yet  Wash- 
ington appointed  him  minister  to  France. 
His  popularity  in  France  was  so  great  that 
the  antagonism  of  England  and  her  friends 
in  this  country  brought  about  his  recall.  He 
then  became  governor  of  Virginia.  He  was 
sent  as  envoy  to  France  in  1802;  minister 
to  England  in  1803;  and  envoy  to  Spain  in 
1805.  The  next  year  he  returned  to  his 
estate  in  Virginia,  and  with  an  ample  in- 
heritance enjoyed  a  few  years  of  repose.  He 
was  again  called  to  be  governor  of  Virginia, 
and  was  then  appointed*  secretary  of  state 
by  President  Madison.  The  war  with  Eng- 
land soon  resulted,  and  when  the  capital 
was  burned  by  the  British,  Mr.  Monroe  be- 
came secretary  of  war  also,  and  planned  the 
measures   for   the  defense  of  New  Orleans. 


The  treasury  being  exhausted  and  credit 
gone,  he  pledged  his  own  estate,  and  thereby 
made  possible  the  victory  of  Jackson  at  New 
Orleans. 

In  1817  Mr.  Monroe  became  president 
of  the  United  States,  having  been  a  candi- 
date of  the  "Republican"  party,  which  at 
that  time  had  begun  to  be  called  the  "  Demo- 
cratic "  party.  In  1820  he  was  re-elected, 
having  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  electoral 
votes  out  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-two. 
His  administration  is  known  as  the  "Era of 
good-feeling, "  and  party  lines  were  almost 
wiped  out.  The  slavery  question  began  to 
assume  importance  at  this  time,  and  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  passed.  The 
famous  "Monroe  Doctrine"  originated  in  a 
great  state  paper  of  President  Monroe  upon 
the  rumored  interference  of  the  Holy  Alli- 
ance to  prevent  the  formation  of  free  repub- 
lics in  South  America.  President  Monroe 
acknowledged  their  independence,  and  pro- 
mulgated his  great  "Doctrine,"  which  has 
been  held  in  reverence  since.  Mr.  Monroe's 
death  occurred  in  New  York  on  July  4,  1831. 


THOMAS  ALVA  EDISON,  the  master 
wizard  of  electrical  science  and  whose 
name  is  synonymous  with  the  subjugation 
of  electricity  to  the  service  of  man,  was 
born  in  1847  at  Milan,  Ohio,  and  it  was  at 
Port  Huron,  Michigan,  whither  his  parents 
had  moved  in  1854,  that  his  self-education 
began — for  he  never  attended  school  for 
more  than  two  months.  He  eagerly  de- 
voured every  book  he  could  lay  his  hands  on 
and  is  said  to  have  read  through  an  encyclo- 
pedia without  missing  a  word.  At  thirteen  he 
began  his  working  life  as  a  trainboy  upon  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway  between  Port  Huron 
and  Detroit.  Much  of  his  time  was  now 
spent  in  Detroit,  where  he  found  increased 
facilities  for  reading  at  the    public  libraries. 


60 


COMPEXDIUM  OF    BWGRAPlir 


He  was  not  content  to  be  a  newsboy,  so  he 
got  together  three  hundred  pounds  of  type 
and  started  the  issue  of  the  "  Grand  Trunk 
Herald."  It  was  only  a  small  amateur 
weekly,  printed  on  one  side,  the  impression 
being  made  from  the  type  by  hand.  Chemi- 
cal research  was  his  next  undertaking  and 
a  laboratory  was  added  to  his  movable  pub- 
lishing house,  which,  by  the  way,  was  an 
old  freight  car.  One  day,  however,  as  he 
Was  experimenting  with  some  phosphorus, 
it  ignited  and  the  irate  conductor  threw  the 
young  seeker  after  the  truth,  chemicals  and 
all,  from  the  train.  His  office  and  laboratory 
were  then  removed  to  the  cellar  of  his  fa- 
ther's house.  As  he  grew  to  manhood  he 
decided  to  become  an  operator.  He  won 
his  opportunity  by  saving  the  life  of  a  child, 
whose  father  was  an  old  operator,  and  out  of 
gratitude  he  gave  Mr.  Edison  lessons  in  teleg- 
raphy. Five  months  later  he  was  compe- 
tent to  fill  a  position  in  the  railroad  office 
at  Port  Huron.  Hence  he  peregrinated  to 
Stratford,  Ontario,  and  thence  successively 
to  Adrian,  Fort  Wayne,  Indianapolis,  Cin- 
cmnati,  Memphis,  Louisville  and  Boston, 
gradually  becoming  an  expert  operator  and 
gaming  experience  that  enabled  him  to 
evolve  many  ingenious  ideas  for  the  im- 
provement of  telegraphic  appliances.  At 
Memphis  he  constructed  an  automatic  re- 
peater, which  enabled  Louisville  and  New 
Orleans  to  communicate  direct,  and  received 
nothing  more  than  the  thanks  of  his  em- 
ployers. Mr.  Edison  came  to  New  York  in 
1870  in  search  of  an  opening  more  suitable 
to  his  capabilities  and  ambitions.  He  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  office  of  the  Laws  Gold 
Reporting  Company  when  one  of  the  in- 
struments got  out  of  order,  and  even  the 
inventor  of  the  system  could  not  make  it 
work.  Edison  requested  to  be  allowed  to 
attempt  the  task,  and   in   a   few  minutes  he 


had  overcome  the  difficulty  and  secured  an 
advantageous  engagement.  For  several 
>ears  he  had  a  contract  with  the  Western 
Union  and  the  Gold  Stock  companies, 
whereby  he  received  a  large  salary,  besides 
a  special  price  for  all  telegraphic  improve- 
ments he  could  suggest.  Later,  as  the 
head  of  the  Edison  General  Electric  com- 
pany, with  its  numerous  subordinate  organ- 
izations and  connections  all  over  the  civil- 
ized world,  he  became  several  times  a 
millionaire.  Mr.  Edison  invented  the  pho- 
nograph and  kinetograph  which  bear  his 
name,  the  carbon  telephone,  the  tasimeter, 
and  the  duplex  and  quadruplex  systems  of 
telegraphy. 

JAMES  LONGSTREET,  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  of  the  Confederate  generals 
during  the  Civil  war,  was  born  in  1820,  in 
South  Carolina,  but  was  early  taken  by  his 
parents  to  Alabama  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  received  his  early  education.  He 
graduated  at  the  United  States  military 
academy  in  1842,  entering  the  army  as 
lieutenant  and  spent  a  few  years  in  the  fron- 
tier service.  When  the  Mexican  war  broke 
out  he  was  called  to  the  front  and  partici- 
pated in  all  the  principal  battles  of  that  war 
up  to  the  storming  of  Chapultepec,  where 
he  received  severe  wounds.  For  gallant 
conduct  at  Contreras,  Cherubusco,  and  Mo- 
lino  del  Rey  he  received  the  brevets  of  cap- 
tain and  major.  After  the  close  of  the 
Mexican  war  Longstreet  served  as  adjutant 
and  captain  on  frontier  service  in  Texas  un- 
til 1858  when  he  was  transferred -to  the  staff 
as  paymaster  with  rank  of  major.  In  June, 
1 86 1,  he  resigned  to  join  the  Confederacy 
and  immediately  went  to  the  front,  com- 
manding a  brigade  at  Bull  Run  the  follow- 
ing month.  Promoted  to  be  major-general 
in    1862   he   thereafter  bore   a  conspicuous 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY 


57 


part  and  rendered  valuable  service  to  the 
Confederate  cause.  He  participated  in 
many  of  the  most  severe  battles  of  the  Civil 
war  including  Bull  Run  (first  and  second), 
Seven  Pines,  Gaines'  Mill,  Fraziers  Farm, 
Malvern  Hill,  Antietam,  Frederickburg, 
Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Chickamauga, 
the  Wilderness,  Petersburg  and  most  of  the 
fighting  about  Richmond. 

When  the  war  closed  General  Long- 
street  accepted  the  result,  renewed  his  alle- 
giance to  the  government,  and  thereafter 
labored  earnestly  to  obliterate  all  traces  of 
war  and  promote  an  era  of  good  feeling  be- 
tween all  sections  of  the  country.  He  took 
up  his  residence  in  New  Orleans,  and  took 
an  active  interest  and  prominent  part  in 
public  affairs,  served  as  surveyor  of  that 
port  for  several  years;  was  commissioner  of 
engineers  for  Louisiana,  served  four  years 
as  school  commissioner,  etc.  In  1875  he 
was  appointed  supervisor  of  internal  revenue 
and  settled  in  Georgia.  After  that  time  he 
served  four  years  as  United  States  minister 
to  Turkey,  and  also  for  a  number  of  years 
was  United  States  marshal  of  Georgia,  be- 
sides having  held  other  important  official 
positions. 

JOHN  RUTLEDGE,  the  second  chief- 
justice  of  the  United  States,  was  born 
at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1739. 
He  was  a  son  of  John  Rutledge,  who  had 
left  Ireland  for  America  about  five  years 
prior  to  the  birth  of  our  subject,  and  a 
brother  of  Edward  Rutledge,  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  John  Rut- 
ledge received  his  legal  edLication  at  the 
Temple,  London,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Charleston  and  soon  won  distinction  at 
the  bar.  He  was  elected  to  the  old  Colonial 
congress  in  1765  to  protest  against  the 
"  Stamp  Act,"  and  was  a    member  of   the 


South  Carolina  convention  of  1774,  and  of 
the  Continental  congress  of  that  and  the 
succeeding  year.  In  1776  he  was  chairman 
of  the  committee  that  draughted  the  con- 
stitution of  his  state,  and  was  president  of 
the  congress  of  that  state.  He  was  not 
pleased  with  the  state  constitution,  how- 
ever, and  resigned.  In  1779  he  was  again 
chosen  governor  of  the  state,  and  granted 
extraordinary  powers,  and  he  at  once  took 
the  field  to  repel  the  British.  He  joined 
the  army  of  General  Gates  in  1782,  and  the 
same  year  was  elected  to  congress.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention which  framed  our  present  constitu- 
tion. In  1 7S9  he  was  appointed  an  associate 
justice  of  the  first  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States.  He  resigned  to  accept  the 
position  of  chief- justice  of  his  own  state. 
Upon  the  resignation  of  Judge  Jay^  he  was 
appointed  chief-justice  of  the  United  States 
in  1795.  The  appointment  was  never  con- 
firmed, for,  after  presiding  at  one  session, 
his  mind  became  deranged,  and  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Judge  Ellsworth.  He  died  at 
Charleston,  July  23,   1800. 


RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON  was  one 
of  the  most  noted  literary  men  of  his 
time.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, May  25,  1803.  He  had  a  minister  for 
an  ancestor,  either  on  the  paternal  or  ma- 
ternal side,  in  every  generation  for  eight 
generations  back.  His  father,  Rev.  Will- 
iam Emerson,  was  a  native  of  Concord, 
Massachusetts,  born  May  6,  1769,  graduated 
at  Harvard,  in  1789,  became  a  Unitarian 
minister;  was  a  fine  writer  and  one  of  the 
best  orators  of  his  day;  died  in  181 1. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  was  fitted  for 
college  at  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1821,  win- 
ning about    this  time  several  prizes  for  es- 


58 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


says.  For  five  years  he  taught  school  in 
Boston;  in  1S26  was  licensed  to  preach,  and 
in  1829  was  ordained  as  a  colleague  to  Rev. 
Henry  Ware  of  the  Second  Unitarian  church 
in  Boston.  In  1832  he  resigned,  rqaking 
the  announcement  in  a  sermon  of  his  un- 
;villingness  longer  to  administer  the  rite  of 
vhe  Lord's  Supper,  after  which  he  spent 
about  a  year  in  Europe.  Upon  his  return 
he  began  his  career  as  a  lecturer  before  the 
Boston  Mechanics  Institute,  his  subject  be- 
ing "Water."  His  early  lectures  on  "  Italy" 
and  "Relation  of  Man  to  the  Globe  "  also 
attracted  considerable  attention;  as  did  also 
his  biographical  lectures  on  Michael  Angelo, 
Milton,  Luther,  George  Fox,  and  Edmund 
Burke.  After  that  time  he  gave  many 
courses  of  lectures  in  Boston  and  became 
one  of  the  best  known  lecturers  in  America. 
But  very  few  men  have  rendered  such  con- 
tinued service  in  this  field.  He  lectured  for 
forty  successive  seasons  before  the  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  Lyceum  and  also  made  re- 
peated lecturing  tours  in  this  country  and  in 
England.  In  1835  Mr.  Emerson  took  up 
his  residence  at  Concord,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  continued  to  make  his  home  until 
his  death  which  occurred  April  27,   1SS2. 

Mr.  Emerson's  literary  work  covered  a 
wide  scope.  He  wrote  and  published  many 
works,  essays  and  poems,  which  rank  high 
among  the  works  of  American  literary  men. 
A  few  of  the  many  which  he  produced  are 
the  following:  "Nature;"  "The  Method 
of  Nature;"  "  Man  Thinking;"  "The  Dial;" 
"Essays;"  "Poems;"  "English  Traits;" 
"The  Conduct  of  Life;"  "May-Day  and 
other  Poems  "  and  "  Society  and  Solitude;" 
besides  many  others.  He  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
and  other  kindred  associations. 


ALEXANDER  T.  STEWART,  one  of 
the  famous  merchant  princes  of  New 
York,  was  born  near  the  city  of  Belfast,  Ire- 
land, in  1803,  and  before  he  was  eight  years 
of  age  was  left  an  orphan  without  any  near 
relatives,  save  an  aged  grandfather.  The 
grandfather  being  a  pious  Methodist  wanted 
to  make  a  minister  of  young  Stewart,  and 
accordingly  put  him  in  a  school  with  that 
end  in  view  and  he  graduated  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege, in  Dublin.  When  scarcely  twenty 
years  of  age  he  came  to  New  York.  His 
first  employment  was  that  of  a  teacher,  but 
accident  soon  made  him  a  merchant.  En- 
tering into  business  relations  with  an  ex- 
perienced man  of  his  acquaintance  he  soon 
found  himself  with  the  rent  of  a  store  on 
his  hands  and  alone  in  a  new  enterprise. 
Mr.  Stewart's  business  grew  rapidly  in  all 
directions,  but  its  founder  had  executive 
ability  sufficient  for  any  and  all  emergencies, 
and  in  time  his  house  became  one  of  the 
greatest  mercantile  establishments  of  mod- 
ern times,  and  the  name  of  Stewart  famous. 
Mr.  Stewart's  death  occurred  April  10, 
1876. 

JAMES  FENIMORE  COOPER.  —  In 
speaking  of  this  noted  American  nov- 
elist, William  CuJlen  Bryant  said:  "  He 
wrote  for  mankind  at  large,  hence  it  is  that 
he  has  earned  a  fame  wider  than  any  Amer- 
ican author  of  modern  times.  The  crea- 
tions of  his  genius  shall  survive  through 
centuries  to  come,  and  only  perish  with  our 
language."  Another  eminent  writer  (Pres- 
cott)  said  of  Cooper:  "  In  his  productions 
every  American  must  take  an  honest  pride; 
for  surely  no  one  has  succeeded  like  Cooper 
in  the  portraiture  of  American  character,  or 
has  given  such  glowing  and  eminently  truth- 
ful pictures  of  American  scenery." 

James  Fenimore  Cooper  was  born  Sep- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


59 


tember  15,  1789,  at  Burlington,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  was  a  son  of  Judge  William  Cooper. 
About  a  year  after  the  birth  of  our  subject 
the  family  removed  to  Otsego  county,  New 
York,  and  founded  the  town  called  "  Coop- 
erstown."  James  Fenimore  Cooper  spent 
his  childhood  there  and  in  1802  entered 
Yale  College,  and  four  years  later  became  a 
midshipma'n  in  the  United  States  navy.  In 
181 1  he  was  married,  quit  the  seafaring  life, 
and  began  devoting  more  or  less  time  to  lit- 
erary pursuits.  His  first  work  was  "Pre- 
caution," a  novel  published  in  18 19,  and 
three  years  later  he  produced  "The  Spy,  a 
Tale  of  Neutral  Ground,"  which  met  with 
p;reat  favor  and  was  a  universal  success. 
This  was  followed  by  many  other  works, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  follow- 
ing: "The  Pioneers,"  "The  Pilot,"  "Last 
of  the  Mohicans,"  "The  Prairie,"  "The 
Red  Rover,"  "The  Manikins,"  "Home- 
ward Bound,"  "  Home  as  Found,"  "History 
of  the  United  States  Navy,"  "The  Path- 
finder," "Wing  and  Wing,"  "Afloat  and 
Ashore,"  "The  Chain- Bearer, "  "Oak- 
Openings,"  etc.  J.  Fenimore  Cooper  died 
at  Cooperstown,  New  York,  September  14, 
1851. 


M- 


ARSHALL  FIELD,  one  of  the  mer- 
chant princes  of  America,  ranks  among 
the  most  successful  business  men  of  the  cen- 
tury. He  was  born  in  1835  ^t  Conway, 
Massachusetts.  He  spent  his  early  life  on 
a  farm  and  secured  a  fair  education  in  the 
common  schools,  supplementing  this  with  a 
course  at  the  Conway  Academy.  His 
natural  bent  ran  in  the  channels  of  commer- 
cial life,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was 
given  a  position  in  a  store  at  Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts.  Mr.  Field  remained  there 
four  years  and  removed  to  Chicago  in  1856. 
He  began  his  career  in  Chicago  as    a   clerk 


in  the  wholesale  dry  goods  house  of  Cooley, 
Wadsworth  &  Company,  which  later  be- 
came Cooley,  Farwell  &  Company,  and  still 
later  John  V.  Farwell  &  Company.  He 
remained  with  them  four  years  and  exhibit- 
ed marked  ability,  in  recognition  of  which 
he  was  given  a  partnership.  In  1865  Mr. 
Field  and  L.  Z.  Leiter,  who  was  also  a 
member  of  the  firm,  withdrew  and  formed 
the  firm  of  Field,  Palmer  &  Leiter,  the 
third  partner  being  Potter  Palmer,  and  they 
continued  in  business  until  1867,  when  Mr. 
Palmer  retired  and  the  firm  became  Field, 
Leiter  &  Company.  They  ran  under  the 
latter  name  until  1881,  when  Mr.  Leiter  re- 
tired and  the  house  has  since  continued  un- 
der the  name  of  Marshall  Field  &  Company. 
The  phenomenal  success  accredited  to  the 
house  is  largely  due  to  the  marked  ability 
of  Mr.  Field,  the  house  had  become  one  of 
the  foremost  in  the  west,  with  an  annual 
sale  of  $8,000,000  in  1S70.  The  total  loss 
of  the  firm  during  the  Chicago  fire  was 
$3,500,000  of  which  $2,500,000  was  re- 
covered through  the  insurance  companies. 
It  rapidly  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this 
and  to-day  the  annual  sales  amount  to  over 
$40,000,000.  Mr.  Field's  real  estate  hold- 
ings amounted  to  $[ 0,000, 000.  He  was 
one  of  the  heaviest  subscribers  to  the  Bap- 
tist University  fund  although  he  is  a  Presby- 
terian, and  gave  $  1,000,000  for  the  endow- 
ment of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum — 
one  of  the  greatest  institutions  of  the  kind 
in  the  world. 

EDGAR  WILSON  NYE,  who  won  an  im- 
mense popularity  under  the  pen  name 
of  "  Bill  Nye,"  was  one  of  the  most  eccen- 
tric humorists  of  his  day.  He  was  born  Au- 
gust 25,  1850,  at  Shirley,  Piscataqua  coun- 
ty, Maine,  "at  a  very  early  age  "  as  he  ex- 
presses it.      He  took  an  academic  course  in 


60 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


River  Falls,  Wisconsin,  from  whence,  after 
his  graduation,  he  removed  to  Wyoming 
Territory.  He  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1S76.  He  began  when 
quite  young  to  contribute  humorous  sketches 
to  the  newspapers,  became  connected  with 
various  western  journals  and  achieved  a 
brilliant  success  as  a  humorist.  Mr.  Nye 
settled  later  in  New  York  City  where  he 
devoted  his  time  to  writing  funny  articles  for 
the  big  newspaper  syndicates.  He  wrote  for 
publication  in  book  form  the  following : 
"Bill  Nye  and  the  Boomerang,"  "The 
Forty  Liars,"  "Baled  Hay,"  "Bill  Nye's 
Blossom  Rock,"  "Remarks,"  etc.  His 
death  occurred  February  21,  1896,  at  Ashe- 
ville.  North  Carolina. 


THOMAS  DE  WITT  TALMAGE,  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  American  preach- 
ers, was  born  January  7,  1832,  and  was  the 
youngest  of  tv.'elve  children.  He  made  his 
preliminary  studies  at  the  grammar  school 
in  New  Bnmswick,  New  Jersey.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  joined  the  church  and  entered 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
graduated  in  May,  1853.  The  exercises 
were  held  in  Niblo's  Garden  and  his  speech 
aroused  the  audience  to  a  high  pitch  of  en- 
thusiasm. At  the  close  of  his  college  duties 
he  imagined  himself  interested  in  the  law 
and  for  three  years  studied  law.  Dr.  Tal- 
mage  then  perceived  his  mistake  and  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  ministry  at  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  Just 
after  his  ordination  the  young  minister  re- 
ceived two  calls,  one  from  Piermont,  New 
York,  and  the  other  from  Belleville,  New 
Jersey.  Dr.  Talmage  accepted  the  latter 
and  for  three  years  filled  that  charge,  when 
he  was  called  to  Syracuse,  New  York.  Here 
it    was    that    his    sermons    first    drew   large 


crowds  of  people  to  his  church,  and  from 
thence  dates  his  popularity.  Afterward  he 
became  the  pastor  of  the  Second  Reformed 
Dutch  church,  of  Philadelphia,  remaining 
seven  jears,  during  which  period  he  first 
entered  upon  the  lecture  platform  and  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  future  reputation.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  he  received  three  calls, 
one  from  Chicago,  one  from  San  Francisco, 
and  one  from  the  Central  Presbyterian 
church  of  Brooklyn,  which  latter  at  that 
time  consisted  of  only  nineteen  members 
with  a  congregation  of  about  thirty-five. 
This  church  offered  him  a  salary  of  seven 
thousand  dollars  and  he  accepted  the  call. 
He  soon  induced  the  trustees  to  sell  the  old 
church  and  build  a  new  one.  They  did  so 
and  erected  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle,  but 
it  burned  down  shortly  after  it  was  finished. 
By  prompt  sympathy  and  general  liberality 
a  new  church  was  built  and  formally  opened 
in  February,  1874.  It  contained  seats  for 
four  thousand,  si.x  hundred  and  fifty,  but  if 
necessary  seven  thousand  could  be  accom- 
modated. In  October,  1878,  his  salary  was 
raised  from  seven  thousand  dollars  totwelve 
thousand  dollars,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1889 
the  second  tabernacle  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
A  third  tabernacle  was  built  and  it  was  for- 
mally dedicated  on  Easter  Sunday,   1891. 


JOHN  PHILIP  SOUSA,  conceded  as 
being  one  of  the  greatest  band  leaders 
in  the  world,  won  his  fame  while  leader  of 
the  United  States  Marine  Band  at  Washing- 
ton, District  of  Columbia.  He  was  not 
originally  a  band  player  but  was  a  violinist, 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  conduc- 
tor of  an  opera  company,  a  profession  which 
he  followed  for  several  years,  until  he  was 
offered  the  leadership  of  the  Marine  Band 
at  Washington.  The  proposition  was  re- 
pugnant to  him  at  first   but  he  accepted  the 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


61 


offer  and  then  ensued  ten  jears  of  brilliant 
success  with  that  organization.  When  he 
first  took  the  Marine  Band  he  began  to 
gather  the  national  airs  of  all  the  nations 
that  have  representatives  in  Washington, 
and  compiled  a  comprehensive  volume  in- 
cluding nearly  all  the  national  songs  of  the 
different  nations.  He  composed  a  number 
of  marches,  waltzes  and  two-steps,  promi- 
nent among  which  are  the  "Washington 
Post,"  "Directorate,"  "King  Cotton," 
"High  School  Cadets,"  "Belle  of  Chica- 
go," "Liberty  Bell  March,"  "Manhattan 
Beach,"  "On  Parade  March,"  "  Thunderer 
March,"  "Gladiator  March,"  "  El  Capitan 
March,"  etc.  He  became  a  very  extensive 
composer  of  this  class  of  music. 


JOHN  QUINCY  AD.\MS,  sixth  president 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  in 
Braintree,  Massachusetts,  July  ii,  1767, 
the  son  of  John  Adams.  At  the  age  of 
eleven  he  was  sent  to  school  at  Paris,  and 
two  years  later  to  Leyden,  where  he  entered 
that  great  university.  He  returned  to  the 
United  States  in  17S5,  and  graduated  from 
Harvard  in  17S8.  He  then  studied  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1791.  His 
practice  brought  no  income  the  first  two 
years,  but  he  won  distinction  in  literary 
fields,  and  was  appointed  minister  to  The 
Hague  in  1794.  He  married  in  1797,  and 
■went  as  minister  to  Berlin  the  same  year, 
serving  until  1801,  when  Jefferson  became 
president.  He  was  elected  to  the  senate  in 
I  S03  by  the  Federalists,  but  was  condemned 
by  that  party  for  advocating  the  Embargo 
Act  and  other  Anti-Federalist  measures.  He 
■was  appointed  as  professor  of  rhetoric  at 
Harvard  in  1805,  and  in  1809  was  sent  as 
minister  to  Russia.  He  assisted  in  negotiat- 
ing the  treaty  of  peace  with  England  in 
3814,  and   became   minister   to   that  power 


the  next  year.  He  served  during  Monroe's 
administration  two  terms  as  secretary  of 
state,  during  which  time  party  lines  were 
obliterated,  and  in  1824  four  candidates  for 
president  appeared,  all  of  whom  were  iden- 
tified to  some  extent  with  the  new  "  Demo- 
cratic" party.  Mr.  Adams  received  84  elec- 
toral votes,  Jackson  99,  Crawford  41,  and 
Clay  37.  As  no  candidate  had  a  majority 
of  all  votes,  the  election  went  to  the  house 
of  representatives,  which  elected  Mr.  Adams. 
As  Clay  had  thrown  his  influence  to  Mr. 
Adams,  Clay  became  secretary  of  state,  and 
this  caused  bitter  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
Jackson  Democrats,  who  were  joined  by 
Mr.  Crawford  and  his  following,  and  op- 
posed every  measur-e  of  the  administration. 
In  the  election  of  1828  Jackson  was  elected 
over  Mr.  Adams  by  a  great  majorit}'. 

Mr.  Adams  entered  the  lower  house  of 
congress  in  1830,  elected  from  the  district 
in  which  he  was  born  and  continued  to  rep- 
resent it  for  seventeen  years.  He  was 
known  as  "  the  old  man  eloquent,"  and  his 
work  in  congress  was  independent  of  party. 
He  opposed  slavery  extension  and  insisted 
upon  presenting  to  congress,  one  at  a  time, 
the  hundreds  of  petitions  against  the  slave 
power.  One  of  these  petitions,  presented  in 
1842,  was  signed  by  forty-five  citizens  of 
Massachusetts,  and  prayed  congress  for  a 
peaceful  dissolution  of  the  Union.  His 
enemies  seized  upon  this  as  an  opportunity 
to  crush  their  powerful  foe,  and  in  a  caucus 
meeting  determined  upon  his  expulsion  from 
congress.  Finding  they  would  not  be  able 
to  command  enough  votes  for  this,  they  de- 
cided upon  a  course  that  would  bring  equal 
disgrace.  They  formulated  a  resolution  to 
the  effect  that  while  he  merited  expulsion, 
the  house  would,  in  great  mercy,  substitute 
its  severest  censure.  When  it  was  read  in  the 
house  the  old  man,  then  in  his  seventy-fifth 


62 


COMPEXDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


year,  arose  and  demanded  that  the  first  para- 
graph of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
be  read  as  his  defense.  It  embraced  the 
famous  sentence,  "that  whenever  any  form 
of  government  becomes  destructive  to  those 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  government, 
etc.,  etc."  After  eleven  days  of  hard  fight- 
ing his  opponents  were  defeated.  On  Febru- 
ary 2  1,  1S48,  he  rose  to  address  the  speaker 
on  the  Oregon  question,  when  he  suddenly 
fell  from  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  He  died 
soon  after  in  the  rotunda  of  the  capitol, 
where  he  had  been  conveyed  by  his  col- 
leagues. 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY  was  one  of  the 
most  famous  women  of  America.  She 
was  born  at  South  Adams,  Massachusetts, 
February  15,  1820,  the  daughter  of  a 
Quaker.  She  received  a  good  education 
and  became  a  school  teacher,  following  that 
profession  for  fifteen  years  in  New  York. 
Beginning  with  about  1852  she  became  the 
active  leader  of  the  woman's  rights  move- 
ment and  won  a  wide  reputation  for  her 
2eal  and  ability.  She  also  distinguished 
herself  for  her  zeal  and  eloquence  in  the 
temperance  and  anti-slavery  causes,  and 
became  a  conspicuous  figure  during  the  war. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  she  gave  most  of 
her  labors  to  the  cause  of  woman's  suffrage. 


PHILIP  D.  ARMOUR,  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  figures  in  the  mercantile 
history  of  America,  was  born  May  16,  1S32, 
on  a  farm  at  Stockbridge,  Madison  county. 
New  York,  and  received  his  early  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  that  county.  He 
was  apprenticed  to  a  farmer  and  worked 
faithfully  and  well,  being  very  ambitious  and 
desiring  to  start  out  for  himself.  At  the 
age  of  twenty  he  secured  a  release  from  his 


indentures  and  set  out  overland  for  the 
gold  fields  of  California.  After  a  great 
deal  of  hard  work  he  accumulated  a  little 
money  and  then  cam.e  east  and  settled 
in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  He  went  into 
the  grain  receiving  and  warehouse  busi- 
ness and  was  fairly  successful,  and  later  on 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  John  Flankin- 
ton  in  the  pork  packing  line,  the  style  of  the 
firm  being  Plankinton  &  Armour.  Mr.  Ar- 
mour made  his  first  great  "deal"  in  selling 
pork  "short  "  on  the  New  York  market  in 
the  anticipation  of  the  fall  of  the  Confed- 
eracy, and  Mr.  Armour  is  said  to  have  made 
through  this  deal  a  million  dollars.  He  then 
established  packing  houses  in  Chicago  and 
Kansas  City,  and  in  1875  he  removed  to 
Chicago.  He  increased  his  business  by  add- 
ing to  it  the  shipment  of  dressed  beef  to 
-the  European  markets,  and  many  other  lines 
of  trade  and  manufacturing,  and  it  rapidly 
assumed  vast  proportions,  employing  an 
army  of  men  in  different  lines  of  the  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Armour  successfully  conducted  a 
great  many  speculative  deals  in  pork  and 
grain  of  immense.proportions  and  also  erected 
many  large  warehouses  for  the  storage  of 
grain.  He  became  one  of  the  representative 
business  men  of  Chicago,  where  he  became 
closely  identified  with  all  enterprises  of  a 
public  nature,  but  his  fame  as  a  great  busi- 
ness man  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
He  founded  the  "Armour  Institute  "  at  Chi- 
cago and  also  contributed  largely  to  benevo- 
lent and  charitable  institutions. 


ROBERT  FULTON.— Although  Fulton 
is  best  known  as  the  inventor  of  the 
first  successful  steamboat,  yet  his  claims  to 
distinction  do  not  rest  alone  upon  that,  for 
he  was  an  inventor  along  other  lines,  a 
painter  and  an  author.  He  was  born  at 
Little   Britain,  Lancaster   county,  Pennsyl- 


coMPExniCM  ()/■'  niocRAPiir. 


65 


vania,  in  1765,  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  removed  to  Phila- 
delphia, and  there  and  in  New  York  en- 
gaged in  miniature  painting  with  success 
both  from  a  pecuniary  and  artistic  point  of 
view.  With  the  results  of  his  labors  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  for  the  support  of  his  mother. 
He  went  to  London  and  studied  under  the 
great  painter,  Benjamin  West,  and  all 
through  life  retained  his  fondness  for  art 
and  gave  evidence  of  much  ability  in  that 
line.  While  in  England  he  was  brought  in 
contact- with  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater,  the 
father  of  the  English  canal  system;  Lord 
Stanhope,  an  eminent  mechanician,  and 
James  Watt,  the  inventor  of  the  steam  en- 
gine. Their  influence  turned  his  mind  to  its 
true  field  of  labor,  that  of  mechanical  in- 
vention. Machines  for  flax  spinning, 
marble  sawing,  rope  making,  and  for  remov- 
ing earth  from  excavations,  are  among  his 
earliest  ventures.  His  "Treatise  on  the 
Improvement  of  Canal  Navigation, "  issued 
in  1796,  and  a  series  of  essays  on  canals 
were  soon  followed  by  an  English  patent 
for  canal  improvements.  In  1797  he  went 
to  Paris,  where  he  resided  until  1S06,  and 
there  invented  a  submarine  torpedo  boat  for 
maritime  defense,  but  which  was  rejected 
by  the  governments  of  France,  England  and 
the  United  States.  In  1803  he  offered  to  con- 
struct for  the  Emperor  Napoleon  a  steam- 
boat that  would  assist  in  carrying  out  the 
plan  of  invading  Great  Britain  then  medi- 
tated by  that  great  captain.  In  pursuance 
he  constructed  his  first  steamboat  on  the 
Seine,  but  it  did  not  prove  a  full  success 
and  the  idea  was  abandoned  by  the  French 
government.  By  the  aid  of  Livingston, 
then  United  States  minister  to  France, 
Fulton  purchased,  in  1806,  an  engine  which 
he  brought  to  this  country.  After  studying 
the  defects  of  his  own  and  other  attempts  in 


this  line  he  built  and  launched  in  1807  the 
Clermont,  the  first  successful  steamboat. 
This  craft  only  attained  a  speed  of  five 
miles  an  hour  while  going  up  North  river. 
His  first  patent  not  fully  covering  his  in- 
vention, Fulton  was  engaged  in  many  law 
suits  for  infringement.  He  constructed 
many  steamboats,  ferryboats,  etc.,  among 
these  being  the  United  States  steamer 
"  Fulton  the  First,"  built  in  18 14,  the  first 
war  steamer  ever  built.  This  craft  never 
attained  any  great  speed  owing  to  some  de- 
fects in  construction  and  accidentally  blew 
up  in  1829.  Fulton  died  in  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1S15. 


SALMON  PORTLAND  CHASE,  sixth 
chief-justice  of  the  United  States,  and 
one  of  the  most  eminent  of  American  jurists, 
was  born  in  Cornish,  New  Hampshire,  Jan- 
uary 13,  1 80S.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was 
left  in  poverty  by  the  death  of  his  father, 
but  means  were  found  to  educate  him.  He 
was  sent  to  his  uncle,  a  bishop,  who  con- 
ducted an  academy  near  Columbus,  Ohio, 
and  here  young  Chase  worked  on  the  farm 
and  attended  school.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  returned  to  his  native  state  and  entered 
Dartmouth  College,  from  which  he  gradu- 
ated in  1 826.  He  then  went  to  Washington, 
and  engaged  in  teaching  school,  and  study- 
ing law  under  the  instruction  of  William 
Wirt.  He  was  licensed  to  practice  in  1829, 
and  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  had  a 
hard  struggle  for  several  years  following. 
He  had  in  the  meantime  prepared  notes  on 
the  statutes  of  Ohio,  which,  when  published, 
brought  him  into  prominence  locally.  He 
was  soon  after  appointed  solicitor  of  the 
United  States  Bank.  In  1837  he  appeared 
as  counsel  for  a  fugitive  slave  woman,  Ma- 
tilda, and  sought  by  all  the  powers  of  his 
learning  and  eloquence  to  prevent  her  owner 


'66 


COMPENDIUM    OF    lUOGRAPIir. 


from  reclaiming  her.  He  acted  in  many 
other  cases,  and  devolved  the  trite  expres- 
sion, "Slavery  is  sectional,  freedom  is  na- 
tional." He  was  employed  to  defend  Van 
if  andt  before  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States  in  1846,  which  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  cases  connected  with  the  great  strug- 
gle against  slavery.  By  this  time  Mr.  Chase 
had  become  the  recognized  leader  of  that 
element  known  as  "  free-soilers."  He  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate  in  1849, 
and  was  chosen  governor  of  Ohio  in  1855 
and  re-elected  in  1857.  He  was  chosen  to 
the  United  States  senate  from  Ohio  in  1861, 
but  was  made  secretary  of  the  treasury  by 
Lincoln  and  accepted.  He  inaugurated  a 
financial  system  to  replenish  the  exhausted 
treasury  and  meet  the  demands  of  the  great- 
est war  in  history  and  at  the  same  time  to 
revive  the  industries  of  the  country.  One 
of  the  measures  which  afterward  called  for 
his  judicial  attention  was  the  issuance  of 
currency  notes  which  were  made  a  legal 
tender  in  payment  of  debts.  When  this 
question  came  before  him  as  chief-justice 
of  the  United  States  he  reversed  his  former 
action  and  declared  the  measure  unconstitu- 
tional. The  national  banking  system,  by 
which  all  notes  issued  were  to  be  based  on 
funded  government  bonds  of  equal  or  greater 
amounts,  had  its  direct  origin  with  Mr.  Chase. 
Mr.  Chase  resigned  the  treasury  port- 
folio in  1864,  and  was  appointed  the  same 
year  as  chief-justice  of  the  United  States 
supreme  court.  The  great  questions  that 
came  up  before  him  at  this  crisis  in  the  life 
of  the  nation  were  no  less  than  those  which 
confronted  the  first  chief-justice  at  the  for- 
mation of  our  government.  Reconstruction, 
private,  state  and  national  interests,  the 
constitutionality  of  the  acts  of  congress 
passed  in  times  of  great  excitement,  the 
-construction  and  interpretation  to  be  placed 


upon  the  several  amendments  to  the  national 
constitution, — these  were  among  the  vital 
questions  requiring  prompt  decision.  He 
received  a  paralytic  stroke  in  1870,  which 
impaired  his  health,  though  his  mental 
powers  were  not  affected.  He  continued  to 
preside  at  the  opening  terms  for  two  years 
iollowing  and  died  Ma}'  7,   1873. 


HARRIET  ELIZABETH  BEECHER 
STOWE,  a  celebrated  American  writ- 
er, was  born  June  14,  1812,  at  Litchfield, 
Connecticut.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Lyman 
Beecher  and  a  sister  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
two  noted  divines;  was  carefully  educated, 
afid  taught  school  for  several  years  at  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut.  In  1832  Miss  Beecher 
married  Professor  Stowe,  then  of  Lane  Semi- 
nary, Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  afterwards  at 
Bowdoin  College  and  Andover  Seminary. 
Mrs.  Stowe  published  in  1849  "The  May- 
flower, or  sketches  of  the  descendants  of  the 
Pilgrims,"  and  in  1851  commenced  in  the 
"  National  Era  "of  Washington,  a  serial  story 
which  was  published  separately  in  1852  under 
the  title  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  This 
book  attained  almost  unparalleled  success 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  within  ten  years 
it  had  been  translated  in  alinost  every  lan- 
guage of  the  civilized  world.  Mrs.  Stowe  pub- 
lished in  1853  a  "Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin" 
in  which  the  data  that  she  used  was  published 
and  its  truthfulness  was  corroborated.  In 
1853  she  accompanied  her  husband  and 
brother  to  Europe,  and  on  her  return  pub- 
lished "Sunny  Memories  of  Foreign  Lands" 
in  1854.  Mrs.  Stowe  was  for  some  time 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  ' '  Atlantic  Monthly  " 
and  the  "  Hearth  and  Home,"  for  which 
she  had  written  a  number  of  articles. 
Among  these,  also  published  separately,  are 
"  Dred,  a  tale  of  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp" 
(later  published   under  the  title  of    "Nina 


COMrEXDlL'M   OF    BJOGRAPIIi' 


G7 


Gordon");  "The  Minister's  Wooing;"  "The 
Pearl  of  Orr's  Island;"  "Agnes  of  Sorrento;" 
"Oldtovvn  Folks;"  "  My  Wife  and  I;"  "Bible 
Heroines,"  and  "A  Dog's  Mission."  Mrs. 
Stowe's  death  occurred  July  i,  1896,  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut. 


THOMAS  JONATHAN  JACKSON,  bet- 
ter known  as  "Stonewall"  Jackson, 
was  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  Confeder- 
ate generals  of  the  Civil  war.  He  was  a 
S(jldier  by  nature,  an  incomparable  lieuten- 
ant, sure  to  execute  any  operation  entrusted 
to  him  with  marvellous  precision,  judgment 
and  courage,  and  all  his  individual  cam- 
paigns and  combats  bore  the  stamp  of  a 
masterly  capacity  for  war.  He  was  born 
January  21,  1824,  at  Clarksburg,  Harrison 
county,  West  Virginia.  He  was  early  in 
life  imbued  with  the  desire  to  be  a  soldier 
and  it  is  said  walked  from  the  mountains  of 
Virginia  to  W^ashington,  secured  the  aid  of 
his  congressman,  and  was  appointed  cadet 
at  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 

1846.  'Attached  to  the  army  as  brevet  sec- 
ond lieutenant  of  the  First  Artillery,  his  first 
service  was  as  a  subaltern  with  Magruder's 
battery  of  light  artillery  in  the  Mexican  war. 
He  participated  at  the  reduction  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  was  noticed  for  gallantry  in  the 
battles  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Contreras,  Molina 
del  Rey,  Chapultepec,  and  the  capture  of 
the  city  of  Alexico,  receiving  the  brevets  of 
captain  for  conduct  at  Contreras  and  Cher- 
ubusco  and  of  major  at  Chapultepec.  In 
the  meantime  he  had  been  advanced  by 
regular  promotion    to  be  first  lieutenant  in 

1847.  In  1852,  the  war  having  closed,  he 
resigned  and  became  professor  of  natural 
and  experimental  philosophy  and  artillery 
instructor  at  the  Virginia  State  Military 
Institute   at   Lexington,  Virginia,  where  he 


remained  until  Virginia  declared  for  seces- 
sion, he  becoming  chiefly  noted  for  intense 
religious  sentiment  coupled  with  personal 
eccentricities.  Upon  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  he  was  made  colonel  and  placed  in 
command  of  a  force  sent  to  sieze  Harper's 
Ferry,  which  he  accomplished  May  3,  1861. 
Relieved  by  General  J.  E.  Johnston,  May 
23,  he  took  command  of  the  brigade  of 
Valley  Virginians,  whom  he  moulded  into 
that  brave  corps,  baptized  at  the  first 
Manassas,  and  ever  after  famous  as  the 
"  Stonewall  Brigade."  After  this  "Stone- 
wall "  Jackson  was  made  a  major-general, 
in  1 861,  and  participated  until  his  death  in 
all  the  famous  campaigns  about  Richmond 
and  in  Virginia,  and  was  a  conspicuous  fig- 
ure in  the  memorable  battles  of  that  time. 
May  2,  1863,  at  Chancellorsville,  he  wa? 
v.'Ounded  severely  by  his  own  troops,  two 
balls  shattering  his  left  arm  and  anotiier 
passing  through  the  palm  of  his  right  hand. 
The  left  arm  was  amputated,  but  pneumonia 
intervened,  and,  weakened  by  the  great  loss 
of  blood,  he  died  May  10,  1863.  The  more 
his  operations  in  the  Shenandoah  valley  in 
1862  are  studied  the  more  striking  must  the 
merits  of  this  great  soldier  appear. 


JOHN  GREENLEAF  WHITTIER.— 
Near  to  the  heart  of  the  people  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  will  ever  lie  the  verses  of 
this,  the  "Quaker  Poet."  The  author  of 
"Barclay  of  Ury,"  "Maud  Muller"  and 
"Barbara  Frietchie,"  always  pure,  fervid 
and  direct,  will  be  remembered  when  many 
a  more  ambitious  writer  has  been  forgotten. 
John  G.  Whittier  was  born  at  Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts,  December  7,  1807,  of 
Quaker  parentage.  He  had  but  a  common- 
school  education  and  passed  his  boyhood 
days  upon  a  farm.  In  early  life  he  learned 
the   trade    of    shoemaker.      At    the   age    of 


OS 


COMPEXBIi'M   OF    BIOGRAPHY 


eighteen  he  began  to  write  verses  for  the 
Haverhill  ''  Gazette."  He  spent  two  years 
after  that  at  the  Haverhill  academy,  after 
which,  in  1829,  he  became  editor  of  the 
"American  Manufacturer,"  at  Boston.  In 
1830  he  succeeded  George  D.  Prentice  as 
editor  of  the  "New  England  Weekly  Re- 
view," but  the  following  year  returned  to 
Haverhill  and  engaged  in  farming.  In  1832 
and  in  1836  he  edited  the  "  Gazette."  In 
1835  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lature, serving  two  years.  In  1836  he  became 
secretary  of  the  Anti-slavery  Society  of  Phil- 
adelphia. In  1838  and  1839  he  edited  the 
"  Pennsylvania  Freeman,"  but  in  the  latter 
year  the  office  was  sacked  and  burned  by  a 
mob.  In  i84oWhittier  settled  at  Ames- 
bury,  Massachusetts.  In  1847  he  became 
corresponding  editor  of  the  "  National  Era," 
an  anti-slavery  paper  published  at  Washing- 
ton, and  contributed  to  its  columns  many  of 
his  anti-slavery  and  other  favorite  lyrics. 
Mr.  Whittier  lived  for  many  years  in  retire- 
ment of  Quaker  simplicity,  publishing  several 
volumes  of  poetry  which  have  raised  him  to 
a  high  place  among  American  authors  and 
brought  to  him  the  love  and  admiration  of 
his  countrymen.  In  the  electoral  colleges 
of  i860  and  1864  Whittier  was  a  member. 
Much  of  his  time  after  1876  was  spent  at 
Oak  Knoll,  Danvers,  Massachusetts,  but 
still  retained  his  residence  at  Amesbury. 
He  never  married.  His  death  occurred  Sep- 
tember 7,  1892. 

The  more  prominent  prose  writings  of 
John  G.  Whittier  are  as  follows:  "Legends 
of  New  England,"  "  Justice  and  Expediency, 
or  Slavery  Considered  with  a  View  to  Its  Abo- 
lition," "  The  Stranger  in  Lowell,"  "Super- 
naturalism  in  New  England,"  "  Leaves  from 
Margaret  Smith's  Journal,"  "Old  Portraits 
and  Modern  Sketches"  and  "Literary 
Sketches." 


DAVID  DIXON  PORTER,  illustrious  as 
admiral  of  the  United  States  navy,  and 
famous  as  one  of  the  most  able  naval  offi- 
cers of  America,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
June  8,  1 8 14.  His  father  was  also  a  naval 
officer  of  distinction,  who  left  the  service  of 
the  United  States  to  become  commander  of 
the  naval  forces  of  Me.xico  during  the  war 
between  that  country  and  Spain,  and 
through  this  fact  David  Dixon  Porter  was 
appointed  a  midshipman  in  the  Mexican 
navy.  Two  years  later  David  D.  Porter 
joined  the  United  States  navy  as  midship- 
man, rose  in  rank  and  eighteen  years  later 
as  a  lieutenant  he  is  found  actively  engaged 
in  all  the  operations  of  our  navy  along  the 
east  coast  of  Mexico.  When  the  Civil  war 
broke  out  Porter,  then  a  commander,  was 
dispatched  in  the  Powhattan  to  the  relief  of 
Fort  Pickens,  Florida.  This  duty  accom- 
plished, he  fitted  out  a  mortar  flotilla  for 
the  reduction  of  the  forts  guarding  the  ap- 
proaches to  New  Orleans,  which  it  was  con- 
sidered of  vital  importance  for  the  govern- 
ment to  get  possession  of.  After  the  fall  of 
New  Orleans  the  mortar  flotilla  was  actively 
engaged  at  Vicksburg,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1862  Porter  was  made  a  rear-admiral  and 
placed  in  command  of  all  the  naval  forces 
on  the  western  rivers  above  New  Orleans. 
The  ability  of  the  man  was  now  con- 
spicuously manifested,  not  only  in  the  bat- 
tles in  which  he  was  engaged,  but  also  in 
the  creation  of  a  formidable  fleet  out  of 
river  steamboats,  which  he  covered  with 
such  plating  as  they  would  bear.  In  1864 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Atlantic  coast  to 
command  the  naval  forces  destined  to  oper- 
ate against  the  defences  of  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  and  on  Jan.  15,  1865,  the 
fall  of  Fort  Fisher  was  hailed  by  the  country 
as  a  glorious  termination  of  his  arduous  war 
service.      In  1 866  he  was  made  vice-admiral 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


69 


and  appointed  superintendent  of  the  Naval 
Academy.  On  the  death  of  Farragut,  in 
1S70,  he  succeeded  that  able  man  as  ad- 
miral of  the  navy.  His  death  occurred  at 
Washington,  February  13,   1891. 


NATHANIEL  GREENE  was  one  of  the 
best  known  of  the  distinguished  gen- 
erals who  led  the  Continental  soldiery 
against  the  hosts  of  Great  Britain  during 
the  Revolutionary  war.  He  was  the  son 
of  Quaker  parents,  and  was  born  at  War- 
wick, Rhode  Island,  May  27,  1742.  In 
youth  he  acquired  a  good  education,  chiefly 
by  his  own  efforts,  as  he  was  a  tireless 
reader.  In  1770  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Assembly  of  his  native  state.  The 
news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  stirred 
his  blood,  and  he  offered  his  services  to 
the  government  of  the  colonies,  receiving 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  troops  from  Rhode  Island. 
He  led  them  to  the  camp  at  Cambridge, 
and  for  thus  violating  the  tenets  of  their 
faith,  he  was  cast  out  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  or  Quakers.  Pie  soon  won  the  es- 
teem of   General  Washington.      In  August, 

1776,  Congress  promoted  Greene  to  the 
rank  of  major-general,  and  in  the  battles  of 
Trenton  and  Princeton  he  led  a  division. 
At  the  battle  of  Brandy  wine,  September  1 1, 

1777,  he  greatly  distinguished  himself,  pro- 
tecting the  retreat  of  the  Continentals  by 
his  firm  stand.  At  the  battle  of  German- 
town,  October  4,  the  same  year,  he  com- 
manded the  left  wing  of  the  army  with 
credit.  In  March,  1778,  he  reluctantly  ac- 
cepted the  office  of  quartermaster-general, 
but  only  with  the  understanding  that  his 
rank  in  the  army  would  not  be  affected  and 
that  in  action  he  should  retain  his  command. 
On  the  bloody  field  of  Monmouth,  June  28, 

1778,  he  commanded  the   right  wing,  as  lie 


did  at  the  battle  of  Tiverton  Heights.  He 
was  in  command  of  the  army  in  1780,  dur- 
ing the  absence  of  Washington,  and  was 
president  of  the  court-martial  that  tried  and 
condemned  Major  Andre.  After  General 
Gates'  defeat  at  Camden,  North  Carolina,  in 
the  summer  of  1780,  General  Greene  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  southern  army. 
He  sent  out  a  force  under  General  Morgan 
who  defeated  General  Tarleton  at  Cowpens, 
January  17,  1781.  On  joining  his  lieuten- 
ant, in  February,  he  found  himself  out  num- 
bered by  the  British  and  retreated  in  good 
order  to  Virginia,  but  being  reinforced  re- 
turned to  North  Carolina  where  he  fought 
the  battle  of  Guilford,  and  a  few  days  later 
compelled  the  retreat  of  Lord  Cornwallis. 
The  British  were  followed  by  Greene  part 
of  the  way,  when  the  American  army 
marched  into  South  Carolina.  After  vary- 
ing success  he  fought  the  battle  of  Eutaw 
Springs,  Septembers,  17S1.  For  the  latter 
battle  and  its  glorious  consequences,  which 
virtually  closed  the  war  in  the  Carolinas, 
Greene  received  a  medal  from  Congress  and 
many  valuable  grants  of  land  from  the 
colonies  of  North  and  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  On  the  return  of  peace,  after  a 
year  spent  in  Rhode  Island,  General  Greene 
took  up  his  residence  on  his  estate  near 
Savannah,  Georgia,  where  he  died  June  19, 
1786.  

EDGAR  ALLEN  POE.— Among  the 
many  great  literary  men  whom  this 
country  has  produced,  there  is  perhaps  no 
name  more  widely  known  than  that  of  Ed- 
gar Allen  Poe.  He  was  born  at  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  February  19,  1809.  His 
parents  were  David  and  Elizabeth  (Arnold) 
Poe,  both  actors,  the  mother  said  to  have 
been  the  natural  daughter  of  Benedict  Ar- 
nold.     The  parents  died  while   Edgar  was 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


still  a  child  and  he  was  adopted  by  John 
Allen,  a  wealthy  and  influential  resident  of 
Richmond,  Virginia.  Edgar  was  sent  to 
school  at  Stoke,  Newington,  England, 
where  he  remained  until  he  waG  thirteen 
years  old;  was  prepared  for  college  by  pri- 
vate tutors,  and  in  i  826  entered  the  Virginia 
University  at  Charlottesville.  He  made 
rapid  progress  in  his  studies,  and  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  scholarship,  but  was  ex- 
pelled within  a  year  for  gambling,  after 
which  for  several  years  he  resided  with  his 
benefactor  at  Richmond.  He  then  went  to 
Baltimore,  and'in  1829  published  a  71 -page 
pamphlet  called  "Al  Aaraaf,  Tamerlane 
and  Minor  Poems,"  which,  however,  at- 
tracted no  attention  and  contained  nothing 
of  particular  merit.  In  1830  he  was  ad- 
mitted as  a  cadet  at  West  Point,  but  was 
expelled  about  a  year  later  for  irregulari- 
ties. Returning  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Allen 
he  remained  for  some  time,  and  finally 
quarrelled  with  his  benefactor  and  enlisted 
as  a  private  soldier  in  the  U.  S.  army,  but 
remained  only  a  short  time.  Soon  after 
this,  in  1833,  Poe  won  several  prizes  for 
literary  work,  and  as  a  result  secured  the 
position  of  editor  of  trhe  "Southern  Liter- 
ary Messenger,"  at  Richmond,  Virginia. 
Here  he  married  his  cousin,  Virginia 
Clemm,  who  clung  to  hitn  with  fond  devo- 
tion through  all  the  many  trials  that  came 
to  them  until  her  death  in  January,  1848. 
Poe  remained  with  the  "Messenger"  for 
several  years,  writing  meanwhile  many 
tales,  reviews,  essays  and  poems.  He  aft- 
erward earned  a  precarious  living  by  his 
pen  in  New  York  for  a  time;  in  1839  be- 
came editor  of  "Burton's  Gentleman's 
Magazine"  ;  in  1840  to  1842  was  editor  of 
"  Graham's  Magazine,"  and  drifted  around 
from  one  place  to  another,  returning  to 
New    York    in    1844.       In    1845    his    best 


known  production,  "The  Raven,"  appeared 
in  the  "Whig  Review,"  and  gained  him  a 
reputation  which  is  now  almost  world-wide. 
He  then  acted  as  editor  and  contributor  on 
various  magazines  and  periodicals  until  the 
death  of  his  faithful  wife  in  1848.  In  the 
summer  of  1849  he  was  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried to  a  lad}'  of  fortune  in  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  day  set  for  the  wedding. 
He  started  for  New  York  to  make  prepara- 
tions for  the  event,  but,  it  is  said,  began 
drinking,  was  attacked  with  dilirium  tre- 
mens in  Baltimore  and  was  removed  to  a 
hospital,  where  he  died,  October  7,  1849. 
The  works  of  Edgar  Allen  Poe  have  been 
repeatedly  published  since  his  death,  both 
in  Europe  and  America,  and  have  attained 
an  immense  popularity. 


HORATIO  GATES,  one  of  the  prom- 
inent figures  in  the  American  war  for 
Independence,  was  not  a  native  of  the  col- 
onies but  was  born  in  England  in  1728.  In 
early  life  he  entered  the  British  army  and 
attained  the  rank  of  major.  At  the  capture 
of  Martinico  he  was  aide  to  General  Monk- 
ton  and  after  the  peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle, 
in  1748,  he  was  among  the  first  troops  that 
landed  at  Halifax.  He  was  with  Braddock 
at  his  defeat  in  1755,  and  was  there  severe- 
ly wounded.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
French  and  Indian  war  Gates  purchased  an 
estate  in  Virginia,  and,  resigning  from  the 
British  army,  settled  down  to  life  as  a 
planter.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary war  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
colonies  and  was  made  adjutant-general  of 
the  Continental  forces  with  the  rank  oi 
brigadier-general.  He  accompanied  Wash- 
ington when  he  assumed  the  command  ol 
the  army.  In  June,  1776,  he  was  appoint- 
ed to  the  command  of  the  army  of  Canada, 
but  was  superseded  iu  May  of  the  following 


ClUfPEXDirM   OF    BIOGRAPHY 


71 


7year  by  General  Schuyler.  In  August, 
1777,  however,  the  command  of  that  army 
was  restored  to  General  Gates  and  Septem- 
ber 19  he  fought  the  battle  of  Bemis 
Heights.  October  7,  the  same  year,  he 
won  the  battle  of  Stillwater,  or  Saratoga, 
and  October  17  received  the  surrender  of 
General  Burgoyne  and  his  army,  the  pivotal 
point  of  the  war.  This  gave  him  a  brilliant 
reputation.  June  13,  17S0,  General  Gates 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
southern  military  division,  and  August  16  of 
that  year  suffered  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  at  Camden,  North  Car- 
olina. In  December  following  he  was 
superseded  in  the  command  by  General 
Nathaniel  Greene. 

On  the  signing  of  the  peace  treaty  Gen- 
eral Gates  retired  to  his  plantation  in 
Berkeley  county,  Virginia,  where  he  lived 
until  1790,  when,  emancipating  all  his 
slaves,  he  removed  to  New  York  City,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  April   10,   1806. 


LYMAN  J.  GAGE.— When  President  Mc- 
Kinley  selected  Lyman  J.  Gage  as  sec- 
retary of  the  treasury  he  chose  one  of  the 
most  eminent  financiers  of  the  century.  Mr. 
Gage  was  born  June  28,  1836,  at  De  Ruy- 
ter,  Madison  county.  New  York,  and  was  of 
English  descent.  He  went  to  Rome,  New 
York,  with  his  parents  when  he  was  ten 
years  old,  and  received  his  early  education 
in  the  Rome  Academy.  Mr.  Gage  gradu- 
ated from  the  same,  and  his  first  position 
was  that  of  a  clerk  in  the  post  office.  When 
he  was  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  detailed 
as  mail  agent  on  the  Rome  &  Watertown 
R.  R.  until  the  postmaster-general  appointed 
regular  agents  for  the  route.  In  1854,  when 
he  was  in  his  eighteenth  year,  he  entered 
the  Oneida  Central  Bank  at  Rome  as  a 
junior  clerk  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dol- 


lars per  year.  Being  unable  at  the  end  of 
one  year  and  a  half's  service  to  obtain  an 
increase  in  salary  he  determined  to  seek  a 
wider  field  of  labor.  Mr.  Gage  set  out  in 
the  fall  of  1855  and  arrived  in  Chicago, 
Illinois,  on  October  3,  and  soon  obtained  a 
situation  in  Nathan  Cobb's  lumber  yard  and 
planing  mill.  Ke  remained  there  three  years 
as  a  bookkeeper,  teamster,  etc.,  and  left  on 
account  of  change  in  the  management.  But 
not  being  able  to  find  anything  else  to  do  he 
accepted  the  position  of  night  watchman  in 
the  place  for  a  period  of  six  weeks.  He 
then  became  a  bookkeeper  for  the  Mer- 
chants Saving,  Loan  and  Trust  Company  at 
a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  per  year^ 
He  rapidly  advanced  in  the  service  of  this 
company  and  in  1868  he  was  made  cashier. 
Mr.  Gage  was  next  offered  the  position  of 
cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  and  ac- 
cepted the  offer.  He  became  the  president 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago  Jan- 
uary 24,  1 89 1,  and  in  1897  he  was  appointed 
secretary  of  the  treasury.-  His  ability  as  a 
financier  and  the  prominent  part  he  took  in 
the  discussion  of  financial  affairs  while  presi- 
dent of  the  great  Chicago  bank  gave  him  a 
national  reputation. 


ANDREW  JACKSON,  the  seventh  pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  was  born 
at  the  Waxhaw  settlement.  Union  county. 
North  Carolina,  March  15,  1767.  His 
parents  were  Scotch-Irish,  natives  of  Carr- 
ickfergus,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1665 
and  settled  on  Twelve-Mile  creek,  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Catawba.  His  father,  who 
was  a  poor  farm  laborer,  died  shortly  be- 
fore Andrew's  birth,  when  the  mother  re- 
moved to  Waxhaw,  where  some  relatives 
lived.  Andrew's  education  was  very  limited, 
he  showing  no  aptitude  for  study.  In  1780 
when  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  he  and    hi,s 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPH2: 


brother  Robert  volunteered  to  serve  in  the 
American  partisan  troops  under  General 
Sumter,  and  witnessed  the  defeat  at  Hang- 
ing Rock.  The  following  year  the  boys 
were  both  taken  prisoners  by  the  enemy 
and  endured  brutal  treatment  from  the 
British  officers  while  confined  at  Camden. 
They  both  took  the  small  pox,  when  the 
mother  procured  their  exchange  but  Robert 
died  shortly  after.  The  mother  died  in 
Charleston  of  ship  fever,  the  same  year. 

Young  Jackson,  now  in  destitute  cir- 
cumstances, worked  for  about  six  months  in 
a  saddler's  shop,  and  then  turned  school 
master,  although  but  little  fitted  for  the 
position.  He  now  began  to  think  of  a  pro- 
fession and  at  Salisbury,  North  Carolina, 
entered  upon  the  study  of  law,  but  from  all 
•accounts  gave  but  little  attention  to  his 
books,  being  one  of  the  most  roistering, 
rollicking  fellows  in  that  town,  indulging  in 
many  of  the  vices  of  his  time.  In  1786  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  in  1788  re- 
moved to  Nashville,  then  in  North  Carolina, 
with  the  appointment  of  public  prosecutor, 
then  an  office  of  little  honor  or  emolument, 
but  requiring  much  nerve,  for  which  young 
Jackson  was  already  noted.  Two  years 
later,  when  Tennessee  became  a  territory 
he  was  appointed  by  Washington  to  the 
position  of  United  States  attorney  for  that 
district.  In  1791  he  married  Mrs.  Rachel 
Robards,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Don- 
elson,  who  was  supposed  at  the  time  to 
have  been  divorced  from  her  former  hus- 
band that  year  by  act  of  legislature  of  ^'ir- 
•ginia,  but  two  years  later,  on  finding  that 
this  divorce  was  not  legal,  and  a  new  bill  of 
separation  being  granted  by  the  courts  of 
Kentucky,  they  were  remarried  in  1793. 
This  was  used  as  a  handler  by  his  oppo- 
nents in  the  political  campaign  afterwards. 
Jackson  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  as  United 


States  attorney  and  obtained  much  influence. 
He  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1796,  when  Tennessee 
became  a  slate  and  was  its  first  represent- 
ative in  congress.  In  1797  he  was  chosen 
United  States  senator,  but  resigned  the  fol- 
lowing year  to  accept  a  seat  on  the  supreme 
court  of  Tennessee  which  he  held  until 
1804.  He  was  elected  major-general  of 
the  militia  of  that  state  in  1801.  In  1804, 
being  unsuccessful  in  obtaining  the  govern- 
orship of  Louisiana,  the  new  territory,  he 
retired  from  public  life  to  the  Hermitage, 
his  plantation.  On  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812  he  tendered 
his  services  to  the  government  and  went  to 
New  Orleans  with  the  Tennessee  troops  in 
January,  181  3.  In  March  of  that  year  he 
was  ordered  to  disband  his  troops,  but  later 
marched  against  the  Cherokee  Indians,  de- 
feating them  at  Talladega,  Emuckfaw 
and  Tallapoosa.  Having  now  a  national 
reputation,  he  was  appointed  major-general 
in  the  United  States  army  and  was  sent 
against  the  British  in  Florida.  He  con- 
ducted the  defence  of  Mobile  and  seized 
Pensacola.  He  then  went  with  his  troops 
to  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  where  he  gained 
the  famous  victory  of  January  8,  18  15.  In 
18 1 7-18  he  conducted  a  war  against  the 
Seminoles,  and  in  1821  was  made  governor 
of  the  new  territory  of  Florida.  In  1S23 
he  was  elected  United  States  senator,  but 
in  1 824  Was  the  contestant  with  J.  O.  Adams 
for  the  presidency.  Four  years  later  he 
was  elected  president,  and  served  two  terms. 
In  1832  he  took  vigorous  action  against  the 
nullifiers  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  next 
year  removed  the  public  money  from  the 
United  States  bank.  During  his  second 
term  the  national  debt  was  extinguished.  At 
the  close  of  his  administration  he  retired  to 
the  Hermitage,  where  be  died  June  8,  1845. 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


78 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE,  the  largest  manu- 
facturer of  pig-iron,  steel  rails  and 
coke  in  the  world,  well  deserves  a  place 
among  America's  celebrated  men.  He  was 
born  November  25,  1835,  at  Dunfermline, 
Scotland,  and  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
with  his  father  in  1845,  settling  in  Pittsburg. 
Two  3'ears  later  Mr.  Carnegie  began  his 
business  career  by  attending  a  small  station- 
ary engine.  This  work  did  not  suit  him  and 
he  became  a  telegraph  messenger  with  the 
Atlantic  and  Ohio  Co.,  and  later  he  became 
an  operator,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  read 
telegraphic  signals  by  sound.  Mr.  Carnegie 
was  afterward  sent  to  the  Pittsburg  office 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Co.,  as  clerk 
to  the  superintendent  and  manager  of  the 
telegraph  lines.  While  in  this  position  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Woodruff,  the 
inventor  of  the  sleeping-car.  Mr.  Carnegie 
immediately  became  interested  and  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  company  for  its  con- 
struction after  the  railroad  had  adopted  it, 
and  the  success  of  this  venture  gave  him  the 
nucleus  of  his  wealth.  He  was  promoted 
to  the  superintendency  of  the  Pittsburg 
division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and 
about  this  time  was  one  of  the  syndicate 
that  purchased  the  Storey  farm  on  Oil  Creek 
which  cost  forty  thousand  dollars  and  in  one 
year  it  yielded  over  one  million  dollars  in 
cash  dividends.  Mr.  Carnegie  later  was  as- 
sociated with  others  in  establishing  a  rolling- 
mill,  and  from  this  has  grown  the  most  ex- 
tensive and  complete  system  of  iron  and 
steel  industries  ever  controlled  by  one  indi- 
vidual, embracing  the  Edgar  Thomson 
Steel  Works;  Pittsburg  Bessemer  Steel 
Works;  Lucy  Furnaces;  Union  Iron  Mills; 
Union  Mill;  Keystone  Bridge  Works;  Hartr 
man  Steel  Works;  Prick  Coke  Co.;  Scotia 
Ore  Mines.  Besides  directing  his  immense 
iron  industries   he   owned   eighteen  English 


newspapers  which  he  ran  in  the  interest  of 
the  Radicals.  He  has  also  devoted  large 
sums  of  money  to  benevolent  and  educational 
purposes.  In  1879  he  erected  commodious 
swimming  baths  for  the  people  of  Dunferm- 
line, Scotland,  and  in  the  following  year 
gave  forty  thousand  dollars  for  a  free  library. 
Mr.  Carnegie  gave  fifty  thousand  dollars  to 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  in  1884 
to  found  what  is  now  called  "  Carnegie  Lab- 
oratory, "  and  in  1885  gave  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  Pittsburg  for  a  public 
library.  He  also  gave  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  a  music  hall  and  library 
in  Allegheny  City  in  18S6,  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  Edinburgh,  Scot- 
land, for  a  free  library.  He  also  established 
free  libraries  at  Braddock,  Pennsylvania, 
and  other  places  for  the  benefit  of  his  em- 
ployes. He  also  published  the  following 
works,  "An  American  Four-in-hand  in 
Britain;"  "Round  the  World;"  "Trium- 
phant Democracy;  or  Fifty  Years'  March  of 
the  Republic." 


GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  the  "  Rock  of 
Chickamauga,"  one  of  the  best  known 
commanders  during  the  late  Civil  war,  was 
born  in  Southampton  county,  Virginia,  July 
31,  1 8 16,  his  parents  being  of  Welsh  and 
French  origin  respectively.  In  1836  young 
Thomas  was  appointed  a  cadet  at  the  Mili- 
tary Academy,  at  West  Point,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1840,  and  was  promoted  to 
the  office  of  second  lieutenant  in  the  Third 
Artillery.  Shortly  after,  with  his  company, 
he  went  to  Florida,  where  he  served  for  two 
years  against  the  Seminole  Indians.  In 
1 84 1  he  was  brevetted  first  lieutenant  for 
gallant  conduct.  He  remained  in  garrison 
in  the  south  and  southwest  until  1845,  at 
which  date  with  the  regiment  he  joined  the 
army  under  General  Taylor,  and  participate 


74 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPU}  . 


ed  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Brown,  the  storm- 
ing of  Monterey  and  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista.  After  the  latter  event  he  remained 
in  garrison,  now  brevetted  major,  until  the 
close  of  the  Mexican  war.  After  a  year 
spent  in  Florida,  Captain  Thomas  was  or- 
dered to  West  Point,  where  he  served  as  in- 
structor until  1854.  He  then  was  trans- 
ferred to  California.  In  May,  1855,  Thom- 
as was  appointed  major  of  the  Second  Cav- 
alry, with  whom  he  spent  five  years  in  Texas. 
Although  a  southern  man,  and  surrounded 
by  brother  officers  who  all  were  afterwards 
in  the  Confederate  service,  Major  Thomas 
never  swerved  from  his  allegiance  to  the 
government.  A.  S.  Johnston  was  the  col- 
onel of  the  regiment,  R.  E.  Lee  the  lieuten- 
ant-colonel, and  W.  J.  Hardee,  senior  ma- 
jor, while  among  the  younger  officers  were 
Hood,  Fitz  Hugh  Lee,  Van  Dorn  and  Kirby 
Smith.  When  these  officers  left  the  regi- 
ment to  take  up  arms  for  the  Confederate 
cause  he  remained  with  it,  and  April  17th, 
1 86 1,  crossed  the  Potomac  into  his  native 
state,  at  its  head.  After  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  opening  scenes  of  the  war  on  the  Poto- 
mac and  Shenandoah,  in  August,  1861,  he 
was  promoted  to  be  brigadier-general  and 
transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
January  19-20,  1862,  Thomas  defeated 
Crittenden  at  Mill  Springs,  and  this  brought 
him  into  notice  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  fame.  He  continued  in  command  of  his 
division  until  September  20,  1862,  except 
during  the  Corinth  campaign  when  he  com- 
manded the  right  wing  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  He  was  in  command  of  the 
latter  at  the  battle  of  Perryville,  also,  Octo- 
ber 8,  1862. 

On  the  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland into  corps,  January  9,  1863,  Gen- 
eral Thomas  was  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Fourteenth,  and  at  the  battle  of  Chick- 


amauga,  after  the  retreat  of  Rosecrans, 
firmly  held  his  own  against  the  hosts  of  Gen- 
eral Bragg.  A  history  of  his  services  from 
that  on  would  be  a  history  of  the  war  in  the 
southwest.  On  September  27,  1864,  Gen- 
eral Thomas  was  given  command  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  after  organizing  his  army,  de- 
feated General  Hood  in  the  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, December  15  and  16,  1864.  Much 
complaint  was  made  before  this  on  account 
of  what  they  termed  Thomas'  slowness,  and 
he  was  about  to  be  superseded  because  he 
would  not  strike  until  he  got  ready,  but 
when  the  blow  was  struck  General  Grant 
was  the  first  to  place  on  record  this  vindica- 
tion of  Thomas'  judgment.  He  received  a 
vote  of  thanks  from  Congress,  and  from  the 
legislature  of  Tennessee  a  gold  medal.  Af- 
ter the  close  of  the  war  General  Thomas 
had  command  of  several  of  the  military  di- 
visions, and  died  at  San  Francisco,  Cali- 
fornia, March  28,  1870. 


GEORGE  BANCROFT,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  American  historians,  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  born  at  Worcester, 
October  3,  1800,  and  a  son  of  Aaron 
Bancroft,  D.  D.  The  father,  Aaron  Ban- 
croft, was  born  at  Reading,  Massachusetts, 
November  10,  1755.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1778,  became  a  minister,  and  for 
half  a  century  was  rated  as  one  of  the  ablest 
preachers  in  New  England.  He  was  also  a 
prolific  writer  and  published  a  number  of 
works  among  which  was  "  Life  of  George 
Washington."  Aaron  Bancroft  died  August 
19,  1839. 

The  subject  of  our  present  biography, 
George  Bancroft,  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1817,  and  the  following  year  entered  the 
University  of  Gottingen,  where  he  studied 
history  and  philology  under  the  most  emi- 
nent teachers,  and  in  1820  received  the  de- 


COMPENDIUM  OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


75 


fifree  of  doctor  of  philosophy  at  Gottingeii. 
Upon  his  return  home  he  pubHshed  a  volume 
of  poems,  and  later  a  translation  of  Heeren's 
"  Reflections  on  the  Politics  of  Ancient 
Greece."  In  1834  he  produced  the  first 
volume  of  his  "  History  of  the  United 
States,"  this  being  followed  by  other  vol- 
umes at  different  intervals  later.  This  was 
bis  greatest  work  and  ranks  as  the  highest 
authority,  taking  its  place  among  the  great- 
est of  American  productions. 

George  Bancroft  was  appointed  secretary 
of  the  navy  by  President  Polk  in  1845,  but 
resigned  in  1846  and  became  minister  pleni- 
potentiary to  England.  In  1849  he  retired 
from  public  life  and  took  up  his  residence  at 
Washington,  D.  C.  In  1867  he  was  ap- 
pointed United  States  minister  to  the  court  of 
Berlin  and  negotiated  the  treaty  by  which  Ger- 
mans coming  to  the  United  States  were  re- 
leased from  their  allegiance  to  the  govern- 
ment of  their  native  land.  In  1871  he  was 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  German  em- 
pire and  served  until  1874.  The  death  of 
George  Bancroft  occurred  January  17,  1891. 


GEORGE  GORDON  MEADE,  a  fa- 
mous Union  general,  was  born  at 
Cadiz,  Spain,  December  30,  18 15,  his  father 
being  United  States  naval  agent  at  that 
port.  After  receiving  a  good  education  he 
entered  the  West  Point  Military  Academy 
in  1 83 1.  From  here  he  was  graduated 
June  30,  1835,  ^nd  received  the  rank  of 
second  lieutenant  of  artillery.  He  par- 
ticipated in  the  Seminole  war,  but  resigned 
from  the  army  in  October,  1836.  He  en- 
tered upon  the  profession  of  civil  engineer, 
which  he  followed  for  several  years,  part  of 
the  time  in  the  service  of  the  government  in 
making  surveys  of  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river.  His  report  and  results  of  some 
experiments    made  by  him   in  this    service 


gained  Meade  much  credit.  He  alsu  was 
employed  in  surveying  the  boundary  luie  of 
Texas  and  the  northeastern  boundary  line 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
In  1842  he  was  reappointed  in  the  arnjy  to 
the  position  of  second  lieutenant  of  engineers. 
During  the  Mexican  war  he  served  with  dis- 
tinction on  the  staff  of  General  Taylor  in 
the  battles  of  Palo  Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma 
and  the  storming  of  Monterey.  He  received 
his  brevet  of  first  lieutenant  for  the  latter 
action.  In  1851  he  was  made  full  first 
lieutenant  in  his  corps;  a  captain  in  1856, 
and  major  soon  after.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  with  Mexico  he  was  employed  in  light- 
house construction  and  in  geodetic  surveys 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  in 
which  he  gained  great  reputation.  In 
August,  1 86 1,  he  was  made  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers  and  placed  in  command  of  the 
second  brigade  of  the  Pennsylvania  Reserves, 
a  division  of  the  First  Corps  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  In  the  campaign  of  1862, 
under  McClellan,  Meade  took  an  active 
part,  being  present  at  the  battles  of  Mechan- 
icsville,  Gaines'  Mill  and  Glendale,  in  the 
latter  of  which  he  was  severely  wounded. 
On  rejoining  his  command  he  was  given  a 
division  and  distinguished  himself  at  its  head 
in  the  battles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antie- 
tam.  During  the  latter,  on  the  wounding 
of  General  Hooker,  Meade  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  corps  and  was  himself 
slightly  wounded.  For  services  he  was 
promoted,  November,  1862,  to  the  rank 
of  major-general  of  volunteers.  On  the 
recovery  of  General  Hooker  General  Meade 
returned  to  his  division  and  in  December, 
1862,  at  Fredericksburg,  led  an  attack 
which  penetrated  Lee's  right  line  and  swept 
to  his  rear.  Being  outnumbered  and  un- 
supported, he  finally  was  driven  back.  The 
same    month    Meade    was    assigned  to  the 


76 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


command  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  and  at  Chan- 
cellorsville  in  May,  1863,  his  sagacity  and 
ability  so  struck  General  Hooker  that  when 
the  latter  asked  to  be  relieved  of  the  com- 
mand, in  June  of  the  same  year,  he  nomi- 
nated Meade  as  his  successor.  June  28, 
1863,  President  Lincohi  commissioned  Gen- 
eral Meade  commander-in-chief  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  then  scattered  and  moving 
hastily  through  Pennsylvania  to  the  great 
and  decisive  battlefield  at  Gettysburg,  at 
which  he  was  in  full  command.  With  the 
victory  on  those  July  days  the  name  of 
Meade  will  ever  be  associated.  From  that 
time  until  the  close  of  the  war  he  com- 
manded the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  In 
1864  General  Grant,  being  placed  at  the 
head  of  all  the  armies,  took  up  his  quarters 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  From  that 
time  until  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appo- 
matox  Meade's  ability  shone  conspicuously, 
and  his  tact  in  the  delicate  position  in  lead- 
ing his  army  under  the  eye  of  his  superior 
officer  commanded  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  General  Grant.  For  services  Meade  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  and 
on  the  close  of  hostilities,  in  July,  1865, 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  military 
division  of  the  Atlantic,  with  headquarters 
at  Philadelphia.  This  post  he  held,  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  period  on  detached 
duty  in  Georgia,  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  November  6,  1872. 


DAVID  CROCKETT  was  a  noted  hunter 
and  scout,  and  also  one  of  the  earliest 
of  American  humorists.  He  was  born  Au- 
gust 17,  1786,  in  Tennessee,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  locality, 
serving  as  representative  in  congress  from 
1827  until  1 83 1.  He  attracted  consider- 
able notice  while  a  member  of  congress  and 
was  closely  associated   with   General  Jack- 


son, of  whom  he  was  a  personal  friend.  Ke 
went  to  Texas  and  enlisted  in  the  Texan 
army  at  the  time  of  the  revolt  of  Texas 
against  Mexico  and  gained  a  wide  reputa- 
tion as  a  scout.  He  was  one  of  the  famous 
one  hundred  and  forty  men  under  Colonel 
W.  B.  Travis  who  were  besieged  in  P'ort 
Alamo,  near  San  Antonio,  Texas,  by  Gen- 
eral Santa  Anna  with  some  five  thousand 
Mexicans  on  February  23,  1S36.  The  fort 
was  defended  for  ten  days,  frequent  assaults 
being  repelled  with  great  slaughter,  over 
one  thousand  Mexicans  being  killed  or 
wounded,  while  not  a  man  in  the  fort  was 
injured.  Finally,  on  March  6,  three  as- 
saults were  made,  and  in  the  hand-to-hand 
fight  that  followed  the  last,  the  Texans  were 
wofully  outnumbered  and  overpowered. 
They  fought  desperately  with  clubbed  mus- 
kets till  only  six  were  left  alive,  including 
W.  B.  Travis,  David  Crockett  and  James 
Bowie.  These  surrendered  under  promise 
of  protection;  but  when  they  were  brought 
before  Santa  Anna  he  ordered  them  all  to 
be  cut  to  pieces. 


HENRY  WATTERSON,  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  figures  in  the  history  of 
American  journalism,  was  born  at  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia,  February  16, 
1840.  His  boyhood  days  were  mostly  spent 
in  the  city  of  his  birth,  where  his  father, 
Harvey  M.  Watterson,  was  editor  of  the 
"Union,"  a  well  known  journal. 

Owing  to  a  weakness  of  the  eyes,  which 
interfered  with  a  systematic  course  of  study, 
young  Watterson  was  educated  almost  en- 
tirely at  home.  A  successful  college  career 
was  out  of  the  question,  but  he  acquired  a 
good  knowledge  of  music,  literature  and  art 
from  private  tutors,  but  the  most  valuable 
part  of  tiie  training  he  received  was  by  as- 
sociating with  his  father  and  the  throng  01 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


public  men  whom  he  met  in  \\'ashington 
in  the  stirring  days  immediately  preceding 
the  Civil  war.  He  began  his  journalistic 
career  at  an  early  age  as  dramatic  and 
musical  critic,  and  in  185S,  became  editor 
of  the  "Democratic  Review"  and  at  the 
same  time  contributed  to  the  "States," 
a  journal  of  liberal  opinions  published  in 
Washington.  In  this  he  remained  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  when  the 
"States,"  opposing  the  administration,  was 
suppressed,  and  young  Watterson  removed 
to  Tennessee.  He  next  appears  as  editor 
of  the  Nashville  "Republican  Banner,"  the 
moFt  influential  paper  in  the  state  at  that 
time.  After  the  occupation  of  Nashville  by 
the  Federal  troops,  Watterson  served  as  a 
volunteer  staff  officer  in  the  Confederate 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war,  with  the 
exception  of  a  year  spent  in  editing  the 
Chattanooga  "Rebel."  On  the  close  of 
the  war  he  returned  to  Nashville  and  re- 
sumed his  connection  with  the  "Banner." 
After  a  trip  to  Europe  he  assumed  control 
of  the  Louisville  "Journal,"  which  he  soon 
combined  with  the  "Courier"  and  the 
"Democrat"  of  that  place,  founding  the 
well-known  "Courier-Journal,"  the  first 
number  of  which  appeared  November  8, 
1868.  Mr.  Watterson  also  represented  his 
district  in  congress  for  several  years. 


)ATRICK  SARSFIELD  GILMORE, 
cue  of  the  most  successful  and  widely 
known  bandmasters  and  musicians  of  the 
last  half  century  in  America,  was  born  in 
Ballygar,  Ireland,  on  Christmas  day,  1829. 
He  attended  a  public  school  until  appren- 
ticed to  a  wholesale  merchant  at  Athlbne, 
of  the  brass  band  of  which  town  he  soon 
became  a  member.  His  passion  for  music 
conflicting  with  the  duties  of  a  mercantile 
life,  his  position  as  clerk  was  exchanged  for 


that  of  musical  instructor  to  the  young  sons 
of  his  employer.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
sailed  for  America  and  two  days  after  his 
arrival  in  Boston  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
band  instrument  department  of  a  prominent 
music  house.  In  the  interests  of  the  pub- 
lications of  this  house  he  organized  a  minstrel 
company  known  as  "  Ord way's  Eolians," 
with  which  he  first  achieved  success  as  a 
cornet  soloist.  Later  on  he  was  called  the 
best  E-flat  cornetist  in  the  United  States. 
He  became  leader,  successively,  of  the  Suf- 
folk, Boston  Brigade  and  Salem  bands. 
During  his  connection  with  the  latter  he 
inaugurated  the  famous  Fourth  of  July  con- 
certs on  Boston  Common,  since  adopted  as 
a  regular  programme  for  the  celebration  of 
Independence  Day.  In  1858  Mr.  Gilmore 
founded  the  organisation  famous  thereafter 
as  Gilmore's  Band.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war  this  band  was  attached  to  the 
Twenty-Fourth  ,  Massachusetts  Infantry. 
Later,  when  the  economical  policy  of  dis- 
pensing with  music  had  proved  a  mistake, 
Gilmore  was  entrusted  with  the  re-organiza- 
tion of  state  military  bands,  and  upon  his 
arrival  at  New  Orleans  with  his  own  band 
was  made  bandmaster-general  by  General 
Banks.  On  the  inauguration  of  Governor 
Hahn,  later  on,  in  Lafaj'ette  square,  New 
Orleans,  ten  thousand  children,  mostly  of 
Confederate  parents,  rose  to  the  baton  of 
Gilmore  and,  accompanied  by  six  hundred 
instruments,  thirty-six  guns  and  the  united 
fire  of  three  regiments  of  infantry,  sang  the 
Star-Spangled  Banner,  America  and  other 
patriotic  Union  airs.  In  June,  1867,  Mr. 
Gilmore  conceived  a  national  musical  festi- 
val, which  was  denounced  as  a  chimericsl 
undertaking,  but  he  succeeded  and  June  15. 
1869,  stepped  upon  the  stage  of  the  Boston 
Colosseum,  a  vast  structure  erected  for  the 
occasion,  and  in  the  presence  of  over  fifty 


COMTENDJUM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


thousand  people  lifted  his  baton  over  an 
orchestra  of  one  thousand  and  a  chorus  of 
ten  thousand.  On  the  17th  of  June,  1872, 
he  opened  a  still  greater  festival  in  Boston, 
■when,  in  addition  to  an  orchestra  of  two 
thousand  and  a  chorus  of  twenty  thousand, 
were  present  the  Band  of  the  Grenadier 
Guards,  of  London,  of  the  Garde  Repub- 
licaine,  of  Paris,  of  Kaiser  Franz,  of  Berlin, 
and  one  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  together  with 
Johann  Strauss,  Franz  Abt  and  many  other 
soloists,  vocal  and  instrumental.  Gilmore's 
death  occurred  September  24,  1S92. 


M 


ARTIN  VAN  BUREN  was  the  eighth 
president  of  the  United  States,  1837 
to  1841.  He  was  of  Dutch  extraction,  and 
his  ancestors  were  among  the  earliest  set- 
tlers on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  He  was 
born  December  5,  1782,  at  Kinderhook, 
New  York.  Mr.  Van  Buren  took  up  the 
study  of  law  at  the  age  of  fourteen  and  took 
an  active  part  in  political  matters  before  he 
had  attained  his  majority.  He  commenced 
the  practice  of  law  in  1803  at  his  native 
town,  and  in  1S09  he  removed  to  Hudson, 
Columbia  county,  New  York,  where  he 
spent  seven  years  gaining  strength  and  wis- 
dom from  his  contentions  at  the  bar  with 
some  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  profession. 
Mr.  Van  Buren  was  elected  to  the  state 
senate,  and  from  18 15  until  18 19  he  was  at- 
torney-general of  the  state.  He  was  re- 
elected to  the  senate  in  i8i6,  and  in  18 18 
he  was  one  of  the  famous  clique  of  politi- 
cians known  as  the  "Albany  regency." 
Mr.  Van  Buren  was  a  member  of  the  con- 
vention for  the  revision  of  the  state  consti- 
tution, in  182  I.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate  and 
served  his  term  in  a  manner  that  caused  his 
re-election  to  that  body  in  1827,  but  re- 
signed the   following   year    as  he  had  been 


elected  governor  of  New  York.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  appointed  by  President  Jackson  as 
secretary  of  state  in  March,  1829,  but  resigned 
in  1831,  and  during  the  recess  of  congress 
he  was  appointed  minister  to  England. 
The  senate,  however,  when  it  convened  in 
December  refused  to  ratify  the  appointment. 
In  May,  1832,  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Democrats  as  their  candidate  for  vice-presi- 
dent on  the  ticket  with  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  he  was  elected  in  the  following  Novem- 
ber. He  received  the  nomination  to  suc- 
ceed President  Jackson  in  1836,  as  the 
Democratic  candidate,  and  in  the  electoral 
college  he  received  one  hundred  and  seventy 
votes  out  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
and  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1837.  His 
administration  was  begun  at  a  time  of  great 
business  depression, and  unparalled  financial 
distress,  which  caused  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments  by  the  banks.  Nearly 
every  bank  in  the  country  was  forced  to 
suspend  specie  payment,  and  no  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty-four  business  houses 
failed  in  New  York  in  one  week.  The 
President  urged  the  adoption  of  the  inde- 
pendent treasury  idea,  which  passed  through 
the  senate  twice  but  each  time  it  was  de- 
feated in  the  house.  However  the  measure 
ultimately  became  a  law  near  the  close  of 
President  Van  Buren's  term  of  office.  An- 
other importaat  measure  that  was  passed 
was  the  pre-emption  law  that  gave  the  act- 
ual settlers  preference  in  the  purchase  of 
public  lands.  The  question  of  slavery  had 
begun  to  assume  great  preponderance  dur- 
ing this  administration,  and  a  great  conflict 
was  tided  over  by  the  passage  of  a  resolu- 
tion that  prohibited  petitions  or  papers  that 
in  any  way  related  to  slavery  to  be  acted 
upon.  In  the  Democratic  convention  of 
1840  President  Van  Buren  secured  the 
nomination  for    re-election    on    that    ticket 


COMPEXDIi'M   OF    BIOGRAriir. 


79 


without  opposition,  but  in  the  election  he 
only  received  the  votes  of  seven  states,  his 
opponent,  W.  H.  Harrison,  being  elected 
president.  In  1848  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
the  candidate  of  the  "  Free-Soilers,"  but 
was  unsuccessful.  After  this  he  retired 
from  public  life  and  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  on  his  estate  at  Kinderhook,  where 
he  died  July  24,  1862. 

W INFIELD  SCOTT,  a  distinguished 
American  general,  was  born  June  13, 
1786,  near  Petersburg,  Dinwiddle  county, 
Virginia,  and  was  educated  at  the  Wiliiam 
and  Mary  College.  He  studied  law  and  was 
.admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in  1808  he  accepted 
an  appointment  as  captain  of  light  artillery, 
and  was  ordered  to  New  Orleans.     In  June, 

18 1 2,  he  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant- 
■colonel,  and  on  application  was  sent  to  the 
frontier,  and  reported  to  General  Smyth, 
near  Buffalo.  He  was  made  adjutant-gen- 
•eral  with  the  rank  of  a    colonel,  in  March, 

1 8 1 3,  and  the  same  month  attained  the  colo- 
nelcy of  his  regiment.  He  participated  in 
the  principal  battles  of  the  war  and  was 
wounded  many  times,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  he  was  voted  a  gold  medal  by  con- 
gress for  his  services.  He  was  a  writer  of 
considerable  merit  on  military  topics,  and 
he  gave  to  the  military  science,  "General 
Regulations  of  the  Army  "  and  "  System  of 
Infantry  and  Rifle  Practice."  He  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Mexican  war  he 
was  appointed  to  take  the  command  of  the 
army.  Gen.  Scott  immediately  assembled 
his  troops  at  Lobos  Island  from  which  he 
moved  by  transports  to  Vera  Cruz,  which 
he  took  March  29,  1847,  and  rapidly  fol- 
lowed up  his  first  success.  He  fought  the 
■battles  of  Cerro  Gordo  and  Jalapa,  both  of 
which    he    won,  and    proceeded    to    Pueblo 


where  he  was  preceded  by  Worth's  division 
which  had  taken  the  town  and  waited  for  the 
coming  of  Scott.  The  army  was  forced  to 
wait  here  for  supplies,  and  August  7th, 
General  Scott  started  on  his  victorious 
march  to  the  city  of  Mexico  with  ten  thou- 
sand, seven  hundred  and  thirty-eight  men. 
The  battles  of  Contreras,  Cherubusco  and 
San  Antonio  were  fought  August  19-20, 
and  on  the  24th  an  armistice  was  agreed 
upon,  but  as  the  commissioners  could  not 
agree  on  the  terms  of  settlement,  the  fight- 
ing was  renewed  at  Molino  Del  Rey,  and 
the  Heights  of  Chapultepec  were  carried 
by  the  victorious  army  of  General  Scott. 
He  gave  the  enemy  no  respite,  however, 
and  vigorously  followed  up  his  advantages. 
On  September  14,  he  entered  the  City  of 
Mexico  and  dictated  the  terms  of  surrender 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  Mexican  Republic. 
General  Scott  was  offered  the  presidency  of 
the  Mexican  Republic,  but  declined.  Con- 
gress extended  him  a  vote  of  thanks  and 
ordered  a  gold  medal  be  struck  in  honor  of 
his  generalship  and  bravery.  He  was  can- 
didate for  the  presidency  on  the  Whig  plat- 
form but  was  defeated.  He  was  honored  by 
having  the  title  of  lieutenant-general  con- 
ferred upon  him  in  1855.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  Civil  war  he  was  too  infirm  to  take  charge 
of  the  army,  but  did  signal  service  in  be- 
half of  the  government.  He  retired  from 
the  service  November  i,  1861,  and  in  1864. 
he  published  his  "Autobiography."  Gen- 
eral Scott  died  at  West  Point,  May  29,  1866 


EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE  for  many 
years  occupied  a  high  place  among  the 
most  honored  of  America's  citizens.  As 
a  preacher  he  ranks  among  the  foremost 
in  the  New  England  states,  but  to  the  gen  ■ 
eral  public  he  is  best  known  through  his 
writings.      Born  in  Boston,    Mass.,  April  3, 


80 


coMPExnn.^f  OF  nioGRAi'Jir. 


1822,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  most 
^jrominent  New  England  families,  he  enjoyed 
in  his  youth  many  of  the  advantages  denied 
the  majority  of  boys.  He  received  his  pre- 
paratory schooling  at  the  Boston  Latin 
School,  after  which  he  finished  his  studies  at 
Harvard  where  he  was  graduated  with  high 
honors  in  1839.  Having  studied  theology 
at  home,  Mr.  Hale  embraced  the  ministry 
and  in  1846  became  pastor  of  a  Unitarian 
church  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  a  post 
which  he  occupied  about  ten  years.  He 
then,  in  1856,  became  pastor  of  the  South 
Congregational  church  in  Boston,  over  which 
he  presided  many  years. 

Mr.  Hale  also  found  time  to  write  a 
great  many  literary  works  of  a  high  class. 
v\mong  many  other  well-known  productions 
-ii  his  are  "  The  Rosary,"  "  Margaret  Per- 
iival  in  America."  "Sketches  of  Christian 
-Jistory,"  "Kansas  and  Nebraska,"  "Let- 
ters on  Irish  Emigration,"  "  Ninety  Days' 
Worth  of  Europe,"  "  If,  Yes,  and  Perhaps," 
"Ingham  Papers,"  "Reformation,"  "Level 
Best  and  Other  Stories, "  "  Ups  and  Downs, " 
"Christmas  Eve  and  Christmas  Day,"  "  In 
His  Name,"  "Our  New  Crusade,"  "Work- 
ingmen's  Homes,"  "Boys'  Heroes,"  etc., 
etc.,  besides  many  others  which  might  be 
mentioned.  One  of  his  works,  "  In  His 
Name,"  has  earned  itself  enduring  fame  by 
the  good  deeds  it  has  called  forth.  The 
numerous  associations  known  as  '  'The  King's 
Daughters,"  which  has  accomplished  much 
good,  owe  their  existence  to  the  story  men- 
tioned. 


DAVID  GLASCOE  FARRAGUT  stands 
pre-eminent  as  one  of  the  greatest  na- 
val officers  of  the  world.  He  was  born  at 
Campbell's  Station,  East  Tennessee,  July 
5,  1801,  and  entered  the  navy  of  the  United 
States  as  a  midshipman.      He  had  the  good 


fortune  to  serve  under  Captain  David  Por- 
ter, who  commanded  the  "  Esse.x,"  and  by 
whom  he  was  taught  the  ideas  of  devotion 
to  duty  from  which  he  never  swerved  dur- 
ing all  his  career.  In  1823  Mr.  Farragut 
took  part  in  a  severe  fight,  the  result  of 
which  was  the  suppression  of  piracy  in  the 
West  Indies.  He  then  entered  upon  the 
regular  duties  of  his  profession  which  was 
only  broken  into  by  a  year's  residence  with 
Charles  Folsom,  our  consul  at  Tunis,  who 
was  afterwards  a  distinguished  professor  at 
Harvard.  Mr.  Farragut  was  one  of  the  best 
linguists  in  the  navy.  He  had  risen  through 
the  different  grades  of  the  service  until  the 
war  of  1861-65  found  him  a  captain  resid- 
ing at  Norfolk,  Virginia.  He  removed  with 
his  family  to  Hastings,  on  the  Hudson,  and 
hastened  to  offer  his  services  to  the  Federal 
government,  and  as  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans  had  been  resolved  upon,  Farragut 
was  chosen  to  command  the  expedition. 
His  force  consisted  of  the  West  Gulf  block- 
ading squadron  and  Porter's  mortar  flotilla. 
In  January,  1862,  he  hoisted  his  pennant  at 
the  mizzen  peak  of  the  "Hartford"'  at 
Hampton  roads,  set  sail  from  thence  on  the 
3rd  of  February  and  reached  Ship  Island  on 
the  20th  of  the  same  month.  A  council  of 
war  was  held  on  the  20th  of  April,  in  which 
it  was  decided  that  whatever  was  to  be  done 
must  be  done  quickly.  The  signal  was  made 
from  the  flagship  and  accordingly  the  fleet 
weighed  anchor  at  1:55  on  the  morning  of 
April  24th,  and  at  3:30  the  whole  force  was 
underway.  Thehistory  of  this  brilliant  strug- 
gle is  well  known,  and  the  glory  of  it  made  Far- 
ragut a  hero  and  also  made  him  rear  admir- 
al. In  the  summer  of  1 862  he  ran  the  batteries 
at  Vicksburg,  and  on  March  14,  1863,  he 
passed  through  the  fearful  and  destructive 
fire  from  Port  Hudson,  and  opened  up  com- 
munication   with    Flag-officer   Porter,    whO' 


COMPEXDIVM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


m 


had  control  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  On 
May  24th  he  commenced  active  operations 
against  that  fort  in  conjunction  with  the  army 
and  it  fell  on  July  9th.  Mr.  Farragut  filled 
the  measure  of  his  fame  on  the  5th  of  Au- 
gust, 1864,  by  his  great  victory,  thecapture 
of  Mobile  Bay  and  the  destruction  of  the 
Confederate  fleet,  including  the  formidable 
ram  Tennessee.  For  this  victory  the  rank 
of  admiral  was  given  to  Mr.  Farragut.  He 
died  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  Au- 
gust 4,   1870. 

GEORGE  W.  CHILDS,  a  philanthropist 
whose  remarkable  "personality  stood 
for  the  best  and  highest  type  of  American 
citizenship,  and  whose  whole  life  was  an 
object  lesson  in  noble  living,  was  born  in 
1829  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  of  humble 
parents,  and  spent  his  early  life  in  unremit- 
ting toil.  He  was  a  self-made  man  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word,  and  gained  his 
great  wealth  by  his  own  efforts.  He  was  a 
man  of  very  great  influence,  and  this,  in 
conjunction  with  his  wealth,  would  have 
been,  in  the  hands  of  other  men,  a  means  of 
getting  them  political  preferment,  but  Mr. 
Childs  steadily  declined  any  suggestions  that 
would  bring  him  to  figure  prominently  in 
public  affairs.  He  did  not  choose  to  found 
a  financial  dynasty,  but  devoted  all  his 
powers  to  the  helping  of  others,  with  the 
most  enlightened  beneficence  and  broadest 
sympathy.  Mr.  Childs  once  remarked  that 
his  greatest  pleasure  in  life  was  in  doing 
good  to  others.  He  always  despised  mean- 
ness, and  one  of  his  objects  of  life  was  to 
prove  that  a  man  could  be  liberal  and  suc- 
cessful at  the  same  time.  Upon  these  lines 
Mr.  Childs  made  a  name  for  himself  as  the 
director  of  one  of  the  representative  news- 
papers of  America,  "The  Philadelphia  Pub- 
lic   Ledger,"  which    was    owned  jointly  by 


himself  and  the  Drexel  estate,  and  which  he 
edited  for  thirty  years.  He  acquired  con- 
trol of  the  paper  at  a  time  when  it  was  be- 
ing published  at  a  heavy  loss,  set  it  upon  a 
firm  basis  of  prosperity,  and  he  made  it 
more  than  a  money- making  machine — he 
made  it  respected  as  an  exponent  of  the 
best  side  of  journalism,  and  it  stands  as  a 
monument  to  his  sound  judgment  and  up- 
right business  principles.  Mr.  Childs'  char- 
itable repute  brought  him  many  applications 
for  assistance,  and  he  never  refused  to  help 
any  one  that  was  deserving  of  aid;  and  not 
only  did  he  help  those  who  asked,  but  he 
would  by  careful  inquiry  find  those  who 
needed  aid  but  were  too  proud  to  solicit  it. 
He  was  a  '  considerable  employer  of  labor 
and  his  liberality  was  almost  unparalleled. 
The  death  of  this  great  and  good  man  oc- 
curred February  3d,  1894. 


PATRICK  HENRY  won  his  way  to  un 
dying  fame  in  the  annals  of  the  early 
history  of  the  United  States  by  introducing 
into  the  house  of  burgesses  his  famous  reso- 
lution against  the  Stamp  Act,  which  he  car- 
ried through,  after  a  stormy  debate,  by  a 
majority  of  one.  At  this  time  he  exclaimed 
"  Caesar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles  I  his  Crom- 
well and  George  IH  "  (here  he  was  inter- 
rupted by  cries  of  "  treason  ")  "  may  profit 
by  their  example.  If  this  be  treason  make 
the  most  of  it." 

Patrick  Henry  was  born  at  Studley, 
Hanover  county,  Virginia,  May  29,  1736, 
and  was  a  son  of  Colonel  John  Henry,  a 
magistrate  and  school  teacher  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  and  a  nephew  of  Robertson,  the 
historian.  He  received  his  education  from 
his  father,  and  was  married  at  the  age  of 
eighteen.  He  was  twice  bankrupted  before 
he  had  reached  his  twenty-fourth  year,  when 
after  six  weeks  of  study  he  was  admitted  to 


84 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


the  bar.  He  worked  for  three  years  with- 
out a  case  and  finally  was  applauded  for  his 
plea  lor  the  people's  rights  and  gained  im- 
mense popularity.  After  his  famous  Stamp 
Act  resolution  he  was  the  leader  of  the  pa- 
triots in  Virginia.  In  1769  he  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  the  general  courts  and  speed- 
ily won  a  fortune  by  his  distinguished  ability 
as  a  speaker.  He  was  the  first  speaker  of 
the  General  Congress  at  Philadelphia  in 
1774.  He  was  for  a  time  a  colonel  of 
militia  in  1775,  and  from  1776  to  1779  and 
1 78 1  to  1786  he  was  governor  of  Virginia. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  retired  from  pub- 
lic life  and  was  tendered  and  declined  a 
number  of  important  political  offices,  and  in 
March,  1789,  he  was  elected  state  senator 
but  oid  not  take  his  seat  on  account  of  his 
death  which  occurred  at  Red  Hill,  Charlotte 
county,  Virginia,  June  6,   1799. 


BENEDICT  ARNOLD,  an  American 
general  and  traitor  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war,  is  one  of  the  noted  characters  in 
American  history.  He  was  born  in  Nor- 
wich, Connecticut,  January  3,  1740.  He 
ran  away  and  enlisted  in  the  army  when 
young,  but  deserted  in  a  short  time.  He 
then  became  a  merchant  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  but  failed.  In  1775  he  was 
commissioned  colonel  in  the  Massachusetts 
militia,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  was 
placed  in  command  of  one  thousand  men 
for  the  invasion  of  Canada.  He  marched 
his  army  through  the  forests  of  Maine  and 
joined  General  Montgomery  before  Quebec. 
Their  combined  forces  attacked  that  city  on 
December  31,  1775,  and  Montgomery  was 
killed,  and  Arnold,  severely  wounded,  was 
compelled  to  retreat  and  endure  a  rigorous 
winter  a  few  miles  from  the  city,  where  they 
were  at  the  mercy  of  the  Canadian  troops 
had  they  cared  to  attack  them.      On  his  re- 


turn he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.  He  was  given  command  of  a  small 
flotilla  on  Lake  Champlain,  with  which  he 
encountered  an  immense  force,  and  though 
defeated,  performed  many  deeds  of  valor. 
He  resented  the  action  of  congress  in  pro- 
moting a  number  of  his  fellow  officers  and 
neglecting  himself.  In  1777  he  was  made 
major-general,  and  under  General  Gates  at 
Bemis  Heights  fought  valiantly.  For  some 
reason  General  Gates  found  fault  with  his 
conduct  and  ordered  him  under  arrest,  and 
he  was  kept  in  his  tent  until  the  battle  of 
Stillwater  was  waxing  hot,  when  Arnold 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  front  of 
his  old  troop,  gave  command  to  charge,  and 
rode  like  a  mad  man  into  the  thickest  of 
the  fight  and  was  not  overtaken  by  Gates' 
courier  until  he  had  routed  the  enemy  and 
fell  wounded.  Upon  his  recovery  he  was 
made  general,  and  was  placed  in  command 
at  Philadelphia.  Here  he  married,  and  his 
acts  of  rapacity  soon  resulted  in  a  court- 
martial.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  repri- 
manded by  the  commander-in-chief,  and 
though  Washington  performed  this  duty 
with  utmost  delicacy  and  consideration,  it 
was  never  forgiven.  Arnold  obtained  com- 
mand at  West  Point,  the  most  important 
post  held  by  the  Americans,  in  1780,  and 
immediately  offered  to  surrender  it  to  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  British  commander  at  New 
York.  Major  Andre  was  sent  to  arrange 
details  with  Arnold,  but  on  his  return  trip 
to  New  York  he  was  captured  by  Americans, 
the  plot  was  detected,  and  Andre  suffered 
the  death  penalty  as  a  spy.  Arnold  es- 
caped, and  was  paid  about  $40,000  by  the 
British  for  his  treason  and  was  made  briga- 
dier-general. He  afterward  commanded  an 
expedition  that  plundered  a  portion  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  another  that  burned  New  Lon- 
don, Connecticut,  and  captured  Fort  Trum- 


coMPEXBii'M  ar  BIOGRArnr 


85. 


bull,  the  commandant  of  which  Arnold  mur- 
dered with  the  sword  he  had  just  surren- 
dercd.  He  passed  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
in  England,  universally  despised,  and  died 
in  London  June  14,  1801. 


ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL,  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  orators  that  America  has 
produced,  also  a  lawyer  of  considerable 
merit,  won  most  of  his  fame  as  a  lecturer. 
Mr.  Ingersoll  was  born  Auj:;ust  24,  1833, 
at  Dryden,  Gates  county.  New  York,  and 
received  hiseducation  in  the  common  schools. 
He  went  west  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  for 
a  short  time  he  attended  an  academy  in 
Tennessee,  and  also  taught  school  in  that 
state.  He  began  the  practice  of  law  in  the 
southern  part  of  Illinois  in  1854.  Colonel 
Iiigcrsoll's  principal  fame  was  made  in 
the  lecture  room  by  his  lectures  in  which  he 
ridiculed  religious  faith  and  creeds  and  criti- 
cised the  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion. 
He  was  the  orator  of  the  day  in  the  Decora- 
tion Day  celebration  in  the  city  of  New  York 
in  1S82  and  his  oration  was  widely  com- 
mended. He  first  attracted  political  notice 
in  the  convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1876  by 
his  brilliant  eulogy  on  James  G.  Blaine.  He 
practiced  law  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  but  later  located  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  He  published  the  follow- 
ing: "The  Gods  and  other  Lectures;"  "The 
Ghosts;"  "Some  Mistakes  of  Moses;" 
"What  Shall  I  Do  To  Be  Saved;"  "Inter- 
views on  Talmage  and  Presbyterian  Cate- 
chism ;"  The  "North  American  Review 
Controversy;"  "Prose  Poems;"  "  A  Vision 
of  War;"   etc. 


JOSEPH  ECCLESTON  JOHNSTON, 
a  noted  general  in  the  Confederate  army, 
was  born  in  Prince  Edward  county,  Virginia, 
in  1S07.      He   graduated    from   West   Point 


and  entered  the  army  in  1829.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  his  chief  service  was  garrison 
duty.  He  saw  active  service,  however,  in 
the  Seminole  war  in  Florida,  part  of  the 
time  as  a  staff  officer  of  General  Scott.  He 
resigtied  his  commission  in  1S37,  but  re- 
turned to  the  army  a  year  later,  and  was 
brevetted  captain  for  gallant  services  in 
Florida.  He  was  made  first  lieutenant  of 
topographical  engineers,  and  was  engaged 
in  river  and  harbor  improvements  and  also 
in  the  survey  of  the  Texas  boundary  and 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  until  the  beginning  of  the  war 
with  Mexico.  He  was  at  the  siege  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  was 
wounded  while  reconnoitering  the  enemy's 
position,  after  which  he  was  brevetted  major 
and  colonel.  He  was  in  all  the  battles  about 
the  city  of  Mexico,  and  was  again  wounded 
in  the  final  assault  upon  that  city.  After 
the  Mexican  war  closed  he  returned  to  duty 
as  captain  of  topographical  engineers,  but 
in  1855  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of 
cavalry  and  did  frontier  duty,  and  was  ap- 
pointed inspector-general  of  the  expedition 
to  Utah.  In  i860  he  was  appointed  quar- 
termaster-general with  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.  At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in 
1 86 1  he  resigned  his  commission  and  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  major-general  of 
the  Confederate  army.  He  held  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  later  fought  General  Patterson 
about  Winchester.  At  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run  he  declined  command  in  favor  of  Beau- 
regard, and  acted  underthat  general's  direc- 
tions. He  commanded  the  Confederates  in 
the  famous  Peninsular  campaign,  and  was 
severely  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks  and  was 
succeeded  in  command  by  General  Lee. 
Upon  his  recovery  he  was  made  lieutenant- 
general  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
southwestern   department.       He    attempted 


SB 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BlOGRAPHr. 


to  raise  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  was 
finally  defeated  at  Jackson,  Mississippi. 
Having  been  made  a  general  he  succeeded 
General  Bragg  in  command  of  the  army  of 
Tennessee  and  was  ordered  to  check  General 
Sherman's  advance  upon  Atlanta.  Not 
daring  to  risk  a  battle  with  the  overwhelm- 
ing forces  of  Sherman,  he  slowly  retreated 
toward  Atlanta,  and  was  relieved  of  com- 
mand by  President  Davis  and  succeeded  by 
General  Hood.  Hood  utterly  destroyed  his 
own  army  by  three  furious  attacks  upon 
Sherman.  Johnston  was  restored  to  com- 
mand in  the  Carolinas,  and  again  faced 
Sherman,  but  was  defeated  in  several  en- 
gagements and  continued  a  slow  retreat 
toward  Richmond.  Hearing  of  Lee's  sur- 
render, he  communicated  with  General 
Sherman,  and  finally  surrendered  his  army 
at  Durham,  North  Carolina,  April  26,  1865. 
General  Johnston  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  forty-sixth  congress  and  was  ap- 
pointed United  States  railroad  commis- 
sioner in  1885.  His  death  occurred  March 
21,  1891. 

SAMUEL  LANGHORNE  CLEMENS, 
known  throughout  the  civilized  world 
as  "Mark  Twain,"  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  greatest  humorists  America  has  pro- 
duced. He  was  born  in  Monroe  county, 
Missouri,  November  30,  1835.  Hespenthis 
boyhood  days  in  his  native  state  and  many 
of  his  earlier  experiences  are  related  in  vari- 
ous forms  in  his  later  writings.  One  of  his 
early  acquaintances,  Capt.  Isaiah  Sellers, 
at  an  early  day  furnished  river  news  for  the 
New  Orleans  "  Picayune,"  using  the  710111- 
dc- plume  of  "Mark  Twain."  Sellers  died 
in  1863  and  Clem.ens  took  up  his  iioin-dc- 
phnnc  and  made  it  famous  throughout  the 
world  by  his  literary  work.  In  1862  Mr. 
Clemens  became  a  journalist   at   Virginia, 


Nevada,  and  afterward  followed  the  same  pro- 
fession at  San  Francisco  and  Buffalo,  New 
York.  He  accumulated  a  fortune  from  the 
sale  of  his  many  publications,  but  in  later 
years  engaged  in  business  enterprises,  partic- 
ularly the  manufacture  of  a  typesetting  ma- 
chine, which  dissipated  his  fortune  and  re- 
duced him  almost  to  poverty ,  but  with  resolute 
heart  he  at  once  again  took  up  his  pen  and 
engaged  in  literary  work  in  the  effort  to 
regain  his  lost  ground.  Among  the  best 
known  of  his  works  may  be  mentioned  the  fol- 
lowing: "The  Jumping  Frog, "  "Tom  Saw- 
yer," "  Roughingit,"  "  Innocents  Abroad," 
"Huckleberry  Finn,"  "Gilded  Age," 
"Prince  and  Pauper,"  "Million  Pound 
Bank  Note,"  "A  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's 
Court,"  etc. 

CHRISTOPHER  CARSON,  better 
known  as  "Kit  Carson;"  was  an  Amer- 
ican trapper  and  scout  who  gained  a  wide 
reputation  for  his  frontier  work.  He  was  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  born  December  24th, 
1S09.  He  grew  to  manhood  there,  devel- 
oping a  natural  inclination  for  adventure  in 
the  pioneer  experiences  in  his  native  state. 
When  yet  a  young  man  he  became  quite 
well  known  on  the  frontier.  He  served  as 
a  guide  to  Gen.  Fremont  in  his  Rocky 
Mountain  explorations  and  enlisted  in  the 
army.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  United 
States  service  in  both  the  Mexican  war  and 
the  great  Civil  war,  and  in  the  latter  received 
a  brevet  of  brigadier-general  for  meritorious 
service.  His  death  occurred  May  23, 
1868.  

JOHN  SHERMAN.— Statesman,  politi- 
cian, cabinet  officer  and  senator,  the  name 
of  the  gentleman  who  heads  this  sketch  is  al- 
most a  household  word  throughout  this 
country.      Identified  with  some  of  the  most 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


iinpoitant  measures  adopted  by  our  Govern- 
ment since  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  he  may 
well  be  called  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his 
day. 

John  Sherman  was  born  at  Lancaster, 
Fairfield  county,  Ohio,  May  lOth,  1823, 
the  son  of  Charles  R.  Sherman,  an  emi- 
nent lawyer  and  judge  of  the  supreme  court 
of  Ohio  and  who  died  in  1S29.  The  subject 
of  this  article  received  an  academic  educa- 
tion and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1844. 
In  the  Whig  conventions  of  1844  and  1848 
he  sat  as  a  delegate.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  National  house  of  representatives, 
from  1855  to  1 86 1.  In  i860  he  was  re- 
elected to  the  same  position  but  was  chosen 
United  States  senator  before  he  took  his 
seat  in  the  lower  house.  He  was  re-elected 
senator  in  1866  and  1872  and  was  long 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  finance  and 
on  agriculture.  He  took  a  prominent  part 
in  debates  on  finance  and  on  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  and  was  one  of  the  authors  of  the 
reconstruction  measures  in  1866  and  1867, 
and  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury March  7th,    1877. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  re-elected  United  States 
senator  from  Ohio  January  i8th,  1881,  and 
again  in  1886  and  1892,  during  which  time 
he  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  both 
in  the  senate  and  in  the  country.  He  was 
several  times  the  favorite  of  his  state  for  the 
nomination  for  president. 

On  the  formation  of  his  cabinet  in  March, 
1897,  President  McKinley  tendered  the  posi- 
tion of  secretary  of  state  to  Mr.  Sherman, 
which  was  accepted. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON,  ninth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  Charles  county,  Virginia,  February 
9,     1773,    the   son    of    Governor    Benjamin 


Harrison.  He  took  a  course  in  Hampden- 
Sidney  College  with  a  view  to  the  practice 
of  medicine,  and  then  went  to  Philadelphia 
to  study  under  Dr.  Rush,  but  in  1791  he 
entered  the  army,  and  obtained  the  commis- 
sion of  ensign,  was  soon  promoted  to  the 
lieutenancy,  and  was  with  General  Wayne 
in  his  war  against  the  Indians.  For  his 
valuable  service  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  captain  and  given  command  of  Fort 
Washington,  now  Cincinnati.  He  was  ap- 
pointed secretary  of  the  Northwest  Territory 
in  1797,  and  in  1799  became  its  representa- 
tive in  congress.  In  1801  he  was  appointed 
governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  and  held  the 
position  for  twelve  years,  during  which  time 
he  negotiated  important  treaties  with  the  In- 
dians, causing  them  to  relinquish  millions  of 
acres  of  land,  and  also  won  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe  in  181 1.  He  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  change  in  the  law  which  did  not 
permit  purchase  of  public  lands  in  less  tracts 
than  four  thousand  acres,  reducing  the  limit 
to  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He 
became  major-general  of  Kentucky  militia 
and  brigadier-general  in  the  United  States 
army  in  1812,  and  won  great  renown  in 
the  defense  of  Fort  Meigs,  and  his  victory 
over  the  British  and  Indians  under  Proctor 
and  Tecumseh  at  the  Thames  river,  October 
5.  1813. 

In  1 8 16  General  Harrison  was  elected  to 
congress  from  Ohio,  and  during  the  canvass 
was  accused  of  corrupt  methods  in  regard  to 
the  commissariat  of  the  army.  He  demanded 
an  investigation  after  the  election  and  was 
exonerated.  In  1819  he  was  elected  to 
the  Ohio  state  senate,  and  in  1824  he  gave 
his  vote  as  a  presidential  elector  to  Henry 
Clay.  He  became  a  member  of  the  United 
States  senate  the  same  year.  During  the 
last  year  of  Adams'  administration  he  was 
sent  as  minister  to  Colombia,    but   was  re- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


called  by  President  Jackson  the  following 
year.  He  then  retired  to  his  estate  at  North 
Bend,  Ohio,  a  few  miles  below  Cincinnati.  In 
1836  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
but  as  there  were  three  other  candidates 
the  votes  were  divided,  he  receiving  seventy- 
three  electoral  votes,  a  majority  going  to 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  Democratic  candidate. 
Four  years  later  General  Harrison  w^as  again 
nominated  by  the  Whigs,  and  elected  by  a 
tremendous  majority.  The  campaign,  was 
noted  for  its  novel  features,  many  of  which 
have  found  a  permanent  place  in  subsequent 
campaigns.  Those  peculiar  to  that  cam- 
paign, however,  were  the  "  log-cabin  "  and 
"  hard  cider"  watchwords,  which  produced 
great  enthusiasm  among  his  followers.  One 
month  afler  his  inauguration  he  died  from 
an  attack  of  pleurisy,  April  4,   1S41. 


CHARLES  A.  DANA,  the  well-known 
and  widely-read  journalist  of  New  York 
City,  a  native  of  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire, 
was  born  August  8,  1819.  He  received 
the  elements  of  a  good  education  in  his 
youth  and  studied  for  two  years  at  Harvard 
University.  Owing  to  some  disease  of  the 
eyes  he  was  unable  to  complete  his  course 
and  graduate,  but  was  granted  the  degree  of 
A.  M.  notwithstanding.  For  some  time  he 
was  editor  of  the  "  Harbinger,"  and  was  a 
regular  contributor  to  the  Boston  "  Chrono- 
type."  In  1S47  he  became  connected  with 
the  New  York  ' '  Tribune,  "  and  continued  on 
the  staff  of  that  journal  until  1858.  In  the 
latter  jear  he  edited  and  compiled  "The 
Household  Book  of  Poetry,"  and  later,  in 
connection  with  George  Ripley,  edited  the 
"New  American  Cyclopaedia." 

Mr.  Dana,  on  severing  his  connection 
with  the  "Tribune"  in  1867,  became  editor 
of  the  New  York  "Sun,"  a  paper  with 
which  he  was  identified  for  many  years,  and 


which  he  made  one  of  the  leaders  of  thougiit 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States. 
He  wielded  a  forceful  pen  and  fearlessly 
attacked,  whatever  was  corrupt  and  unworthy 
in  politics,  state  or  national.  The  same 
year,  1867,  Mr.  Dana  organized  the  New 
York  "Sun  "   Company. 

During  the  troublous  days  of  the  war, 
when  the  fate  of  the  Nation  depended  upon 
the  armies  in  the  field,  Mr.  Dana  accepted 
the  arduous  and  responsible  position  of 
assistant  secretary  of  war,  and  held  the 
position  during  the  greater  part  of  1863 
and  1864.      He  died  October  17,   1897. 


ASA  GRAY  was  recognized  throughout  the 
scientific  world  as  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  eminent  of  botanists.  He  was 
born  at  Paris,  Oneida  county,  New  York, 
November  18,  18  10.  He  received  his  medi- 
cal degree  at  the  Fairfield  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons,  in  Herkimer  county. 
New  York,  and  studied  botany  with  the  late 
Professor  Torrey,  of  New  York.  He  was 
appointed  botanist  to  the  Wilkes  expedition 
in  1834,  but  declined  the  offer  and  became 
professor  of  natural  history  in  Harvard  Uni- 
versity in  1842.  He  retired  from  the  active 
duties  of  this  post  in  1873,  and  in  1874  he 
was  the  regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 
Dr.  Gray  wrote  several  books  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  many  sciences  of  which  he  was 
master.  In  1836  he  published  his  "  Ele- 
ments of  Botany,"  "Manual  of  Botany"  in 
1848;  the  unfinished  "Flora  of  North 
America,"  by  himself  and  Dr.  Torrey,  the 
publication  of  which  commenced  in  1838. 
There  is  another  of  his  unfinished  works 
called  "Genera  Boreali-Americana, "  pub- 
lished in  1848,  and  the  "Botany  of  the 
United  States  Pacific  Exploring  Expedition 
in  1854."      He  wrote  many  elaborate  papers 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BlOGRAPlir. 


89 


on  the  botany  of  the  west  and  southwest 
that  were  published  in  the  Smithsonian  Con- 
tributions, Memoirs,  etc.,  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  of  which  in- 
stitution he  was  president  for  ten  years. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  many  of  the 
government  reports.  "  How  Plants  Grow," 
"  Lessons  in  ISotany,"  "  Structural  and  Sys- 
tematic Botany,"  are  also  works  from  his 
ready  pen. 

Dr.  Gray  published  in  1861  his  "Free 
Examination  of  Darwin's  Treatise  "  and  his 
"  Darwiniana,"  in  1876.  Mr.  Gray  was 
elected  July  29,  1878,  to  a  membership  in 
the  Institute  of  France,  Academy  of  Sciences. 
His  death  occurred  at  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts, January  30,   1889. 


WILLIAM  MAXWELL  EVARTS  was 
one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of  the 
American  bar.  He  was  born  in  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  February  6,  18 18,  and  grad- 
uated from  Yale  College  in  1837.  He  took 
up  the  study  of  law,  which  he  practiced  in 
the  city  of  New  York  and  won  great  renown 
as  an  orator  and  advocate.  He  affiliated 
with  the  Republican  party,  which  he  joined 
soon  after  its  organization.  He  was  the 
leading  counsel  employed  for  the  defense  of 
President  Johnson  in  his  trial  for  impeach- 
ment before  the  senate  in  April  and  May  of 
1868. 

In  July,  1868,  Mr.  Evarts  was  appointed 
attorney-general  of  the  United  States,  and 
served  until  March  4,  1869.  He  was  one 
of  the  three  lawyers  who  were  selected  by 
President  Grant  in  1871  to  defend  the  inter- 
ests of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  be- 
fore the  tribunal  of  arbitration  which  met 
at  Geneva  in  Switzerland  to  settle  the  con- 
troversy over  the  "  Alabama  Claims." 

He  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent  advo- 
cates in  the  United  States,  and  many  of  his 


public  addresses  have  been  preserved  and 
published.  He  was  appointed  secretary  of 
state  March  7,  1877,  by  President  Hayes, 
and  served  during  the  Hayes  administration. 
He  was  elected  senator  from  the  state  of 
New  York  January  21,  1885,  and  at  once 
took  rank  among  the  ablest  statesmen  in 
Congress,  and  the  prominent  part  he  took 
in  the  discussion  of  public  questions  gave 
him  a  national  reputation. 


JOHN  \VANAMAKER.--The  life  of  this 
*J  great  merchant  demonstrates  the  fact 
that  the  great  secret  of  rising  from  the  ranks 
is,  to-day,  as  in  the  past  ages,  not  so  much  the 
ability  to  make  money,  as  to  save  it,  or  in 
other  words,  the  ability  to  live  well  within 
one's  incom.e.  Mr.  Wanamaker  was  born  in 
Philadelphia  in  1S38.  He  started  out  in 
life  working  in  a  brickyard  for  a  mere  pit- 
tance, and  left  that  position  to  work  in  a 
book  store  as  a  clerk,  where  he  earned 
the  sum  of  $5.00  per  month,  and  later  on 
was  in  the  employ  of  a  clothier  where  he 
received  twenty-five  cents  a  week  more. 
He  was  only  fifteen  years  of  age  at  that 
time,  but  was  a  "  money-getter  "  by  instinct, 
and  laid  by  a  small  sum  for  a  possible  rainy 
day.  By  strict  attention  to  business,  com- 
bined with  natural  ability,  he  v/as  promoted 
many  times,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  he 
had  saved  $2,000.  After  several  months 
vacation  in  the  south,  he  returned  to  Phila- 
delphia and  became  a  master  brick  mason, 
but  this  was  too  tiresome  to  the  young  man,  . 
and  he  opened  up  the  "  Oak  Hall  "  clothing 
store  in  April,  1861,  at  Philadelphia.  The 
capital  of  the  firm  was  rather  limited,  but 
finally,  after  many  discouragements,  they 
laid  the  foundations  of  one  of  the  largest 
business  houses  in  the  world.  The  estab- 
lishment covers  at  the  present  writing  some 
fourteen  acres  of  floor  space,  and   furnishes 


90 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


employment  for  five  thousand  persons.  Mr. 
Wanamaker  was  also  a  great  church  worker, 
and  built  a  church  that  cost  him  $60,000, 
and  he  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  which  had  a  membership  of  over 
three  thousand  children.  He  steadily  re- 
fused to  run  for  mayor  or  congress  and  the 
only  public  office  that  he  ever  held  was  that 
of  postmaster-general,  under  the  Harrison 
administration,  and  here  he  exhibited  his 
extraordinary  aptitude  for  comprehending 
the  details  of  public  business. 


^.^VID  BENNETT  HILL,  a  Demo- 
cratic politician  who  gained  a  na- 
tional reputation,  was  born  August  29, 
1843,  at  Havana,  New  York.  He  was 
educated  at  the  academy  of  his  native  town, 
and  removed  to  Elmira,  New  York,  in  1862, 
where  he  studied  law.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1864,  in  which  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed city  attorney.  Mr.  Hill  soon  gained 
a  considerable  practice,  becoming  prominent 
in  his  profession.  He  developed  a  taste  for 
politics  in  which  he  began  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  different  campaigns  and  became 
the  recognized  leader  of  the  local  Democ- 
racy. In  1870  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  assembly  and  was  re-elected  in  1872. 
While  a  member  of  this  assembly  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  after- 
ward governor  of  the  state,  who  appointed 
Mr.  Hill,  W.  M.  Evarts  and  Judge  Hand 
as  a  committee  to  provide  a  uniform  charter 
for  the  different  cities  of  the  state.  The 
pressure  of  professional  engagements  com- 
pelled him  to  decline  to  serve.  In  1877 
I\lr.  Hill  was  made  chairman  of  the  Demo- 
cratic state  convention  at  Albany,  his  elec- 
tion being  due  to  the  Tilden  wing  of  the 
party,  and  he  held  the  same  position  again 
in  1 88 1.  He  served  one  term  as  alderman 
in  Elmira,  at  the  expiration  of  which  term, 


in  1882,  he  was  elected  mayor  of  Elmira, 
and  in  September  of  the  same  year  was 
nominated  for  lieutenant-governor  on  the 
Democratic  state  ticket.  He  was  success- 
ful in  the  campaign  and  two  years  later, 
when  Grover  Cleveland  was  elected  to  the 
presidency,  Mr.  Hill  succeeded  to  the  gov- 
ernorship for  the  unexpired  term.  In  1885 
he  was  elected  governor  for  a  full  term  of 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  was  re- 
elected, his  term  expiring  in  1891,  in  which 
year  he  was  elected  United  States  senator. 
In  the  senate  he  became  a  conspicuous 
figure  and  gained  a  national  reputation. 


ALLEN  G.  THURMAN.  —  "  The  noblest 
Roman  of  them  all "  was  the  title  by 
which  Mr.  Thurman  was  called  by  his  com- 
patriots of  the  Democracy.  He  was  the 
greatest  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
his  day  and  held  the  esteem  of  all  the 
people,  regardless  of  their  political  creeds. 
Mr.  Thurman  was  born  November  13,  18 13, 
at  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  where  he  remained 
until  he  had  attained  the  age  of  six  years, 
when  he  moved  to  Ohio.  He  received  an 
academic  education  and  after  graduating, 
took  up  the  study  of  law,  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1835,  and  achieved  a  brilliant 
success  ia  that  line.  In  political  life  he  was 
very  successful,  and  his  first  office  was  that 
of  representative  of  the  state  of  Ohio  in  the 
twenty-ninth  congress.  He  was  elected 
judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio  in  1851, 
and  was  chief  justice  of  the  same  from  1S54 
to  1856.  In  1867  he  was  the  choice  of  the 
Democratic  party  of  his  state  for  governor, 
and  was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate 
in  1869  to  succeed  Benjamin  F.  Wade, 
and  was  re-elected  to  the  same  position  in 
1874.  He  was  a  prom.inent  figure  in  the 
senate,  until  the  expiration  of  his  service  in 
1881.      Mr.  Thurman   w-as   also    one  of  the 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAP/Il'. 


91 


principal  presidental  possibilities  in  the 
Democratic  convention  held  at  St.  Louis  in 
1876.  In  1888  he  was  the  Democratic 
nominee  for  vice-president  on  the  ticket 
with  Grover  Cleveland,  but  was  defeated. 
Allen  Cranberry  Thurman  died  December 
12,  1895,  at  Columbus,  Ohio. 


CHARLES  FARRAR  BROWNE,  better 
known  as  "  Artemus  Ward,"  was  born 
April  26,  1834,  in  the  village  of  Waterford, 
Maine.  He  was  thirteen  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  father's  death,  and  about  a  year 
later  he  was  apprenticed  to  John  M.  Rix, 
who  published  the  "Coos  County  Dem- 
ocrat "  at  Lancaster,  New  Hampshire.  Mr. 
Browne  remained  with  him  one  year,  when, 
hearing  that  his  brother  Cyrus  was  starting 
a  paper  at  Norway,  Maine,  he  left  Mr.  Rix 
and  determined  to  get  work  on  the  new 
paper.  He  worked  for  his  brother  until  the 
failure  of  the  newspaper,  and  then  went  to 
Augusta,  Maine,  where  he  remained  a  few 
weeks  and  then  removed  to  Skovvhegan, 
and  secured  a  position  on  the  "Clarion." 
But  either  the  climate  or  the  work  was  not 
satisfactory  to  him,  for  one  night  he  silently 
left  the  town  and  astonished  his  good  mother 
by  appearing  unexpectedly  at  home.  Mr. 
Browne  then  received  some  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  Messrs.  Snow  and  Wilder,  of 
Boston,  at  whose  office  Mrs.  Partington's 
(B.  P.  Shillaber)  ' '  Carpet  Bag  "  was  printed, 
and  he  was  engaged  and  remained  there  for 
three  years.  He  then  traveled  westward  in 
search  of  employment  and  got  as  far  as  Tif- 
fin, Ohio,  where  he  found  employment  in  the 
office  of  the  "Advertiser,"  and  remained 
there  some  months  when  he  proceeded  to 
Toledo,  Ohio,  where  he  became  one  of  the 
staff  of  the  "Commercial,"  which  position 
he  held  until  1857.  Mr.  Browne  next  went 
i;o  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and   became  the  local 


editor  of  the  "Plain  Dealer,"  and  it  was  in 
the  columns  of  this  paper  that  he  published 
his  first  articles  and  signed  them  "Artemus 
Ward."  In  i860  he  went  to  New  York  and 
became  the  editor  of  "  Vanity  Fair,"  but 
the  idea  of  lecturing  here  seized  him,  and  he 
was  fully  determined  to  make  the  trial. 
Mr.  Browne  brought  out  his  lecture,  "Babes 
in  the  Woods  "  at  Clinton  Hall,  December 
23,  1861,  and  in  1862  he  published  his  first 
book  entitled,  "  Artemus  Ward;  His  Book." 
He  attained  great  fame  as  a  lecturer  and  his 
lectures  were  not  confined  to  America,  for 
he  went  to  England  in  1866,  and  became 
exceedingly  popular,  both  as  a  lecturer  and 
a  contributor  to  "Punch."  Mr.  Browne 
lectured  for  the  last  time  January  23,  1867. 
He  died  in  Southampton,  England,  March 
6,    1867. 

THURLOW  WEED,  a  noted  journalist 
and  politician,  was  born  in  Cairo,  New 
York,  November  15,  1797.  He  learned  the 
printer's  trade  at  the  age  of  twelve  years, 
and  worked  at  this  calling  for  several  years 
in  various  villages  in  central  New  York.  He 
served  as  quartermaster-sergeant  during  the 
warof  1812.  In  1818  he  established  the 
"Agriculturist,"  at  Norwich,  New  York, 
and  became  editor  of  the  "Anti-Masonic 
Enquirer,"  at  Rochester,  in  1826.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
and  re-elected  in  1830,  when  he  located  in 
Albany,  New  York,  and  there' started  the 
"  Evening  Journal,"  and  conducted  it  in  op- 
position to  the  Jackson  administration  and 
the  nullification  doctrines  of  Calhoun.  He 
became  an  adroit  party  manager,  and  was 
instrumental  in  promoting  the  nominations 
of  Harrison,  Taylor  and  Scott  for  the  pres- 
idency. In  1856  and  in  i860  he  threw  his 
support  to  W.  H.  Seward,  but  when  defeat- 
ed in  his  object,  he  gave  cordial  support  to 


92 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAI'Hr. 


Fremont  and  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln  pre- 
vailed upon  him  to  visit  the  various  capitals 
of  Europe,  where  he  proved  a  valuable  aid 
to  the  administration  in  moulding  the  opin- 
ions of  the  statesmen  of  that  continent 
favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Weed's  connection  with  the  ' '  Even- 
ing Journal  "  was  severed  in  1862,  when  he 
settled  in  New  York,  and  for  a  time  edited 
the  "  Commercial  Advertiser."  In  1868  he 
retired  from  active  life.  His  "  Letters  from 
Europe  and  the  West  Indies,"  published  in 
1866,  together  with  some  interesting  "  Rem- 
iniscences," published  in  the  "Atlantic 
Monthly,"  in  1870,  an  autobiography,  and 
portions  of  an  extensive  correspondence  will 
be  of  great  value  to  writers  of  the  political 
history  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Weed 
died  in  New  York,  November  22,   1882. 


WILLIAM  COLLINS  WHITNEY, 
one  of  the  prominent  Democratic 
politicians  of  the  country  and  ex-secretary  of 
the  navy,  was  born  July  5th,  1841,  at  Con- 
way, Massachusetts,  and  received  his  edu- 
cation at  Williston  Seminary,  East  Hamp- 
ton, Massachusetts.  Later  he  attended 
Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1863, 
and  entered  the  Harvard  Law  School,  which 
he  left  in  1864.  Beginning  practice  in  New 
York  city,  he  soon  gained  a  reputation  as 
an  able  lawyer.  He  made  his  first  appear- 
ance in  public  affairs  in  1871,  when  he  was 
active  in  organizing  a  young  men's  Demo- 
cratic club.  In  1872  he  was  the  recognized 
leader  of  the  county  Democracy  and  in  1875 
was  appointed  corporation  counsel  for  the 
city  of  New  York.  He  resigned  the  office, 
1882,  to  attend  to  personal  interests  and  on 
March  5,  1885,  he  was  appointed  secretary 
of  the  navy  by  President  Cleveland.  Under 
his  administration  the  navy  of  the  United 
States  rapidly  rose  in  rank  among  the  navies 


of  the  world.  When  he  retired  from  office 
in  1889,  the  vessels  of  the  United  States 
navy  designed  and  contracted  for  by  him 
were  five  double-turreted  monitors,  two 
new  armor-ciads,  the  dynamite  cruiser  "Ve- 
suvius," and  five  unarmored  steel  and  iron 
cruisers. 

Mr.  Whitney  was  the  leader  of  the 
Cleveland  forces  in  the  national  Democratic 
convention   of    1892. 


EDWIN  FORREST,  the  first  and  great- 
est American  tragedian,  was  born  in 
Philadelphia  in  1806.  His  father  was  a 
tradesman,  and  some  accounts  state  that  he 
had  marked  out  a  mercantile  career  for  his 
son,  Edwin,  while  others  claim  that  he  had 
intended  him  for  the  ministry.  His  wonder- 
ful memory,  his  powers  of  mimicry  and  his 
strong  musical  voice,  however,  attracted  at- 
tention before  he  was  eleven  years  old,  and 
at  that  age  he  made  his  first  appearance  on 
the  stage.  The  costume  in  which  he  appeared 
was  so  ridiculous  that  he  left  the  stage  in  a 
fit  of  anger  amid  a  roar  of  laughter  from 
the  audience.  This  did  not  discourage  him, 
however,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  after 
some  preliminary  training  in  elocution,  he 
appeared  again,  this  time  as  Young  Norvel, 
and  gave  indications  of  future  greatness. 
Up  to  1826  he  played  entirely  with  strolling 
companies  through  the  south  and  west,  but 
at  that  time  he  obtained  an  engagement  at 
the  Bowery  Theater  in  New  York.  From 
that  time  his  fortune  was  made.  His  man- 
ager paid  him  $40  per  night,  and  it  is  stated 
that  he  loaned  Forrest  to  other  houses  from 
time  to  time  at  $200  per  night.  His  great 
successes  were  Virginius,  Damon,  Othello, 
Coriolanus,  William  Tell,  Spartacus  and 
Lear.  He  made  his  first  appearance  in 
London  in  1836,  and  his  success  was  un- 
questioned from  the  start.      In  1S45,  on  h:s 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


93 


second  appearance  in  London,  he  became 
involved  in  a  bitter  rivalry  with  the  great 
English  actor,  Macready,  who  had  visited 
America  two  years  before.  The  result  was 
that  Forrest  was  hissed  from  the  stage,  and 
it  was  charged  that  Macready  had  instigated 
the  plot.  Forrest's  resentment  was  so  bitter 
that  he  himself  openly  hissed  Macready 
from  his  box  a  few  nights  later.  In  1848 
Macready  again  visited  America  at  a  time 
when  American  admiration  and  enthusiasm 
for  Forrest  had  reached  its  height.  Macready 
undertook  to  play  at  Astor  Place  Opera 
House  in  May,  1849,  t>ut  was  hooted  off  the 
stage.  A  few  nights  later  Macready  made  a 
second  attempt  to  play  at  the  same  house, 
this  time  under  police  protection.  The  house 
was  filled  with  Macready's  friends,  but  the  vio- 
olence  of  the  mob  outside  stopped  the  play, 
and  the  actor  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 
Upon  reading  the  riot  act  the  police  and 
troops  were  assaulted  with  stones.  The 
troops  replied,  first  with  blank  cartridges, 
and  then  a  volley  of  lead  dispersed  the 
mob,  leaving  thirty  men  dead  or  seriously 
wounded. 

After  this  incident  Forrest's  popularity 
waned,  until  in  1855  he  retired  from  the 
stage.  He  re-appeared  in  i860,  however, 
and  probably  the  most  remunerative  period 
of  his  life  was  between  that  date  and  the 
close  of  the  Civil  war.  His  last  appearance 
on  the  stage  was  at  the  Globe  Theatre, 
Boston,  in  Richelieu,  in  April,  1872,  his 
death   occurring  December  12  of  that  year. 


NOAH  PORTER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  was 
one  of  the  most  noted  educators,  au- 
thors and  scientific  writers  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  born  December  14,  181 1, 
at  Farmington,  Connecticut,  grailuated  at 
Yale  College  in  183 1,  and  was  master  of 
Hopkins  Grammar  School  at  New  Haven  in 


1831-33.  During  1833-35  he  was  a  tutor 
at  Yale,  and  at  the  same  time  was  pursuing 
his  theological  studies,  and  became  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  church  at  New  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut,  in  April,  1836.  Dr. 
Porter  removed  to  Springfield,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1843,  and  was  chosen  professor  of 
metaphysics  and  moral  philosophy  at  Yale 
in  1846.  He  spent  a  year  in  Germany  in 
the  study  of  modern  metaphysics  in  1853— 
54,  and  in  1871  he  was  elected  president  of 
Yale  College.  He  resigned  the  presidency 
in  1885,  but  still  remained  professor  of  met- 
aphysics and  moral  philosophy.  He  was 
the  author  of  a  number  of  works,  among 
which  are  the  following:  "  Historical  Es- 
say," written  in  commemorationof the  200th 
aniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  town  of 
Farmington;  "  Educational  System  of  the 
Jesuits  Compared;"  "The  Human  Intel- 
lect," with  an  introduction  upon  psychology 
and  the  soul;  "  Books  and  Reading;" 
"American  Colleges  and  the  American  Pub- 
lic;" "  Elementsof  Intellectual  Philosophy;" 
"  The  Science  of  Nature  versus  the  Science 
of  Man;"  "  Science  and  Sentiment;"  "  Ele- 
ments of  Moral  Science."  Dr.  Porter  was 
the  principal  editor  of  the  revised  edition  of 
Webster's  Dictionary  in  1864,  and  con- 
tributed largely  to  religious  reviews  and 
periodicals.  Dr. .  Porter's  death  occurred 
March  4,   1892,  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 


JOHN  TYLER,  tenth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Charles  City 
county,  Virginia,  March  29,  1790,  and  v/as 
the  son  of  Judge  John  Tyler,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  his  day. 

When  but  twelve  years  of  age  young 
John  Tyler  entered  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege, graduating  from  there  in  1806.  He 
took  up  the  study  of  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1809,  when  but  nineteen  years 


94 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BlOGRAPlir. 


of  age.  On  attaining  his  majority  in  iSii 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state  legis- 
lature, and  for  five  years  held  that  position 
by  the  almost  unanimous  vote  of  his  county. 
He  was  elected  to  congress  in  1816,  and 
served  in  that  body  for  four  years,  after 
which  for  two  years  he  represented  his  dis- 
trict again  in  the  legislature  of  the  state. 
Whije  in  congress,  he  opposed  the  United 
States  bank,  the  protective  policy  and  in- 
ternal improvements  by  the  United  States 
government.  1825  saw  Mr.  Tyler  governor 
of  Virginia,  but  in  1827  he  was  chosen 
member  of  the  United  States  senate,  and 
held  that  office  for  nine  years.  He  therein 
opposed  the  administration  of  Adams  and 
the  tariff  bill  of  1828,  sympathized  with  the 
nuUif'ers  of  South  Carolina  and  was  the 
only  senator  who  voted  against  the  Force 
bill  lor  the  suppression  of  that  state's  insip- 
ient  rebellion.  He  resigned  his  position  as 
senator  on  account  of  a  disagreement  with 
the  legislature  of  his  state  in  relation  to  his 
censuring  President  Jackson.  He  retired  to 
Williamsburg,  Virginia,  but  being  regarded 
as  a  martyr  by  the  Whigs,  whom,  hereto- 
fore, he  had  always  opposed,  was  supported 
by  many  of  that  party  for  the  vice-presi- 
dency in  1836.  He  sat  in  the  Virginia  leg- 
islature as  a  Whig  in  1839-40,  and  was  a 
delegate  to  the  convention  of  that  party  in 
18^9.  This  national  convention  nominated 
him  for  the  second  place  on  the  ticket  with 
General  William  H.  H.'  Harrison,  and  he 
was  elected  vice-president  in  November, 
1840.  President  Harrison  dying  one  month 
after  his  inauguration,  he  was  succeeded  by 
John  Tyler.  He  retained  the  cabinet  chosen 
by  his  predecessor,  and  for  a  time  moved  in 
harmony  with  the  Whig  party.  He  finally 
instructed  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
Thomas  Ewing,  to  submit  to  congress  a  bill 
for  the  incorporation  of  a  fiscal  bank  of  the 


United  States,  which  was  passed  by  con- 
gress, but  vetoed  by  the  president  on  ac- 
count of  some  amendments  he  considered 
unconstitutional.  For  this  and  other  meas- 
ures he  was  accused  of  treachery  to  his 
party,  and  deserted  by  his  whole  cabinet, 
except  Daniel  Webster.  Things  grew  worse 
until  he  was  abandoned  by  the  Whig  party 
formally,  when  Mr.  Webster  resigned.  He 
was  nominated  at  Baltimore,  in  May,  1844, 
at  the  Democratic  convention,  as  their  pres- 
idential candidate,  but  withdrew  from  the 
canvass,  as  he  saw  he  had  not  succeed- 
ed in  gaining  the  confidence  of  his  old 
party.  He  then  retired  from  politics  until 
February,  1861,  when  he  was  made  presi- 
dent of  the  abortive  peace  congress,  which 
met  in  Washington.  He  shortly  after  re- 
nounced his  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Confeder- 
ate congress.  He  died  at  Richmond,  Janu- 
ary 17,   1862. 

Mr.  Tyler  married,  in  1813,  Miss  Letitia 
Christian,  who  died  in  1842  at  Washington. 
June  26,  1844,  he  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage, with  Miss  Julia  Gardner,  of  New  York. 


COLLIS  POTTER  HUNTINGTON, 
one  of  the  great  men  of  his  time  and 
who  has  left  his  impress  upon  the  history  of 
our  national  development,  was  born  October 
22,  1 82 1,  at  Harwinton,  Connecticut. 
He  received  a  common-school  education 
and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  his  spirit  of  get- 
ting along  in  the  world  mastered  his  educa- 
tional propensities  and  his  father's  objec- 
tions and  he  left  school.  He  went  to  Cali- 
fornia in  the  early  days  and  had  opportunities 
which  he  handled  masterfull}'.  Others  had 
the  same  opportunities  but  they  did  not  have 
his  brains  nor  his  energy,  and  it  was  he  who 
overcame  obstacles  and  reaped  the  reward 
of    his   genius.      Transcontinental     raiKvavs 


COMPEXD/C'Af   O/'-    BIOGRAPHT. 


95 


were  ine\-itable,  but  the  realization  of  this 
masterful  achievement  would  have  been  de- 
layed to  a  much  later  day  if  there  had  been 
no  Huntington.  He  associated  himself  with 
Messrs.  Mark  Hopkins,  Leland  Stanford, 
and  Charles  Crocker,  and  they  furnished  the 
money  necessary  for  a  survey  across  the 
Sierra  Nevadas,  secured  a  charter  for  the 
road,  and  raised,  with  the  government's  aid, 
money  enough  to  construct  and  equip  that 
railway,  which  at  the  time  of  its  completion 
was  a  marvel  of  engineering  and  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  Mr.  Huntington  be- 
came president  of  the  Southern  Pacific  rail- 
road, vice-president  of  the  Central  Pacific; 
trustee  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Telegraph 
Company,  and  a  director  of  the  Occidental 
and  Oriental  Steamship  Company,  besides 
being  identified  with  many  other  business 
enterprises  of  vast  importance. 


GEORGE  A.  CUSTER,  a  famous  In- 
dian fighter,  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1840. 
He  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1861,  an- 
served  in  the  Civil  war;  was  at  Bull  Run  id 
1861,  and  was  in  the  Peninsular  campaign, 
being  one  of  General  McClellan's  aides-de, 
camp.  He  fought  in  the  battles  of  South 
Mountain  and  Antietam  in  1863,  and  was 
with  General  Stoneman  on  his  famous 
cavalry  raid.  He  was  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  and  was  tiiere  made  brevet- 
major.  In  1863  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers.  General  Custer  was 
in  many  skirmishes  in  central  Virginia  in 
1S63-64,  and  was  present  at  the  following 
battles  of  the  Richmond  campaign:  Wil- 
derness, Todd's  Tavern,  Yellow  Tavern,  where 
he  was  brevetted  lieutenant-colonel;  Meadow 
Bridge,  Haw's  Shop,  Cold  Harbor,  Trevil- 
lian  Station.  In  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
1 864-65  he  was  brevetted  colonel  at  Opequan 
Creek,  and  at    Cedar   Creek   he    was    made 


brevet  major-general  for  gallant  conduct 
during  the  engagement.  General  Custer 
was  in  command  of  a  cavalry  division  in  the 
pursuit  of  Lee's  army  in  1865,  and  fought 
at  Dinwiddle  Court  House,  Five  Forks, 
where  he  was  made  brevet  brigadier-general; 
Sailors  Creek  and  Appomattox,  where  he 
gained  additional  honors  and  was  made 
brevet  major-general,  and  was  given  the 
command  of  the  cavalry  in  the  military 
division  of  the  southwest  and  Gulf,  in  1865. 
After  the  establishment  of  peace  he  went 
west  on  frontier  duty  and  performed  gallant 
and  valuable  service  in  the  troubles  with  the 
Indians.  He  was  killed  in  the  massacre  on 
the  Little  Big  Horn  river.  South  Dakota^ 
June  25,    1876. 


ANIEL  WOLSEY  VOORHEES,  cel- 
brated  as  "  The  Tall  Sycamore  of  the 
Wabash,"  was  born  September  26,  1827, 
in  Butler  county,  Ohio.  When  he  was  two 
months  old  his  parents  removed  to  Fount- 
ain county,  Indiana.  He  grew  to  manhood 
on  a  farm,  engaged  in  all  the  arduous  work 
pertaining  to  rural  life.  In  1845  he  entered 
the  Indiana  Asbury  University,  now  the  De 
Pauw,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1849. 
He  took  up  the  study  of  law  at  Crawfords- 
.ville,  and  in  1851  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Covington,  Fountain  county, 
Indiana.  He  became  a  law  partner  of 
United  States  Senator  Hannegan,  of  Indi- 
ana, in  1852,  and  in  1856  he  was  an  unsuc- 
cessful candidate  for  congress.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Terre 
Haute,  Indiana.  He  was  United  States 
district  attorney  for  Indiana  from  1857  until 
1 86 1,  and  he  had  during  this  period  been 
elected  to  congress,  in  i  860.  Mr.  Voorhees 
was  re-elected  to  congress  in  i862artfl  1864, 
but  he  was  unsuccessful  in  the  election  of 
1866.      However,  he  was  returned   to   con- 


96 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPTIT. 


gress  in  1868,  where  he  remained  until  1874, 
having  been  re-elected  twice.  In  1877  he 
was  appointed  United  States  senator  from 
Indiana  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  death 
of  O.  P.  Morton,  and  at  the  end  of  the  term 
was  elected  for  the  ensuing  term,  being  re- 
elected in  1885  and  in  1891  to  the  same  of- 
fice. He  served  with  distinction  on  many 
of  the  committees,  and  took  a  very  prom- 
inent part  in'  the  discussion  of  all  the  im- 
portant legislation  of  his  time.  His  death 
occurred  in  August,   189  . 


ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  BELL,  fa- 
mous as  one  of  the  inventors  of  the  tele- 
phone, was  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
March  3rd,  1847.  He  received  his  early 
education  in  the  high  school  and  later  he 
attended  the  university,  and  was  specially 
trained  to  follow  his  grandfather's  profes- 
sion, that  of  removing  impediments  of 
speech.  He  emigrated  to  the  United  States 
in  1872,  and  introduced  into  this  country 
his  father's  invention  of  visible  speech  in  the 
institutions  for  deaf-mutes.  Later  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  vocal  physiology  in 
the  Boston  University.  He  worked  for 
many  years  during  his  leisure  hours  on  his 
telephonic  discovery,  and  finally  perfected 
it  and  exhibited  it  publicly,  before  it  had 
reached  the  high  state  of  perfection  to  which 
he  brought  it.  His  first  exhibition  of  it  was 
at  the  Centennial  E.xhibition  that  was  held 
in  Philadelphia  in  1876.  Its  success  is  now 
established  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
In  1882  Prof.  Bell  received  a  diploma  and 
the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  from 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  France. 


WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT, 
the  justly  celebrated  historian  and 
author,  was  a  native  of  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, and  was  born  May  4,   1796.      He  was 


the  son  of  Judge  William  Prescott  and  the 
grandson  of  the  hero  of  Bunker  Hill,  Colonel 
William  Prescott. 

Our  subject  in  1808  removed  with  the 
family  to  Boston,  in  the  schools  of  which 
city  he  received  his  early  education.  He 
entered  Harvard  College  as  a  sophomore  in 
181 1,  having  been  prepared  at  the  private 
classical  college  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  S.  J.  Gardi- 
jner.  The  following  year  he  received  an  in- 
iiry  in  his  left  eye  which  made  study 
through  life  a  matter  of  difficulty.  He 
graduated  in  i8i4with  high  honors  in  the 
classics  and  belle  lettres.  He  spent  several 
months  on  the  Azores  Islands,  and  later 
visited  England,  France  and  Italy,  return- 
ing home  in  18 17.  In  June,  1818,  he 
founded  a  social  and  literary  club  at  Boston 
for  which  he  edited  "The  Club  Room,"  a 
periodical  doomed  to  but  a  short  life.  May 
4,  1820,  he  married  Miss  Susan  Amory. 
He  devoted  several  years  after  that  event  to 
a  thorough  study  of  ancient  and  modern 
history  and  literature.  As  the  fruits  of  his 
labors  he  published  several  well  written 
essays  upon  French  and  Italian  poetry  and 
romance  in  the  "  North  American  Review." 
January  19,  1826,  he  decided  to  take  up  his 
first  great  historical  work,  the  ' '  History  of 
the  Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella."  To 
this  he  gave  the  labor  of  ten  years,  publish- 
ing the  same  December  25,  1837.  Although 
placed  at  the  head  of  all  American  authors, 
so  diffident  was  Prescott  of  his  literary  merit 
that  although  he  had  four  copies  of  this 
work  printed  for  his  own  convenience,  he 
hesitated  a  long  time  before  giving  it  to  the 
public,  and  it  was  only  by  the  solicitation  of 
friends,  especially  of  thai;  talented  Spanish 
scholar,  George  Ticknor,  that  he  was  in- 
duced to  do  so.  Soon  the  volumes  were 
translated  into  French,  Italian,  Dutch  and 
German,    and     the    work     was    recognized 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


97 


throughout  the  world  as  one  of  the  most 
meritorious  of  historical  compositions.  In 
1843  I12  published  the  "Conquest  of  Mexi- 
co," and  in  1847  the  "Conquest  of  Peru." 
Two  years  later  there  came  from  his  pen  a 
volume  of  ' '  Biographical  and  Critical  Mis- 
cellanies." Going  abroad  in  the  summer  of 
1850,  he  was  received  with  great  distinction 
in  the  literary  circles  of  London,  Edinburgh, 
Paris,  Antwerp  and  Brussels.  Oxford  Uni- 
versity conferred  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L. 
upon  him.  In  1855  he  issued  two  volumes 
of  his  "History  of  the  Reign  of  Philip  the 
Second,"  and  a  third  in  1858.  In  the 
meantime  he  edited  Robertson's  "Charles 
the  Fifth,"  adding  a  history  of  the  life  of 
that  monarch  after  his  abdication.  Death 
cut  short  his  work  on  the  remaining  volumes 
of  "  Philip  the  Second,"  coming  to  him  at 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  May  28,   1859. 


OLIVER  HAZARD  PERRY,  a  noted 
American  commodore,  was  born  in 
South  Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  August  23, 
1785.  He  saw  his  first  service  as  a  mid- 
shipman in  the  United  States  navy  in  April, 
1799.  He  cruised  with  his  father.  Captain 
Christopher  Raymond  Perry,  in  the  West  In- 
dies for  about  two  years.  In  1804  he  was 
in  the  war  against  Tripoli,  and  was  made 
lieutenant  in  1807.  At  the  opening  of  hostili- 
ties with  Great  Britain  in  18 12  he  was  given 
command  of  a  fleet  of  gunboats  on  the  At- 
lantic coast.  At  his  request  he  was  trans- 
ferred, a  year  later,  to  Lake  Ontario,  where 
he  served  under  Commodore  Chauncey,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  attack  on  Fort 
George.  He  was  ordered  to  fit  out  a  squad- 
ron on  Lake  Erie,  which  he  did,  building 
most  of  his  vessels  from  the  forests  along 
the  shore,  and  by  the  summer  of  181  3  he  had 
a  fleet  of  nine  vessels  at  Presque  Isle,  now 
Erie,    Pennsylvania        September    loth    he 


attacked  and  captured  the  British  fleet  near 
Put-in-Bay,  thus  clearing  the  lake  of  hostile 
ships.  His  famous  dispatch  is  part  of  his 
fame,  "  We  have  met  the  enemy,  and  they 
are  ours."  He  co-operated  with  Gen.  Har- 
rison, and  the  success  of  the  campaign  in 
the  northwest  was  largely  due  to  his  victory. 
The  next  year  he  was  transferred  to  the  Po- 
tomac, and  assisted  in  the  defense  of  Balti- 
more. After  the  war  he  was  in  constant 
service  with  the  various  squadrons  in  cruising 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  He  died  of  yellow 
fever  on  the  Island  of  Trinidad,  August  23, 
1 8 19.  His  remains  were  conveyed  to  New- 
port, and  buried  there,  and  an  imposing 
obelisk  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island.  A  bronze  statue 
was  also  erected  in  his  honor,  the  unveiling 
taking  place  in  1885. 


JOHN  PAUL  JONES,  though  a  native 
of  Scotland,  was  one  of  America's  most 
noted  fighters  during  the  Revolutionary  war. 
He  was  born  July  6,  1747.  His  father  was 
a  gardener,  but  the  young  man  soon  be- 
came interested  in  a  seafaring  life  and  at 
the  age  of  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
sea  captain  engaged  in  the  American  trade. 
His  first  voyage  landed  him  in  Virginia, 
where  he  had  a  brother  who  had  settled 
there  several  years  prior.  The  failure  of 
the  captain  released  young  Jones  from  his 
apprenticeship  bonds,  and  he  was  engaged 
as  third  mate  of  a  vessel  engaged  in  the 
slave  trade.  He  abandoned  this  trade  after 
a  few  years,  from  his  own  sense  of  disgrace. 
He  took  passage  from  Jamaica  for  Scotland 
in  1768,  and  on  the  voyage  both  the  captain 
and  the  mate  died  and  he  was  compelled  to 
take  command  of  the  vessel  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  voyage.  He  soon  after 
became  master  of  the  vessel.  He  returned 
to  Virginia  about  1 773  to  settle  up  the  estate 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


of  his  brother,  and  at  this  time  added  the 
name  "Jones,"  having  previously  been 
known  as  John  Paul.  He  settled  down  in 
Virginia,  but  when  the  war  broke  out  in 
1775  he  offered  his  services  to  congress  and 
was  appointed  senior  lieutenant  of  the  flag- 
ship "Alfred,"  on  which  he  hoisted  the 
American  flag  with  his  own  hands,  the  first 
vessel  that  had  ever  carried  a  flag  of  the 
new  nation.  He  was  afterward  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  "Alfred,"  and  later 
of  the  "Providence,"  in  each  of  which  ves- 
sels he  did  good  service,  as  also  in  the 
"Ranger,"  to  the  command  of  which  he 
was  later  appointed.  The  fight  that  made 
him  famous,  however,  was  that  in  which  he 
captured  the  ~"  Serapis, "  off  the  coast  of 
Scotland.  He  was  then  in  command  of  the 
"Bon  Homme  Richard,"  which  had  been 
fitted  out  for  him  by  the  French  government 
and  named  by  Jones  in  honor  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  or  "Good  Man  Richard,"  Frank- 
lin being  author  of  the  publication  known 
as  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac."  The  fight 
between  the  "  Richard"  and  the  "Serapis" 
lasted  three  hours,  all  of  which  time  the 
vessels  were  at  close  range,  and  most  of  the 
time  in  actual  contact.  Jones'  vessel  was 
on  fire  several  times,  and  early  in  the  en- 
gagement two  of  his  guns  bursted,  rendering 
the  battery  useless.  Also  an  envious  officer 
of  the  Alliance,  one  of  Jones'  own  fleet, 
opened  fire  upon  the  "  Richard  "  at  a  crit- 
ical time,  completely  disabling  the  vessel. 
Jones  continued  the  fight,  in  spite  of  coun- 
sels to  surrender,  and  after  dark  the  "  Ser- 
apis "  struck  her  colors,  and  was  hastily 
boarded  by  Jones  and  his  crew,  while  the 
"Richard"  sank,  bows  first,  after  the 
wounded  had  been  taken  on  board  the 
"Serapis."  Most  of  the  other  vessels  of 
the  fleet  of  which  the  "  Serapis"  was  con- 
voy, surrendered,  and   were  taken  with  the 


"Serapis"  to  France,  where  Jones  was 
received  with  greatest  honors,  and  the  king 
presented  him  with  an  elegant  sword  and 
the  cross  of  the  Order  of  Military  Merit. 
Congress  gave  him  a  vote  of  thanks  and 
made  him  commander  of  a  new  ship,  the 
"America,"  but  the  vessel  was  afterward 
given  to  France  and  Jones  never  saw  active 
sea  service  again.  He  came  to  America  again, 
in  1787,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was 
voted  a  gold  medal  by  congress.  He  went  to 
Russia  and  was  appointed  rear-admiral  and 
rendered  service  of  value  against  the  Turks, 
but  on  account  of  personal-enmity  of  the  fav- 
orites of  the  emperor  he  was  retired  on  a  pen- 
sion. Failing  to  collect  this,  he  returned  to 
France,  where  he  died,  July  18,   1792. 


THOMAS  MORAN,  the  well-known 
painter  of  Rocky  Mountain  scenery, 
was  born  in  Lancashire,  England,  in  1837. 
He  came  to  America  when  a  child,  and 
showing  artistic  tastes,  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  wood  engraver  in  Philadelphia.  Three 
years  later  he  began  landscape  painting,  and 
his  style  soon  began  to  exhibit  signs  of  genius. 
His  first  works  were  water-colors,  and 
though  without  an  instructor  he  began  the 
use  of  oils,  he  soon  found  it  necessary  to 
visit  Europe,  where  he  gave  particular  at- 
tention to  the  works  of  Turner.  He  joined 
the  Yellowstone  Park  exploring  expedition 
and  visited  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1871 
and  again  in  1873,  making  numerous 
sketches  of  the  scenery.  The  most  note- 
worthy results  were  his  "Grand  Canon  of 
the  Yellowstone,"  and  "  The  Chasm  of  the 
Colorado,"  -which  were  purchased  by  con- 
gress at  $10,000  each,  the  first  of  which  is 
undoubtedly  the  finest  landscape  painting 
produced  in  this  country.  Mr.  Moran  has 
subordinated  art  to  nature,  and  the  subjects- 
he  has  chosen  leave   little  ground    for   fau!t 


««!<»■ 


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,/  >^  JAY  CCULP     WI/V/T^^^ 


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COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPJir. 


101 


finding  on  that  account.  "The  Mountain 
of  the  Holy  Cross,"  "The  Groves  Were 
God's  First  Temples,"  "  The  Cliffs  of  Green 
River,"  "  The  Children  of  the  Mountain," 
"The  Ripening  of  the  Leaf,"  and  others 
have  given  him  additional  fame,  and  while 
they  do  not  equal  in  grandeur  the  first 
mentioned,  in  many  respects  from  an  artis- 
tic standpoint  they  are  superior. 


L ELAND  STANFORD  was  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  the  Pacific  coast  and 
also  had  a  national  reputation.  He  was 
born  March  9,  1824,  in  Albany  county.  New 
York,  and  passed  his  early  life  on  his 
father's  farm.  He  attended  the  local 
schools  of  the  county  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty  began  the  study  of  law.  He 
entered  the  law  office  of  Wheaton,  Doolittle 
and  Hadley,  at  Albany,  in  1845,  and  a  few 
years  later  he  moved  to  Port  Washington, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  practiced  law  four 
years  with  moderate  success.  In  1S52  Mr. 
Stanford  determined  to  push  further  west, 
and,  accordingly  went  to  California,  where 
three  of  his  brothers  were  established  in 
business  in  the  mining  towns.  They  took 
Leland  into  partnership,  giving  him  charge 
of  a  branch  store  at  Michigan  Bluff,  in 
Placer  county.  There  he  developed  great 
business  ability  and  four  years  later  started 
a  mercantile  house  of  his  own  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, which  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
substantial  houses  on  the  coast.  On  the 
formation  of  the  Republican  party  he  inter- 
ested himself  in  politics,  and  in  i860  was 
sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  convention  that 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  the 
autumn  of  1861  he  was  elected,  by  an  im- 
mense majority,  governor  of  California. 
Prior  to  his  election  as  governor  he  had 
been  chosen  president  of  the  newly-orga- 
nized   Central  Pacific    Railroad    Company, 


and  after  leaving  the  executive  chair  he  de- 
voted all  of  his  time  to  the  construction  of 
the  Pacific  end  of  the  transcontinental  rail- 
way. May  10,  1869,  Mr.  Stanford  drove 
the  last  spike  of  the  Central  Pacific  road, 
thus  completing  the  route  across  the  conti- 
nent. He  was  also  president  of  the  Occi- 
dental and  Oriental  Steamship  Company. 
He  had  but  one  son,  who  died  of  typhoid 
fever,  and  as  a  monument  to  his  child  he 
founded  the  university  which  bears  his  son's 
name,  Leland  Stanford,  Junior,  University. 
Mr.  Stanford  gave  to  this  university  eighty- 
three  thousand  acres  of  land,  the  estimated 
value  of  which  is  $8,000,000,  and  the  entire 
endowment  is  $20,000,000.  In  1885  Mr. 
Stanford  was  elected  United  States  senator 
as  a  Republican,  to  succeed  J.  T.  Farley,  a 
Democrat,  and  was  re-elected  in  1 891.  His 
death  occurred  June  20,  1894,  at  Palo  Alto, 
California. 

STEPHEN  DECATUR,  a  famous  com- 
modore in  the  United  States  navy,  was 
born  in  Maryland  in  1779.  He  entered  the 
naval  service  in  1798.  In  1804,  when  the 
American  vessel  Philadelphia  had  been  run 
aground  and  captured  in  the  harbor  of  Trip- 
oli, Decatur,  at  the  head  of  a  few  men, 
boarded  her  and  burned  her  in  the  face  of 
the  guns  from  the  city  defenses.  For  this 
daring  deed  he  was  made  captain.  He  was 
given  command  of  the  frigate  United  States 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  18  12,  and 
in  October  of  that  year  he  captured  the 
British  frigate  Macedonian,  and  was  re- 
warded with  a  gold  medal  by  congress.  Af- 
ter the  close  of  the  war  he  was  sent  as  com- 
mander of  a  fleet  of  ten  vessels  to  chastise 
the  dey  of  Algiers,  who  was  preying  upon 
American  commerce  with  impunity  and  de- 
manding tribute  and  ransom  for  the  release 
of   American    citizens    captured.       Decatur 


102 


COMPENDIi'M   OF    L'/OGRAPHl'. 


captured  a  number  of  Algerian  vessels,  and 
compelled  the  dey  to  sue  for  peace.  He 
was  noted  for  his  daring  and  intrepidity, 
and  his  coolness  in  the  face  of  danger,  and 
helped  to  bring  the  United  States  navy  into 
favor  with  the  people  and  congress  as  a 
means  of  defense  and  offense  in  time  of 
war.  He  was  killed  in  a  duel  by  Commo- 
dore Barron,  March  12,  1820. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK,  the  eleventh 
president  of  the  United  States,  1845  to 
1849,  was  born  November  2,  1795,  in  Meck- 
lenburg county,  North  Carolina,  and  was 
the  eldest  child  of  a  family  of  six  sons.  He 
removed  with  his  father  to  the  Valley  of  the 
Duck  River,  in  Tennessee,  in  1806.  He 
attended  the  common  schools  and  became 
very  proficient  in  the  lower  branches  of 
education,  and  supplemented  this  with 
a  course  in  the  Murfreesboro  Academy, 
which  he  entered  in  18 13  andin  the  autumn 
of  1815  he  became  a  student  in  the  sopho- 
more class  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, at  Chapel  Hill,  and  was  graduated  in 
181 8.  He  then  spent  a  short  time  in  re- 
cuperating his  health  and  then  proceeded  to 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  took  up  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Felix  Grundy. 
After  the  completion  of  his  law  studies  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  removed  to 
Columbia,  Maury  county,  Tennessee,  and 
started  in  the  active  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. Mr.  Polk  was  a  Jeffersonian  "Re- 
publican "  and  in  1823  he  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  of  Tennessee.  He  was  a  strict 
constructionist  and  did  not  believe  that  the 
general  government  had  the  power  to  carry 
on  internal  improvements  in  the  states,  but 
deemed  it  important  that  it  should  have  that 
power,  and  wanted  the  constitution  amended 
to  that  effect.  But  later  on  he  became 
alarmed  lest  the  general   government    might 


become  strong  enough  to  abolish  slavery 
and  therefore  gave  his  whole  support  to  the 
"  State's  Rights"  movement, and  endeavored 
to  check  the  centralization  of  power  in  the 
general  government.  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen 
a  member  of  congress  in  1825,  and  held  that 
office  until  1839.  He  then  withdrew,  as  he 
was  the  successful  gubernatorial  candidate 
of  his  state.  He  had  become  a  man  of 
great  influence  in  the  house,  and,  as  the 
leader  of  the  Jackson  party  in  that  body, 
weilded  great  influence  in  the  election  of 
General  Jackson  to  the  presidency.  He 
sustained  the  president  in  all  his  measures 
and  still  remained  in  the  house  after  Gen- 
eral Jackson  had  been  succeeded  by  Martin 
Van  Buren.  He  was- speaker  of  the  house 
during  five  sessions  of  congress.  He  was 
elected  governor  of  Tennessee  by  a  large 
majority  and  took  the  oath  of  office  at  Nash- 
ville, October  4,  1839.  He  was  a  candidate 
for  re-election  but  was  defeated  by  Governor 
Jones,  the  Whig  candidate,  fn  1844  the 
most  prominent  question  in  the  election  was 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  as  Mr.  Polk 
was  the  avowed  champion  of  this  cause  he 
was  nominated  for  president  by  the  pro- 
slavery  wing  of  the  democratic  party,  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  was  inaug- 
urated March  4,  1845.  President  Polk 
formed  a  very  able  cabinet,  consisting  of 
James  Buchanan,  Robert  J.  Walker,  Will- 
iam L.  Marcy,  George  Bancroft,  Cave  John- 
son, and  John  Y.  Mason.  The  dispute  re- 
garding the  Oregon  boundary  was  settled 
during  his  term  of  office  and  a  new  depart- 
ment was  added  to  the  list  of  cabinet  po- 
sitions, that  of  the  Interior.  The  low  tariff 
bill  of  1846  was  carried  and  the  financial 
system  of  the  country  was  reorganized.  It 
was  also  during  President  Polk's  term  that 
the  Mexican  war  was  successfully  conducted, 
which  resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  Califor- 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


103 


nia  and  New  Mexico.  Mr.  Polk  retired  from 
the  presidency  March  4,  1849,  after  having 
declined  a  re-nomination,  and  v.'as  succeeded 
by  General  Zachary  Taylor,  the  hero  of  the 
Mexican  war.  Mr.  Polk  retired  to  private 
life,  to  his  home  in  Nashville,  where  he  died 
£t  the  age  of  fifty-four  on  June  9,  1849. 


NNA  DICKINSON  (Anna  Elizabeth 
Dickinson),  a  noted  lecturer  and  pub- 
lic speaker,  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  Oc- 
tober 28,  1S42.  Her  parents  were  Quakers, 
and  she  was  educated  at  the  Friends'  free 
scb.ools  in  her  native  city.  She  earl}'  man- 
ifested an  inclination  toward  elocution  and 
public  speaking,  and  when,  at  the  age  of  18, 
she  found  an  opportunity  to  appear  before 
a  national  assemblage  for  the  discussion  of 
woman's  rights,  she  at  once  established  her 
reputation  as  a  public  speaker.  From  i860 
to  the  close  of  the  war  and  during  the  ex- 
citing period  of  reconstruction,  she  was  one 
of  the  most  noted  and  influential  speakers 
before  the  American  public,  and  her  popu- 
larity was  unequaled  by  that  of  any  of  her 
sex.  A  few  weeks  after  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Colonel  Baker  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Anna 
Dickinson,  lecturing  in  New  York,  made 
the  remarkable  assertion,  "  Not  the  incom- 
petency of  Colonel  Baker,  but  the  treachery 
of  General  McClellaii  caused  the  disaster  at 
Ball's  B!ui?."  She  was  hissed  and  hooted 
off  the  stage.  A  year  later,  at  the  same 
hall  and  with  much  the  same  class  of  audi- 
tors, she  repeated  the  identical  words,  and 
the  applause  was  so  great  and  so  long  con- 
tinued that  it  was  impossible  to  go  on  with 
her  lecture  for  more  than  half  an  hour.  The 
change  of  sentiment  had  been  wrought  by 
the  reverses  and  dismissal  of  McClellan  and 
his  ambition  to  succeed  Mr.  Lincoln  as  presi- 
dent. 

Ten  years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  Anna 


Dickinson  was  not  heard  of  on  the  lec- 
ture platform,  and  about  that  time  she  made 
an  attempt  to  enter  the  dramatic  profession, 
but  after  appearing  a  number  of  times  in  dif- 
ferent plays  she   was  pronounced  a  failure. 


ROBERT  J.  BURDETTE.— Some  per- 
sonal characteristics  of  Mr.  Burdette 
were  quaintly  given  by  himself  in  the  follow- 
ing words:  "Politics.'  Republican  after 
the  strictest  sect.  Religion  .■*  Baptist.  Per- 
sonal appearance  1  Below  medium  height, 
and  weigh  one  hundred  and  thirty- five 
pounds,  no  shillings  and  no  pence.  Rich  ">. 
Not  enough  to  own  a  yacht.  Favorite  read- 
ing.' Poetry  and  history — know  Longfellow 
by  heart,  almost.  Write  for  magizines  } 
Have  mo.-e  '  declined  with  thanks  '  letters 
than  would  fill  a  trunk.  Never  able  to  get 
into  a  magazine  with  a  line.  Care  about  it.' 
Mad  as  thunder.  Think  about  starting  a 
magazine  and  rejecting  everbody's  articles 
except  my  own."  Mr.  Burdette  was  born 
at  Greensborough,  Pennsylvania,  in  1844. 
He  served  through  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
under  General  Banks  "  on  an  excursion 
ticket  "  as  he  felicitously  described  it,  '  'good 
both  ways,  conquering  in  one  direction  and 
running  in  the  other,  pay  going  on  just  the 
same."  He  entered  into  journalism  by  the 
gateway  of  New  York  correspondence  for 
the  "Peoria  Transcript,"  and  in  1874  went 
on  the  "Burlington  Hawkeye  "  of  which  he 
became  the  managing  editor,  and  the  work 
that  he  did  on  this  paper  made  both  him- 
self and  the  paper  famous  in  the  world  of 
humor.  Mr.  Burdette  married  in  1870, 
and  his  wife,  whom  he  called  "  Her  Little 
Serene  Highness,"  was  to  him  a  guiding 
light  until  the  day  of  her  death,  and  it  was 
probably  the  unconscious  pathos  with  which 
he  described  her  in  his  work  that  broke  the 
barriers  that  had  kept  him  out  of  the  maga- 


KM 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


zines  and  secured  him  the  acceptance  of  his 
"Confessions"  by  Lippincott  some  years 
ago,  and  brought  him  substantial  fame  and 
recognition  in  the  literary  world. 


WILLIAM  DEAN  HOWELLS,  one 
of  the  leading  novelists  of  the  present 
century  and  author  of  a  number  of  works 
that  gained  for  him  a  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  was  born  March  i,  1837,  at 
Martinsville,  Belmont  county,  Ohio.  At 
the  age  of  three  years  he  accompanied  his 
father,  who  was  a  printer,  to  Hamilton, 
Ohio,  where  he  learned  the  printer's  trade. 
Later  he  was  engaged  on  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  ' '  Cincinnati  Gazette  "  and  the  "  Ohio 
State  Journal."  During  1861-65  he  was 
the  United  States  consul  at  Venice,  and 
from  1 87 1  to  1878  he  was  the  editor-in- 
chief  of  the  "Atlantic  Monthly."  As  a 
writer  he  became  one  of  the  most  fertile 
and  readable  of  authors  and  a  pleasing  poet. 
In  1S85  he  became  connected  with  "  Har- 
per's Magazine. "  Mr.  Howells  was  author 
of  the  list  of  books  that  we  give  below: 
"Venetian  Life,"  "  Italian  Journeys,"  "No 
Love  Lost,"  "  Suburban  Sketches,"  "Their 
Wedding  Journey,"  "A  Chance  Acquaint- 
ance," "A  Foregone  Conclusion,"  "Dr. 
Breen's  Practice,"  "A  Modern  Instance," 
"The  Rise  of  Silas  Lapham,"  "Tuscan 
Cities,"  "Indian  Summer,"  besides  many 
others.  He  also  wrote  the  "  Poem  of  Two 
Friends,"  with  J.  J.  Piatt  in  i860,  and 
some  minor  dramas:  "The  Drawing 
Room  Car,"  "The  Sleeping  Car,"  etc., 
that  are  full  of  exqusite  humor  and  elegant 
dialogue. 

j  AMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL  was  a  son 
kJ  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Lowell,  and  was  born 
;it  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  February  22, 
1  319.      He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 


183S  as  class  poet,  and  went  to  Harsard 
Law  School,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1840,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Boston,  but  soon  gave  his  un- 
divided attention  to  literary  labors.  Mr. 
Lowell  printed,  in  1841,  a  small  volume  of 
poems  entitled  "  A  Year's  Life,"  edited  with 
Robert  Carter;  in  1843,  "  The  Pioneer, "  a 
literary  and  critical  magazine  (monthly),  and 
in  1848  another  book  of  poems,  that  con- 
tained several  directed  against  slavery.  He 
published  in  1844  a  volume  of  "Poems" 
and  in  1845  "  Conversations  on  Some 
of  the  Old  Poets,"  "The  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal,"  "  A  Fable  for  Critics,  "  and  "The 
Bigelow  Papers,"  the  latter  satirical  es- 
says in  dialect  poetry  directed  against 
slavery  and  the  war  with  Mexico.  In 
1851-52  he  traveled  in  Europe  and  re- 
sided in  Italy  for  a  considerable  time,  and 
delivered  in  1854-55  a  course  of  lectures  on 
the  British  poets,  before  the  Lowell  Insti- 
tute, Boston.  Mr.  Lowell  succeeded  Long- 
fellow in  January,  1855,  as  professor  of 
modern  languages  and  literature  at  Harvard 
College,  and  spent  another  year  in  Euiope 
qualifying  himself  for  that  post.  He  edited 
the  "  Atlantic  Monthly  "  from  1857  to  1862, 
and  the  "North  American  Review"  from 
1863  until  1872.  From  1864  to  1870  he 
published  the  following  works:  "Fireside 
Travels,"  "Under  the  Willows,"  "The 
Commemoration  Ode,"  in  honor  of  the 
alumni  of  Harvard  who  had  fallen  in  the 
Civil  war;  "The  Cathedral,"  two  volumes 
of  essays;  "Among  My  Books"  and  "My 
Study  Windows,"  and  in  1867  he  published 
a  new  series  of  the  "  Bigelow  Papers.  "  He 
traveled  extensively  in  Europe  in  1872-74, 
and  received  in  person  the  degree  of  D.  C. 
L.  at  Oxford  and  that  of  LL.  D.  at  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  England.  He 
was  also  interested  in  political  life  and  held 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


105 


many  important  offices.  He  was  United 
States  minister  to  Spain  in  1S77  and  was 
also  minister  to  England  in  1880-85.  On 
January  2,  1884,  he  was  elected  lord  rector 
of  St.  Andrew  University  in  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land, but  soon  after  he  resigned  the  same. 
Mr.  Lowell's  works  enjoy  great  popularity 
in  the  United  States  and  England.  He 
died  August  12,   1891. 


JOSEPH  HENRY,  one  of  America's 
greatest  scientists,  was  born  at  Albany, 
New  York,  December  17,  1797.  He  was 
educated  in  the  common  schools'  of  the  city 
and  graduated  from  the  Albany  Academy, 
where  he  became  a  professor  of  mathemat- 
ics in  1826.  In  1827  he  commenced  a 
course  of  investigation,  which  he  continued 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  results  pro- 
duced had  great  effect  on  the  scientific  world. 
The  first  success  was  achieved  by  producing 
the  electric  magnet,  and  he  next  proved  the 
possibility  of  exciting  magnetic  energy  at  a 
distance,  and  it  was  the  invention  of  Pro- 
fessor Henry's  intensity  magnet  that  first 
made  the  invention  of  electric  telegraph  a 
possibility.  He  made  a  statement  regarding 
the  practicability  of  applying  the  intensity 
magnet  to  telegraphic  uses,  in  his  article  to 
the  '  'American  Journal  of  Science  "  in  1 83 1 . 
During  the  same  year  he  produced  the  first 
mechanical  contrivance  ever  invented  for 
maintaining  continuous  motion  by  means  of 
electro-magnetism,  and  he  also  contrived  a 
machine  by  which  signals  could  be  made  at 
a  distance  by  the  use  of  his  electro-magnet, 
the  signals  being  produced  by  a  lever  strik- 
ing on  a  bell.  Some  of  his  electro-magnets 
were  of  great  power,  one  carried  over  a  ton 
and  another  not  less  than  three  thousand  six 
hundred  pounds.  In  1832  he  discovered 
that  secondary  currents  could  be  produced 
■;'!  a  long  conductor  by  the  induction  of  the 


primary  current  upon  itself,  and  also  in  the 
same  year  he  produced  a  spark  by  means  of 
a  purely  magnetic  induction.  Professor 
Henry  was  elected,  in  1832,  professor  of  nat- 
ural philosophy  in  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, and  in  his  earliest  lectures  at  Princeton, 
demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  the  electric 
telegraph.  He  visited  Europe  in  1837,  and 
while  there  he  had  an  interview  with  Pro- 
fessor Wheatstone,  the  inventor  of  the 
needle  magnetic  telegraph.  In  1846  he  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution,being  the  firstincumbent  in  that  office, 
which  he  held  until  his  death.  Professor 
Henry  was  elected  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  in  1849,  and  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences.  He  was  made  chair- 
man of  the  lighthouse  board  of  the  United 
States  in  1871  and  held  that  position  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  received  the 
honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  laws  from 
Union  College  in  1829,  and  from  Harvard 
University  in  185  i,  and  his  death  occurred 
May  13,  1878.  Among  his  numerous  works 
may  be  mentioned  the  following:  "Contri- 
butions to  Electricity  and  Magnetism," 
"  American  Philosophic  Trans,"  and  many 
articles  in  the  "American  Journal  of 
Science,"  the  journal  of  the  Franklin  Insti- 
tute; the  proceedings  of  the  American  As- 
sociation for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
and  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  from  its  foundation. 


FRANKLIN  BUCHANAN,  the  famous 
rear-admiral  of  the  Confederate  navy 
during  the  rebellion,  was  born  in  Baltimore, 
Maryland.  He  became  a  United  States 
midshipman  in  1S15  and  was  promoted 
through  the  various  grades  of  the  service 
and  became  a  captain  in  1855.  Mr.  Buch- 
anan resigned  his  captaincy  in  order  to  join 


106 


COMPEXDJC.\f   OF    BIOGRAPHr 


the  Confederate  service  in  iS6i  and  later  he 
asked  to  be  reinstated,  but  his  request  was 
refused  and  he  then  entered  into  the  service 
of  the  Confederate  government.  He  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  frigate  "  Merri- 
niac  "  after  she  had  been  fitted  up  as  an  iron- 
clad, and  had  command  of  her  at  the  time 
of  the  battle  of  Hampton  Roads.  It  was 
he  who  had  command  when  the  "  Merri- 
mac  "  sunk  the  two  wooden  frigates,  "  Con- 
gress "  and  "Cumberland,"  and  was  also 
in  command  during  part  of  the  historical 
battle  of  the  "  Merrimac  "  and  the  "Moni- 
tor," where  he  was  wounded  and  the  com- 
mand devolved  upon  Lieutenant  Catesby 
Jones.  He  was  created  rear-admiral  in  the 
Confederate  service  and  commanded  the 
Confederate  fleet  in  Mobile  bay,  which  was 
defeated  by  Admiral  Farragut,  August  5, 
1864.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  in  command  of 
the  "Tennessee,"  an  ironclad,  and  during 
the  engagement  he  lost  one  of  his  legs  and 
was  taken  prisoner  in  the  end  by  the  Union 
fleet.  After  the  war  he  settled  in  Talbot 
county,  Maryland,  where  he  died  May  11, 
1874-  

RICHARD  PARKS  BLAND,  a  celebrated 
American  statesman,  frequently  called 
"the  father  of  the  house,"  because  of  his 
many  years  of  service  in  the  lower  house 
of  congress,  was  born  August  19,  1835, 
near  Hartford,  Kentucky,  where  he  received 
a  plain  academic  education.  He  moved, 
in  1855,  to  Missouri,  from  whence  he  went 
overland  to  California,  afterward  locating  in 
Virginia  City,  now  in  the  state  of  Nevada, 
but  then  part  of  the  territory  of  Utah. 
While  there  he  practiced  law,  dabbled  in 
mines  and  mining  in  Nevada  and  California 
for  several  years,  and  served  for  a  time  as 
treasurer  of  Carson  county,  Nevada.  Mr. 
Bland  returned  to   Missouri  in    1865,  where 


he  engaged  in  the  practice  ot  law  at  Rolla, 
Missouri,  and  in  1869  removed  to  Lebanon, 
Missourr.  He  began  his  congressional  career 
in  1873,  when  he  was  elected  as  a  Demo- 
crat to  the  forty-third  congress,  and  he  was 
regularly  re-elep ted  to  every  congress  after 
that  time  up  to  the  fifty-fourth,  when  he  was 
defeated  for  re-election,  but  was  returned 
to  the  fifty-fifth  congress  as  a  Silver  Demo- 
crat. During  all  his  protracted  service, 
while  Mr.  Bland  was  always  steadfast  in  his 
support  of  democratic  measures,  yet  he  won 
his  special  renown  as  the  great  advocate  of 
silver,  being  strongly  in  favor  of  the  free 
and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver,  and  on  ac- 
count of  his  pronounced  views  was  one  of 
the  candidates  for  the  presidential  nomina- 
tion of   the    Democratic  party  at  Chicago  in 


FANNY  DAVENPORT  (F.  L.  G.  Daven- 
port) was  of  British  birth,  but  she  be- 
longs to  the  American  stage.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  the  famous  actor,  E.  L.  Daven- 
port, and  was  born  in  London  in  1850. 
She  first  went  on  the  stage  as  a  child  at  the 
Howard  Athenaaim,  Boston,  and  her  entire 
life  was  spent  upon  tlie  stage.  She  played 
children's  parts  at  Burton's  old  theater  iu 
Chambers  street,  and  then,  in  1862,  appeared 
as  the  King  of  Spain  in  "  Faint  Heart  Never 
Won  Fair  Lady. "  Here  she  attracted  the 
notice  of  Augustin  Daly,  the  noted  mana- 
ger, then  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  theater,  who 
offered  her  a  six  weeks'  engagement  with 
her  father  in  "London  Assurance."  She 
afterwards  appeared  at  the  same  house  in  a 
variety  of  characters,  and  her  versatility 
was  favorably  noticed  by  the  critics.  After 
the  burning  of  the  old  Fifth  Avenue,  the 
present  theater  of  that  name  was  built  at 
Twenty-eighth  street,  and  here  Miss  Daven- 
port appeared  in  a  play  written   for  her  by 


COMPEXnU'M   Ol-     IUOC,RM'/fr 


107 


Mr.  Daly.  She  scored  a  great  success. 
She  then  starred  in  this  play  throughout  the 
countr}',  and  was  married  to  Mr.  Edwin  F. 
Price,  sn  actor  of  her  company,  in  1880. 
In  1882  she  went  to  Paris  and  purchased 
the  right  to  produce  in  America  Sardou's 
great  emotional  play,  "Fedora."  It  was 
put  on  at  the  Fourteenth  Street  theater  in 
New  York,  and  in  it  she  won  popular  favor 
and  became  one  of  the  most  famous  actresses 
of  her  time. 


HORACE  BRIGHAM  CLAFLIN,  one 
of  the  greatest  merchants  America  has 
produced,  was  born  in  Milford,  Massachu- 
setts, a  son  of  John  Claflin,  also  a  mer- 
chant. Young  Claflin  started  his  active  life 
as  a  clerk  in  his  father  s  store,  after  having 
been  offered  the  opportunity  of  a  college 
education,  but  with  the  characteristic 
promptness  that  was  one  of  his  virtues  he 
exclaimed,  "No  law  or  medicine  for  me." 
He  had  set  his  heart  on  being  a  merchant, 
and  when  his  father  retired  he  and  his 
brother  Aaron,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Sam- 
uel Daniels,  conducted  the  business.  Mr. 
Claflin  was  not  content,  however,  to  run  a 
store  in  a  town  like  Milford,  and  accordingly 
opened  a  dry  goods  store  at  Worcester,  with 
his  brother  as  a  partner,  but  the  partnership 
was  dissolved  a  year  later  and  H.  B.  Claflin 
assumed  complete  control.  The  business 
in  Worcester  had  been  conducted  on  ortho- 
dox principles,  and  when  Mr.  Claflin  came 
there  and  introduced  advertising  as  a  means 
of  drawing  trade,  he  created  considerable 
animosity  among  the  older  merchants.  Ten 
years  later  he  was  one  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous merchants.  He  disposed  of  his  busi- 
ness in  Worcester  for  $30,000,  and  went  to 
New  York  to  search  for  a  wider  field  than 
that  of  a  shopkeeper.  Mr.  Claflin  and 
William  M.  Bulkley  started  in  the  dry  goods 


business  there  under  the  firm  name  of  Bulk- 
ley  &  Claflin,  in  1843,  and  Mr.  Bulkley  was 
connected  with  the  firm  until  185  i,  when  he 
retired.  A  new  firm  was  then  formed  under 
the  name  of  Claflin,  Mellin  &  Co.  This 
firm  succeeded  in  founding  the  largest  dry 
goods  house  in  the  world,  and  after  weather- 
ing the  dangers  of  the  civil  war,  during 
which  the  house  came  very  near  going  un- 
der, and  was  saved  only  by  the  superior 
business  abilities  of  Mr.  Claflin,  continued  to 
grow.  The  sales  of  the  firui  amounted  to 
over  $72,000,000  a  year  after  the  close  of 
the  war.  Mr.  Claflin  died  November  14,, 
18S5.  

CHARLOTTE  CUSHMAN  (Charlotte 
Saunders  Cushman),  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  American  actresses,  was  born  in 
Boston,  July  23,  1816.  She  was  descended 
from  one  of  the  earliest  Puritan  families. ^ 
Her  first  attempt  at  stage  work  was  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  in  a  charitable  concert 
given  by  amateurs  in  Boston.  From  this 
time  her  advance  to  the  first  place  on  the- 
American  lyric  stage  was  steady,  until,  in 
1835,  while  singing  in  New  Orleans,  she 
suddenly  lost  control  of  her  voice  so  far  as 
relates  to  singing,  and  was  compelled  to  re- 
tire. She  then  took  up  the  study  for  the 
dramatic  stage  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Barton,  the  tragedian.  She  soon  after 
made  her  debut  as  "  Lady  Macbeth."  She 
appeared  in  New  York  in  September,  1836, 
and  fier  success  was  immediate.  Her 
"Romeo"  was  almost  perfect,  and  she  is 
the  only  woman  that  has  ever  appeared  in 
the  part  of  "  Cardinal  Wolsey."  She  at 
different  times  acted  as  support  of  Forrest 
and  Macready.  Her  London  engagement, 
secured  in  1845,  after  many  and  great  dis- 
couragements, proved  an  unqualified  suc- 
cess. 


108 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAl'HV. 


Her  farewell  appearance  was  at  Booth's 
theater,  New  York,  November  7,  1874,  in 
the  part  of  "  Lady  Macbeth,"  and  after  that 
performance  an  Ode  by  R.  H.  Stoddard 
was  read,  and  a  body  of  citizens  went  upon 
the  stage,  and  in  their  name  the  venerable 
poet  Longfellow  presented  her  with  a  wreath 
of  laurel  with  an  inscription  to  the  effect 
that  "she  who  merits  the  palm  should  bear 
it."  From  the  time  of  her  appearance  as  a 
modest  girl  in  a  charitable  entertainment 
down  to  the  time  of  final  triumph  as  a  tragic 
queen,  she  bore  herself  with  as  much  honor 
to  womanhood  as  to  the  profession  she  rep- 
resented. Her  death  occurred  in  Boston, 
February  iS,  1S76.  By  her  profession  she 
acquired  a  fortune  of  $600,000. 


NEAL  DOW,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
temperance  reformers  our  country  has 
known,  was  born  in  Portland,  Me.,  March  20, 
1804.  Pie  received  his  education  in  the 
Friends  Seminary,  at  New  Bedford,  Massa- 
chusetts, his  parents  being  members  of  that 
sect.  After  leaving  school  he  pursued  a 
mecrantile  and  manufacturing  career  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  was  active  in  the 
affairs  of  his  native  city,  and  in  1839  be- 
came chief  of  the  fire  department,  and  in 
1 85 1  was  elected  mayor.  He  was  re-elected 
to  the  latter  offtce  in  1854.  Being  opposed 
to  the  liquor  traffic  he  was  a  champion  of 
the  project  of  prohibition,  first  brought  for- 
ward in  1839  by  James  Appleton.  While 
serving  his  first  term  as  mayor  he  drafted  a 
bill  for  the  "suppression  of  drinking  houses 
and  tippling  shops,"  which  he  took  to  the 
legislature  and  which  was  passed  without  an 
alteration.  In  1858  Mr.  Dow  was  elected 
to  the  legislature.  On  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the 
Thirteenth  Maine  Infantry  and  accompanied 
General  Butler's  expedition  to  New  Orleans. 


In  1862  he  was  made  brigadier-general.  At 
the  battle  of  Port  Hudson  May  27,  1863,  he 
was  twice  wounded,  and  taken  prisoner.  He 
was  confined  at  Libby  prison  and  Mobile 
nearly  a  year,  when,  being  exchanged,  he 
resigned,  his  health  having  given  way  under 
the  rigors  of  his  captivity.  He  made  sev- 
eral trips  to  England  in  the  interests  of 
temperance  organization,  where  he  addressed 
large  audiences.  He  was  the  candidate  of 
the  National  Prohibition  party  for  the  presi- 
dency in  1880,  receiving  about  ten  thousand 
votes.  In  1884  he  was  largely  instrumental 
in  the  amendment  of  the  constitution  of 
Maine,  adopted  by  an  overwhelming  popular 
vote,  which  forever  forbade  the  manufacture 
or  sale  of  any  intoxicating  beverages,  and 
commanding  the  legislature  to  enforce  the 
prohibition.      He  died  October  2,   1897. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  twelfth  president 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  in 
Orange  county,  Virginia,  September  24, 
1784.  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  his  fath- 
er's plantation  and  his  education  was  lim- 
ited. In  1808  he  was  made  lieutenant  of 
the  Seventh  Infantry,  and  joined  his  regi- 
ment at  New  Orleans.  He  was  promoted 
to  captain  in  18 10,  and  commanded  at  Fort 
Harrison,  near  the  present  site  of  Terra 
Haute,  in  18 12,  where,  for  his  gallant  de- 
fense, he  was  brevetted  major,  attaining  full 
rank  in  18 14.  In  1815  he  retired  to  an  es- 
tate near  Louisville.  In  18 16  here-entered 
the  army  as  major,  and  was  promoted  to 
lieutenant-colonel  and  then  to  colonel. 
Having  for  many  years  been  Indian  agent 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  western  country, 
he  was  often  required  in  Washington  to  give 
advice  and  cou.isel  in  matters  connected 
with  the  Indian  b  ireau.  He  served  through 
the  Black  Hawk  Indian  war  of  1832,  and  in 
1837  was  ordered  to  the  command  of  the 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


109 


army  in  Florida,  where  he  attacked  the  In- 
dians in  the  swamps  and  bral<es,  defeated 
them  and  ended  the  war.  He  was  brevetted 
brigadier-general  and  made  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  in  Florida.  He  was  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  the  army  of  the 
southwest  in  1840,  but  was  soon  after  re- 
lieved of  it  at  his  request.  He  was  then 
stationed  at  posts  in  Arkansas.  In  1845  he 
was  ordered  to  prepare  to  protect  and  de- 
fend Texas  boundaries  from  invasion  by 
Mexicans  and  Indians.  On  the  annexation 
of  Texas  he  proceeded  with  one  thousand 
five  hundred  men  to  Corpus  Christi,  within 
the  disputed  territory.  After  reinforcement 
he  was  ordered  by  the  Mexican  General  Am- 
pudia  to  retire  beyond  the  Nueces  river, 
with  which  order  he  declined  to  comply. 
The  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la 
Palma  followed,  and  he  crossed  the  Rio 
Grande  and  occupied  Matamoras  May  iSth. 
He  was  commissioned  major-general  for  this 
campaign,  and  in  September  he  advanced 
upon  the  city  of  Monterey  and  captured  it 
after  a  hard  fight.  Here  he  took  up  winter 
quarters,  and  when  he  was  about  to  resume 
activity  in  the  spring  he  was  ordered  to  send 
the  larger  part  of  his  army  to  reinforce 
General  Scott  at  Vera  Cruz.  After  leaving 
garrisons  at  various  points  his  army  was  re- 
duced to  about  five  thousand,  mostly  fresh 
recruits.  He  was  attacked  by  the  army  of 
Santa  Anna  at  Buena  Vista,  February  22, 
1847,  and  after  a  severe  fight  completely 
routed  the  Mexicans.  He  received  the 
thanks  of  congress  and  a  gold  medal  for 
this  victory.  He  remained  in  command  of 
the  "army  of  occupation"  until  winter, 
when  he  returned  to  the  United  States. 

In  1S48  General  Taylor  was  nominated 
by  the  Whigs  for  president.  He  was  elected 
over  his  two  opponents,  Cass  and  Van 
Buren.      Great  bitterness  was  developing  in 


the  struggle  for  and  against  the  extension  of 
slavery,  and  the  newly  acquired  territory  in 
the  west,  and  the  fact  that  the  states  were 
now  equally  divided  on  that  question,  tended 
to  increase  the  feeling.  President  Taylor 
favored  immediate  admission  of  California 
with  her  constitution  prohibiting  slavery, 
and  the  admission  of  other  states  to  be 
formed  out  of  the  new  territory  as  they 
might  elect  as  they  adopted  constitutions 
from  time  to  time.  This  policy  resulted  in 
the  "  Omnibus  Bill,"  which  afterward  passed 
congress,  though  in  separate  bills;  not,  how- 
ever, until  after  the  death  of  the  soldier- 
statesman,  which  occurred  July  9,  1850. 
One  of  his  daughters  became  the  wife  of 
Jefferson  Davis. 


M' 


ELVILLE  D.  LANDON,  better  known 
Eli  Perkins,  "  author,  lecturer  and 
humorist,  was  born  in  Eaton,  New  York, 
September  7,  1839.  He  was  the  son'  of 
John  Landon  and  grandson  of  Rufus  Lan- 
don,  a  revolutionary  soldier  from  Litchfield 
county,  Connecticut.  Melville  was  edu- 
cated at  the  district  school  and  neighboring 
academy,  where  he  was  prepared  for  the 
sophomore  class  at  Madison  University.  He 
passed  two  years  at  tlie  latter,  when  he  was 
admitted  to  Union  College,  and  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1861,  receiving  the  degree  of 
A.  M.,  in  1862.  He  was,  at  once,  ap- 
pointed to  a  position  in  the  treasury  depart- 
ment at  Washington.  This  being  about  the 
time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and 
before  the  appearance  of  any  Union  troops 
at  the  capital,  he  assisted  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  "  Clay  Battalion,"  of  Washing- 
ton. Leaving  his  clerkship  some  time  later, 
he  took  up  duties  on  the  staff  of  General  A. 
L.  Chetlain,  who  was  in  command  at  Mem- 
phis. In  1864  he  resigned  from  the  army 
and  engaged  in  cotton   planting  in  Arkansas 


110 


COMPENDIU.^r   OF    JUOGRAPHl'. 


and  Louisiana.  In  1867  he  went  abroad, 
making  the  tour  of  Europe,  traversing  Rus- 
sia. While  in  the  latter  country  his  old 
commander  of  the  "  Clay  Battalion,"  Gen- 
eral Cassius  M.  Clay,  then  United  States 
minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  made  him  secre- 
tary of  legation.  In  1 87 1,  on  returning  to 
America,  he  published  a  history  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  war,  and  followed  it  with 
numerous  humorous  writings  for  the  public 
press  under  the  name  of  "Eli  Perkins," 
which,  with  his  regular  contributions  to  the 
"  Commercial  Advertiser,"  brought  him  into 
notice,  and  spread  his  reputation  as  a  hu- 
morist throughout  thecountry.  He  also  pub- 
lished "Saratoga  in  1891,"  "Wit,  Humor 
and  Pathos,"  "Wit  and  Humor  of  the  Age," 
"  Kings  of  Platform  and  Pulpit, ""  Thirty 
YearsofWit  and  Humor,"  "  Fun  and  Fact," 
and  "  China  and  Japan." 


LEWIS  CASS,  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent statesman  and  party  leaders  of  his 
day,  was  born  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire, 
October  9,  17S2.  He  studied  law,  and  hav- 
ing removed  to  Zanesville,  Ohio,  commenced 
the  practice  of  that  profession  in  1802.  He 
entered  the  service  of  the  American  govern- 
ment in  1812  and  was  made  a  colonel  in 
the  army  under  General  William  Hull,  and 
on  the  surrender  of  Fort  Maiden  by  that 
officer  was  held  as  a  prisoner.  Being  re- 
leased in  181 3,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general  and  in  18 14  ap- 
pointed governor  of  Michigan  Territory. 
After  he  had  held  that  office  for  some 
.sixteen  years,  negotiating,  in  the  meantime, 
many  treaties  with  the  Indians,  General 
Cass  was  made  secretary  of  war  in  the  cabi- 
net of  President  Jackson,  in  1831.  He  was, 
in  1S36,  appointed  minister  to  France, 
which  office  he  held  for  six  years.  In  1844 
he  '-.as  elected   United    States  senator  from 


Michigan.  In  1846  General  Cass  opposed 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  which  was  an  amend- 
ment to  a  bill  for  the  purchase  of  land  from 
Mexico,  which  provided  that  in  any  of  the 
territory  acquired  from  that  power  slavery 
should  not  exist.  For  this  and  other  reasons 
he  was  nominated  as  Democratic  candidate 
for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States  in 
1848,  but  was  defeated  by  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  the  Whig  candidate,  having  but 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  electoral  votes 
to  his  opponent's  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
three.  In  1849  General  Cass  was  re-elected 
to  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
1S54  supported  Douglas'  Kansas-Nebraska 
bill.  He  became  secretary  of  state  in 
March,  1857,  under  President  Buchanan, 
but  resigned  that  office  in  December,  i860. 
He  died  June  17,  1866.  The  published 
works  of  Lewis  Cass,  while  not  numerous, 
are  well  written  and  display  much  ability. 
He  was  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  day 
in  the  political  councils  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  left  a  reputation  for  high  probity 
and  honor  behind  him. 


DE  WITT  CLINTON.— Probably  there 
were  but  few  men  who  were  so  popular 
in  their  time,  or  who  have  had  so  much  in- 
fluence in  moulding  events  as  the  individual 
whose  name  honors  the  head  of  this  article. 
De  Witt  Clinton  was  the  son  of  General 
James  Clinton,  and  a  nephew  of  Governor 
George  Clinton,  who  was  the  fourth  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a 
native  of  Orange  county.  New  York,  born  at 
Little  Britain,  March  2,  1769.  He  gradu- 
ated from  Columbia  College,  in  his  native 
state,  in  1796,  and  took  up  the  study  of  law. 
In  1790  he  became  private  secretary  to  his 
uncle,  then  governor  of  New  York.  He  en- 
tered public  life  as  a  Republican  or  anti- 
Federalist,    and  was   elected    to   the    lower 


COMPENDIUM  OF   BIOGRAPHT 


111 


house  of  the  state  assembly  in  1797,  and  the 
senate  of  that  body  in  1798.  At  that  time 
he  was  looked  on  as  "  the  most  rising  man 
in  the  Union."  In  1801  he  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  senate.  In-1803  he  was 
appointed  by  the  governor  and  council 
mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  then  a 
very  important  and  powerful  office.  Hav- 
ing been  re-appointed,  he  held  the  office 
of  mayor  for  nearly  eleven  years,  and 
rendered  great  service  to  that  city.  Mr. 
Clinton  served  as  lieutenant-governor  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  1811-13,  and 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed 
to  examine  and  survey  a  route  for  a  canal 
from  the  Hudson  river  to  Lake  Erie.  Dif- 
fering with  President  Madison,  in  relation  to 
the  war,  in  18 12,  he  was  nominated  for  the 
presidency  against  that  gentleman,  by  a 
coalition  party  called  the  Clintonians,  many 
of  whom  were  Federalists.  Clinton  received 
eight-nine  electoral  votes.  His  course  at 
this  time  impaired  his  popularity  for  a  time. 
He  was  removed  from  the  mayoralty  in 
1814,  and  retired  to  private  life.  In  1815 
he  wrote  a  powerful  argument  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Erie  canal,  then  a  great  and 
beneficent  work  of  which  he  was  the  prin- 
cipal promoter.  This  was  in  the  shape  of 
a  memorial  to  the  legislature,  which,  in 
18 17,  passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  construc- 
tion of  that  canal.  The  same  year  he  was 
elected  governor  of  New  York,  almost  unani- 
mously, notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
a  few  who  pronounced  the  scheme  of  the 
canal  visionary.  He  was  re-elected  governor 
in  1820.  He  was  at  this  time,  also,  presi- 
dent of  the  canal  commissioners.  He  de- 
clined a  re-election  to  the  gubernatorial 
chair  in  1822  and  was  removed  from  his 
place  on  the  canal  board  two  years  later. 
But  he  was  triumphantly  elected  to  the  of- 
fice of  governor  that  fall,  and  his  pet  project, 


the  Erie  canal,  was  finished  the  next  year. 
He  was  re-elected  governor  in  1826,  but 
died  while  holding  that  office,  February  11, 
1828. 


AARON  BURR,  one  of  the  many  brilliant 
figures  on  the  political  stage  in  the  early 
days  of  America,  was  born  at  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  February  6,  1756.  He  was  the  son 
of  Aaron  and  Esther  Burr,  the  former  the 
president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and 
the  latter  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Edwards, 
who  had  been  president  of  the  same  educa- 
tional institution.  Young  Burr  graduated 
at  Princeton  in  1772.  In  1775  he  joined 
the  provincial  army  at  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts. For  a  time,  he  served  as  a  private 
soldier,  but  later  was  made  an  aide  on  the 
staff  of  the  unfortunate  General  Montgom- 
er}',  in  the  Quebec  expedition.  Subse- 
quently he  was  on  the  staffs  of  Arnold,  Put- 
nam and  Washington,  the  latter  of  whom 
he  disliked.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  lieutenant-colonel  and  commanded  a 
brigade  on  Monmouth's  bloody  field.  In 
1779.  on  account  of  feeble  health,  Colonel 
Burr  resigned  from  the  army.  He  took  up 
the  practice  of  law  in  Albany,  New  York, 
but  subsequently  removed  to  New  York  City. 
In  1789  he  became  attorney-general  of  that 
state.  In  1791  he  was  chosen  to  represent 
the  state  of  New  York  in  the  United  States 
senate  and  held  that  position  for  six  years. 
In  1800  he  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were  both 
candidates  for  the  presidency,  and  there 
being  a  tie  in  the  electoral  college,  each 
having  seventy-three  votes,  the  choice  was 
left  to  congress,  who  gave  the  first  place  to 
Jefferson  and  made  Aaron  Burr  vice-presi- 
dent, as  the  method  then  was.  In  1804  Mr. 
Burr  and  his  great  rival,  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, met  in  a  duel,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  the  latter.  Burr  losing  thereby  con- 


112 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


siderable  political  and  social  influence.  He 
soon  embarked  in  a  wild  attempt  upon 
Mexico,  and  as  was  asserted,  upon  the 
southwestern  territories  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  tried  for  treason  at 
Richmond,  Virginia,  in  1807,  but  acquitted, 
and  to  avoid  importunate  creditors,  fled  to 
Europe.  After  a  time,  in  1812,  he  returned 
to  New  York,  where  he  practiced  law,  and 
where  he  died,  September  14,  1836.  A  man 
of  great  ability,  brilliant  and  popular  talents, 
his  influence  was  destroyed  by  his  unscrupu- 
lous political  actions  and  immoral  private 
life.  

ALBERT  GALLATIN,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  statesmen  of  the  early 
days  of  the  republic,  was  born  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  January  29,  1 761.  He  was 
the  son  of  Jean  de  Gallatin  and  Sophia  A. 
Rolaz  du  Rosey  Gallatin,  representatives  of 
an  old  patrician  family.  Albert  Gallatin 
was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  and  was 
educated  under  the  care  of  friends  of  his 
parents.  He  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Geneva  in  1779,  and  declining  employ- 
ment under  one  of  the  sovereigns  of  Ger- 
many, came  to  the  struggling  colonies,  land- 
ing in  Boston  July  14,  1780.  Shortly  after 
his  arrival  he  proceeded  to  Maine,  where  he 
served  as  a  volunteer  under  Colonel  Allen. 
He  made  advances  to  the  government  for 
the  support  of  the  American  troops,  and  in 
November,  1780,  was  placed  in  command 
of  a  small  fort  at  Passamaquoddy,  defended 
by  a  force  of  militia,  volunteers  and  Indians. 
In  1783  he  was  professor  of  the  French 
language  at  Harvard  University.  A  year 
later,  having  received  his  patrimony  from 
Europe,  he  purchased  large  tracts  of  land 
in  western  Virginia,  but  was  prevented  by 
the  Indians  from  forming  the  large  settle- 
ment he  proposed,  and,  in  17S6,  purchased 


a  farm  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania. 
In  1789  he  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
to  amend  the  constitution  of  that  state,  and 
united  himself  with  the  Republican  party, 
the  head  of  which  was  Thomas  Jefferson. 
The  following  year  he  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  to  which  he  was 
subsequently  re-elected.  In  1793  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate,  but 
could  not  take  his  seat  on  account  of  not 
having  been  a  citizen  long  enough.  In  1794 
Mr.  Gallatin  was  elected  to  the  representa- 
tive branch  of  congress,  in  which  he  served 
three  terms.  He  also  took  an  important 
position  in  the  suppression  of  the  "whiskey 
insurrection."  In  iSoi,  on  the  accession  of 
Jefferson  to  the  presidency,  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  appointed  secretary  of  the  treasury. 
In  1809  Mr.  Madison  offered  him  the  posi- 
tion of  secretary  of  state,  but  he  declined, 
and  continued  at  the  head  of  the  treasury 
until  1812,  a  period  of  twelve  years.  He 
exercised  a  great  influence  on  the  other  de- 
partments and  in  the  general  administration, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  financial  reform,, 
and  recommended  measures  for  taxation, 
etc. ,  which  were  passed  by  congress,  and  be- 
came laws  May  24,  18 1 3.  The  same  year  he 
was  sent  as  an  envoy  extraordinary  to  Rus- 
sia, which  had  offered  to  mediate  between 
this  country  and  Great  Britain,  but  the  lat- 
ter country  refusing  the  interposition  of 
another  power,  and  agreeing  to  treat  di- 
rectly with  the  United  States,  in  18 14,  at 
Ghent,  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  connection  with  his 
distinguished  colleagues,  negotiated  and 
signed  the  treaty  of  peace.  In  181 5,  in 
conjunction  with  Messrs.  Adams  and  Clay, 
he  signed,  at  London,  a  commercial  treaty 
between  the  two  countries.  In  18 16,  de- 
clining his  old  post  at  the  head  of  the  treas- 
ury, Mr.  Gallntiii  was  sent  as  tnini-;ter  to 
France,    "'h   ■■      i>e    remained    until    1823, 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


113 


After  a  year  spent  in  England  as  envoy  ex- 
traordinary, he  took  up  his  residence  in  New 
York,  and  from  that  time  held  no  public 
office.  In  1830  he  was  chosen  president  of 
the  council  of  the  University  of  New  York. 
He  was,  in  1831,  made  president  of  the 
National  bank,  which  position  he  resigned 
in  1839.      He  died  August  12,   1849. 


M' 


ILLARD  FILLMORE,  the  thirteenth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  of  New  England  parentage  in  Summer 
Hill,  Cayuga  county.  New  York,  January  7, 
1800.  His  school  education  was  very  lim- 
ited, but  he  occupied  his  leisure  hours  in 
study.  He  worked  in  youth  upon  his  fa- 
ther's farm  in  his  native  county,  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  was  apprenticed  to  a  wool 
carder  and  cloth  dresser.  Four  years  later 
he  was  induced  by  Judge  Wood  to  enter  his 
office  at  Montviile,  New  York,  and  take  up 
the  study  of  law.  This  warm  friend,  find- 
ing young  Fillmore  destitute  of  means, 
loaned  him  money,  but  the  latter,  not  wish- 
ing to  incur  a  heavy  debt,  taught  school 
during  part  of  the  time  and  in  this  and  other 
ways  helped  maintain  himself.  In  1822  he 
removed  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  the  year 
following,  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  Ws  profession 
at  East  Aurora,  in  the  same  state.  Here 
he  remained  until  1830,  having,  in  the 
meantime,  been  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
supreme  court,  when  he  returned  to  Buffalo, 
where  he  became  the  partner  of  S.  G. 
Haven  and  N.  K.  Hall.  He  entered  poli- 
tics and  served  in  the  state  legislature  from 
1829  to  1832.  He  was  in  congress  in  1833- 
35  and  in  1837-41,  where  he  proved  an 
active  and  useful  member,  favoring  the 
views  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  battling 
almost  alone  the  slave-holding  party  in  na- 
tional  politics,  and  in   most  01    pnblif  q;ie=;- 


tions  acted  with  the  Whig  party.  While 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and 
means  he  took  a  leading  part  in  draughting 
the  tariff  bill  of  1842.  In  1844  Mr.  Fill- 
more was  the  Whig  candidate  for  governor 
of  New  York.  In  1847  he  was  chosen 
comptroller  of  the  state,  and  abandoning 
his  practice  and  profession  removed  to  Al- 
bany. In  1848  he  was  elected  vice  presi- 
dent on  the  ticket  with  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  they  were  inaugurated  the  fol- 
lowing March.  On  the  death  of  the  presi- 
dent, July  9,  1850,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  in- 
ducted into  that  office.  The  great  events 
of  his  administration  were  the  passage  of 
the  famous  compromise  acts  of  1850,  and 
the  sending  out  of  the  Japan  expedition  of 
1852. 

March  4,  1853,  having  served  one  term. 
President  Fillmore  retired  from  office,  and 
in  1855  went  to  Europe,  where  he  received 
marked  attention.  On  returning  home,  in 
1856,  he  was  nominated  for  the  presidency 
by  the  Native  American  or  "Know-Noth- 
ing" party,  but  was  defeated,  James  Buch- 
anan being  the  successful  candidate. 

Mr.  Fillmore  ever  afterward  lived  in  re- 
tirement. During  the  conflict  of  Civil  war 
he  was  mostly  silent.  It  was  generally  sup- 
posed, however,  that  his  sympathy  was  with 
the  southern  confederacy.  He  kept  aloof 
from  the  conflict  without  any  words  of  cheer 
to  the  one  party  or  the  other.  For  this  rea- 
son he  was  forgotten  by  both.  He  died  of 
paralysis,  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  March  8, 
1874-  

PETER  F.  ROTHERMEL,  one  of  Amer- 
ica's greatest  and  best-known  historical 
painters,  was  born  in  Luzerne  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, July  8,  1817,  and  was  of  German 
ancestry.  He  received  his  earlier  education 
in    his   native   county,  and    in    Philadelphia 


114 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


learned  the  profession  of  land  surveying. 
But  a  strong  bias  toward  art  drew  him  away 
and  he  soon  opened  a  studio  where  he  did 
portrait  painting.  This  soon  gave  place  to 
historical  painting,  he  having  discovered  the 
bent  of  his  genius  in  that  direction.  Be- 
sides the  two  pictures  in  the  Capitol  at 
Washington — '  'De  Soto  Discovering  the  Mis- 
sissippi" and  "Patrick  Henry  Before  the 
Virginia  House  of  Burgesses" — Rothermel 
painted  many  others,  chief  among  which 
are:  "Columbus  Before  Queen  Isabella," 
"Martyrs  of  the  Colosseum,"  "Cromwell 
Breaking  Up  Service  in  an  English  Church, " 
and  the  famous  picture  of  the  "Battle 
of  Gettysburg."  The  last  named  was 
painted  for  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  for 
which  Rothermel  received  the  sum  of  $25,- 
000,  and  which  it  took  him  four  years  to 
plan  and  to  paint.  It  represents  the  portion 
of  that  historic  field  held  by  the  First  corps, 
an  exclusively  Pennsylvania  body  of  men, 
and  was  selected  by  Rothermel  for  that 
reason.  For  many  years  most  of  his  time 
was  spent  in  Italy,  only  returning  for  short 
periods.  He  died  at  Philadelphia,  August 
16,  1895. 

EDMUND  KIRBY  SMITH,  one  of  the 
distinguished  leaders  upon  the  side  of  the 
south  in  the  late  Civil  war,  was  born  at  St. 
Augustine,  Florida,  in  1824.  After  receiv- 
ing the  usual  education  he  was  appointed  to 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1845  and 
entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  of 
infantry.  During  the  Mexican  war  he  was 
made  first  lieutenant  and  captain  for  gallant 
conduct  at  Cerro  Gordo  and  Contreras. 
From  1849  to  1852  he  was  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics  at  West  Point.  He 
was  transferred  to  the  Second  cavalry  with 
the  rank  of  captain  in    1855,  served  on  the 


frontier,  and  was  wounded  in  a  fight  with 
Comanche  Indians  in  Texas,  May  13,  1859. 
In  January,  1861,  he  became  major  of  his 
regiment,  but  resigned  April  9th  to  fol- 
low the  fortunes  of  the  southern  cause. 
He  was  appointed  brigadier-general  in  the 
Confederate  army  and  served  in  Virginia. 
At  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  July  21,  1861, 
he  arrived  on  the  field  late  in  the  day,  but 
was  soon  disabled  by  a  wound.  He  was 
made  major-general  in  1862,  and  being  trans- 
ferred to  East  Tennessee,  was  given  com- 
mand of  that  department.  Under  General 
Braxton  Bragg  he  led  the  advance  in  the 
invasion  of  Kentucky  and  defeated  the  Union 
forces  at  Richmond,  Kentucky,  August  30, 

1862,  and  advanced  to  Frankfort.  Pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  he 
was  engaged  at  the  battle  of  Perryville, 
October  10,  and  in  the  battle  of  Murfrees- 
boro,    December  31,    1862,    and  January  3, 

1863.  He  was  soon  made  general,  the 
highest  rank  in  the  service,  and  in  com- 
mand of  the  trans-Mississippi  department 
opposed  General  N.  P.  Banks  in  the  famous 
Red  River  expedition,  taking  part  in  the 
battle  of  Jenkins  Ferry,  April  30,  1864,  and 
other  engagements  of  that  eventful  cam- 
paign. He  was  the  last  to  surrender  the 
forces  under  his  command,  which  he  did 
May  26,  1865.  After  the  close  of  the  war 
he  located  in  Tennessee,  where  he  died 
March  28,  1893. 


JOHN  JAMES  INGALLS,  a  famous 
American  statesman,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 29,  1833,  at  Middleton,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  was  reared  and  received  his  early 
education.  He  went  to  Kansas  in  1858 
and  joined  the  free-soil  army,  and  a  year 
after  his  arrival  he  was  a  member  of  the  his- 
torical Wyandotte  convention,  which  drafted 
a   free-state   constitution.      In  i860  he  was 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


115 


made  secretary  of  the  territorial  council, 
and  in  1861  was  secretary  of  the  state  sen- 
ate. The  next  year  he  was  duly  elected  to 
the  legitimate  state  senate  from  Atchison, 
where  he  had  made  his  home.  From  that 
time  he  was  the  leader  of  the  radical  Re- 
publican element  in  the  state.  He  became 
the  editor  of  the  "  Atchison  Champion  "  in 
1863,  which  was  a  "red-hot  free-soil  Re- 
publican organ."  In  1862  he  was  the  anti- 
Lane  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor,  but 
was  defeated.  He  was  elected  to  the  Unit- 
ed States  senate  to  succeed  Senator  Pom- 
eroy,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  forty-third 
congress  and  served  until  the  fiftieth.  In 
the  forty-ninth  congress  he  succeeded  Sen- 
ator Sherman  as  president  pro  tern.,  which 
position  he  held  through  the  fiftieth  con- 
gress. 

BENJAMIN  WEST,  the  greatest  of  the 
early  Aaierican  painters,  was  of  Eng- 
lish descent  and  Quaker  parentage.  He  was 
born  in  Springfield,  Pennsylvania,  in  1738. 
From  what  source  he  inherited  his  genius  it 
is  hard  to  imagine,  since  the  tenets  and 
tendencies  of  the  Quaker  faith  were  not  cal- 
culated to  encourage  the  genius  of  art,  but 
at  the  age  of  nine  years,  with  no  suggestion 
except  that  of  inspiration,  we  find  him  choos- 
ing his  model  from  life,  and  laboring  over 
his  first  work  calculated  to  attract  public 
notice.  It  was  a  representation  of  a  sleep- 
ing child  in  its  cradle.  The  brush  with 
which  he  painted  it  was  made  of  hairs 
which  he  plucked  from  the  cat's  tail,  and 
the  colors  were  obtained  from  the  war  paints 
of  friendly  Indians,  his  mother's  indigo  bag, 
and  ground  chalk  and  charcoal,  and  the  juice 
of  berries,  but  there  were  touches  in  the  rude 
production  that  he  declared  in  later  days 
were  a  credit  to  his  best  works.  The  pic- 
ture  attracted    notice,    for    a    council    was 


called  at  once  to  pass  upon  the  boy's  con- 
duct in  thus  infringing  the  laws  of  the  so- 
ciety. There  were  judges  among  them  who 
saw  in  his  genius  a  rare  gift  and  their  wis- 
dom prevailed,  and  the  child  was  given  per- 
mission to  follow  his  inclination.  He  studied 
under  a  painter  named  Williams,  and  then 
spent  some  years  as  a  portrait  painter  with 
advancing  success.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  he  went  to  Italy,  and  not  until  he  had 
perfected  himself  by  twenty-three  years  of 
labor  in  that  paradise  of  art  was  he  satisfied 
to  turn  his  face  toward  home.  However,  he 
stopped  at  London,  and  decided  to  settle 
there,  sending  to  America  for  his  intended 
bride  to  join  him.  Though  the  Revolution- 
ary war  was  raging.  King  George  III  showed 
the  American  artist  the  highest  considera- 
tion and  regard.  His  remuneration  from 
works  for  royalty  amounted  to  five  thou' 
sand  dollars  per  year  for  thirty  years. 

West's  best  known  work  in  America  is, 
perhaps,  "The  Death  of  General  Wolf." 
West  was  one  of  the  thirty-six  original  mem- 
bers of  the  Royal  academy  and  succeeded 
Joshua  Reynolds  as  president,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  his  death.  His  early 
works  were  his  best,  as  he  ceased  to  display 
originality  in  his  later  life,  conventionality 
having  seriously  affected  his  efforts.  He 
died  in  1820. 


SAMUEL  PORTER  JONES,  the  famous 
Georgia  evangelist,  was  born  October 
16,  1847,  in  Chambers  county,  Alabama. 
He  did  not  attend  school  regularly  during 
his  boyhood,  but  worked  on  a  farm,  and 
went  to  school  at  intervals,  on  account  of 
ill  health.  His  father  removed  to  Carters- 
ville,  Georgia,  when  Mr.  Jones  was  a  small 
boy.  He  quit  school  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
and  never  attended  college.  The  war  inter- 
fered with  his  education,  which  was  intended 


IIG 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


to  prepare  him  for  the  legal  profession. 
After  the  war  he  renewed  his  preparation 
for  college,  but  was  compelled  to  desist  from 
such  a  course,  as  his  health  failed  him  en- 
tirely. Later  on,  however,  he  still  pursued 
his  legal  studies  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  Soon  after  this  event  he  went  to  Dal- 
las, Paulding  county,  Georgia,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
and  in  a  few  months  removed  to  Cherokee 
county,  Alabama,  where  he  taught  school. 
In  1869  he  returned  to  Cartersville,  Georgia, 
and  arrived  in  time  to  see  his  father  die. 
Immediately  after  this  event  he  applied  for 
a  license  to  preach,  and  went  to  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  to  the  meeting  of  the  North  Geor- 
gia Conference  of  the  M.  E.  church  south, 
which  received  him  on  trial.  He  became 
an  evangelist  of  great  note,  and  traveled 
extensively,  delivering  his  sermons  in  an 
inimitable  style  that  made  him  very  popular 
with  the  masses,  his  methods  of  conducting 
revivals  being  unique  and  original  and  his 
preaching  practical  and  incisive. 


SHELBY  MOORE  CULLOM,  a  national 
character  in  political  affairs  and  for 
many  years  United  States  senator  from 
Illinois,  was  born  November  22,  1829,  at 
Monticello,  Kentucky.  He  came  with  his 
parents  to  Illinois  in  1830  and  spent  his  early 
yearson  afarm,  but  havingformed  the  purpose 
of  devoting  himself  to  the  lawyer's  profession 
he  spent  two  years  study  at  the  Rock  River 
seminary  atMount  Morris,  Illinois.  In  1853 
Mr.  Cullom  entered  the  law  office  of  Stuart 
and  Edwards  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  two 
years  later  he  began  the  independent  prac- 
tice of  law  in  that  city.  He  took  an  active 
interest  in  politics  and  was  soon  elected  city 
attorney  of  Springfield.  In  1856  he  v/as 
elected  a  member  of  the  Illinois  house  of 
representatives.      He  identified  himself  with 


the  newly  formed  Republican  party  and  in 
i860  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  of  his 
state,  in  which  he  was  chosen  speaker  of  the 
house.  In  1862  President  Lincoln  appoint- 
ed a  commission  to  pass  upon  and  examine 
the  accounts  of  the  United  States  quarter- 
masters and  disbursing  officers,  composed 
as  follows:  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  of  Illinois; 
Charles  A.  Dana,  of  New  York,  and 
Gov.  Boutwell,  of  Massachusetts.  Mr. 
Cullom  was  nominated  for  congress  in 
1864,  and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of 
1,785.  In  the  house  of  representatives  he 
became  an  active  and  aggressive  member, 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  territories 
and  served  in  congress  until  1868.  Mr. 
Cullom  was  returned  to  the  state  legislature, 
of  which  he  was  chosen  speaker  in  1872, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1874.  In  1876  he 
was  elected  governor  of  Illinois  and  at  the 
end  of  his  term  he  was  chosen  for  a  second 
term.  Hewaselected  United  States  senator 
in  1 88^  and  twice  reelected. 


RICHARD  JORDAN  CATLING,  an 
American  inventor  of  much  note,  was 
born  in  Hertford  county,  North  Carolina, 
September  12,  1818.  At  an  early  age  he 
gave  promise  of  an  inventive  genius.  The 
first  emanation  from  his  mind  was  the 
invention  of  a  screw  for  the  propulsion  01 
water  craft,  but  on  application  for  a 
patent,'  found  that  he  was  forestalled  but 
a  short  time  by  John  Ericsson.  Subse- 
quently he  invented  a  machine  for  sowing' 
wheat  in  drills,  which  was  used  to  a  great 
extent  throughout  the  west.  He  then  stud- 
ied medicine,  and  in  1847-8  attended 
lectures  at  the  Indiana  Medical  College 
at  Laporte,  and  in  1848-9  at  the  Ohio 
Medical  College  at  Cincinnati.  He  later 
discovered  a  method  of  transmitting  power 
through  the  medium  of  compressed  air.      A 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPlfT 


119 


double-acting  hemp  break  was  also  invented 
by  him.  The  invention,  however,  by  which 
Dr.  Catling  became  best  known  was  the 
famous  machine  gun  which  bears  his  name. 
This  he  brought  to  light  in  1861-62,  and  on 
the  first  trial  of  it,  in  the  spring  of  the  latter 
year,  two  hundred  shots  per  minute  were 
fired  from  it.  After  making  some  improve- 
ments which  increased  its  efficiency,  it  was 
submitted  to  severe  trials  by  our  govern- 
ment at  the  arsenals  at  Frankfort,  Wash- 
ington and  Fortress  Monroe,  and  at  other 
points.  The  gun  was  finally  adopted  by 
our  government,  as  well  as  by  that  of  Great 
Britain,  Russia  and  others. 


BENJAMIN  RYAN  TILLMAN,  who  won 
a  national  fame  in  politics,  was  born 
August  II,  1847,  in  Edgefield  county.  South 
Carolina.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
Oldfield  school,  where  he  acquired  the 
rudiments  of  Latin  and  Creek,  in  addition 
to  a  good  English  education.  He  left  school 
in  1864  to  join  the  Confederate  army,  but 
was  prevented  from  doing  so  by  a  severe 
illness,  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  an  eye. 
In  1867  he  removed  to  Florida,  but  returned 
in  1868,  when  he  was  married  and  devcted 
himself  to  farming.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  organization  of  his  county, 
but  except  a  few  occasional  services  he  took 
no  active  part  in  politics  then.  Gradually, 
however,  his  attention  was  directed  to  the 
depressed  condition  of  the  farming  interests 
of  his  state,  and  in  August,  1885,  before  a 
joint  meeting  of  the  agricultural  society  and 
state  grange  at  Bennettsville,  he  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  set  forth  the  cause  of 
agricultural  depression  and  urged  measures 
of  relief.  From  his  active  interest  in  the 
farming  class  he  was  styled  the  "  Agricult- 
ural  Moses."      He  advocated  an  industrial 

school  for   women  and  for  a  separate  agri- 
7 


cultural  college,  and  in  1S87  he  secured  a 
modification  in  the  final  draft  of  the  will  of 
Thomas  C.  Clemson,  which  resulted  in  the 
erection  of  the  Clemson  Agricultural  Col- 
lege at  Fort  Hill.  In  1890  he  was  chosen 
governor  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  and 
carried  the  election  by  a  large  majority. 
Governor  Tillman  was  inaugurated  Decem- 
ber 4,  1890.  Mr.  Tillman  was  next  elected 
to  the  United  States  senate  from  South 
Carolina,  and  gained  a  national  reputation 
by  his  fervid  oratory. 


GEORGE  DENISON  PRENTICE.— 
No  journalist  of  America  was  so  cele- 
brated in  his  time  for  the  wit,  spice,  and 
vigor  of  his  writing,  as  the  gentleman  whose 
name  heads  this  sketch.  From  Atlantic  to 
Pacific  he  was  well  known  by  his  witticism 
as  well  as  by  strength  and  force  of  his  edi- 
torials. He  was  a  native  of  Preston,  Con- 
necticut, born  December  18,  1802.  After 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  liberal  education 
in  his  youth,  he  entered  Brown  University, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1823.  Tak- 
ing up  the  study  of  law,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1829.  During  part  of  his  time 
he  was  editor  of  the  "  New  England  Weekly 
Review,"  a  position  which  he  relinquished 
to  go  south  and  was  succeeded  by  John 
Greenleaf  Whittier,  the  Quaker  poet. 

On  arriving  in  Louisville,  whither  he 
had  gone  to  gather  items  for  his  history  of 
Henry  Clay,  Mr.  Prentice  became  identified 
with  the  "  Louisville  Journal,"  which,  under 
his  hands,  became  one  of  the  leading  Whig 
newspapers  of  the  country.  At  the  head  of 
this  he  remained  until  the  day  of  his  deatli. 
This  latter  event  occurred  January  22,  1870, 
and  he  was  succeeded  in  the  control  of  the 
"  Journal  "  by    Colonel    Henry  Watterson. 

Mr.  Prentice  was  an  author  of  consider- 
able celebrity,  chief  among  his  works  being 


120 


CO.yPEXDIC'M   OF    BIOGRAPIir 


"The  Life  of  Henry  Clay,"  and  "  Prentice- 
ana,"  a  collection  of  wit  and  humor,  that 
passed  through  several  large  editions. 


SAM.  HOUSTON,  in  the  opinion  of  some 
critics  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men 
w'lo  ever  figured  in  American  history,  was  a 
native  of  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  born 
March  2,  1793.  Early  in  life  he  was  left  in 
destitute  circumstances  by  the  death  of  his 
father,  and,  with  his  mother,  removed  to 
Tennessee,  then  almost  a  boundless  wilder- 
ness. He  received  but  little  education, 
spending  the  most  of  his  time  among  the 
Cherokee  Indians.  Part  of  the  time  of  his 
residence  there  Houston  acted  as  clerk  for  a 
trader  and  also  taught  one  of  the  primitive 
schools  of  the  day.  In  181  3  he  enlisted  as 
private  in  the  United  States  army  and  was 
engaged  under  General  Jackson  in  the  war 
with  the  Creek  Indians.  When  peace  was 
made  Houston  was  a  lieutenant,  but  he  re- 
signed his  commission  and  commenced  the 
study  of  law  at  Nashville.  After  holding 
some  minor  offices  he  was  elected  member 
of  congress  from  Tennessee.  This  was  in 
1823.  He  retained  this  office  until  1827, 
when  he  was  chosen  governor  of  the  state. 
In  1829,  resigning  that  office  before  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term,  Sam  Houston  removed 
to  Arkansas,  and  made  his  home  among  the 
Cherokees,  becoming  the  agent  of  that 
tribe  and  representing  their  interests  at 
Washington.  On  a  visit  to  Texas,  just 
prior  to  the  election  of  delegates  to  a  con- 
vention called  for  the  purpose  of  drawing 
up  a  constitution  previous  to  the  admission 
of  the  state  into  the  Mexican  union,  he  was 
unanimously  chosen  a  delegate.  The  con- 
vention framed  the  constitution,  but,  it  be- 
ing rejected  by  the  government  of  Mexico, 
and  the  petition  for  admission  to  the  Con- 
federacy denied  and  the  Texans  told  by  the 


president  of  the  Mexican  union  to  give  up 
their  arms,  bred  trouble.  It  was  determined 
to  resist  this  demand.  A  military  force  was 
soon  organized,  with  General  Houston  at 
the  head  of  it.  War  was  prosecuted  with 
great  vigor,  and  with  varying  success,  but 
at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  April  21,  1836, 
the  Mexicans  were  defeated  and  their  leader 
and  president,  Santa  Anna,  captured.  Texas 
was  then  proclaimed  an  independent  repub- 
lic, and  in  October  of  the  same  year  Hous- 
ton was  inaugurated  president.  On  the  ad- 
mission of  Texas  to  the  Federal  Union,  in 
1845,  Houston  was  elected  senator,  and 
held  that  position  for  twelve  years.  Oppos- 
ing the  idea  of  secession,  he  retired  from 
political  life  in  1861,  and  died  at  Hunts- 
ville,  Texas,  July  25,  1863. 


ELI  WHITNEY,  the  inventor  of  the  cot- 
ton-gin, was  born  in  Westborough,  Mas- 
sachusetts, December  8,  1765.  After  his 
graduation  from  Yale  College,  he  went  to 
Georgia,  where  he  studied  law,  and  lived 
with  the  family  of  the  widow  of  General 
Nathaniel  Greene.  At  that  time  the  only 
way  known  to  separate  the  cotton  seed  from 
the  fiber  was  by  hand,  making  it  extremely 
slow  and  expensive,  and  for  this  reason  cot- 
ton was  little  cultivated  in  this  country. 
Mrs.  Greene  urged  the  inventive  Whitney 
to  devise  some  means  for  accomplishing 
this  work  by  machinery.  This  he  finally 
succeeded  in  doing,  but  he  was  harassed  by 
attempts  to  defraud  him  by  those  who  had 
stolen  his  ideas.  He  at  last  formed  a  part- 
nership with  a  man  named  Miller,  and  they 
began  the  manufacture  of  the  machines  at 
Washington,  Georgia,  in  1795.  The  suc- 
cess of  his  invention  was  immediate,  and  the 
legislature  of  South  Carolina  voted  the  sum 
of  $50,000  for  his  idea.  This  sum  he  had 
great  difficulty  in  collecting,  after   years  of 


COMPEyDIUM   OF    BJOGRAP/ir. 


1-21 


litigation  and  delay.  North  Carolina  al- 
lowed him  a  royalty,  and  the  same  was 
agreed  to  by  Tennessee,  but  was  never  paid. 

While  his  fame  rests  upon  the  invention 
cf  tiie  cotton-gin,  his  fortune  came  from  his 
improvements  in  the  manufacture  and  con- 
struction of  firearms.  In  1798  the  United 
Statv-S  government  gave  him  a  contract  for 
this  purpose,  and  he  accumulated  a  fortune 
from  it.  The  town  of  Whitneyville,  Con- 
necticut, v/as  founded  by  this  fortune. 
Whitney  died  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
January  8,   1825. 

The  cotton-gin  made  the  cultivation  of 
cotton  profitable,  and  this  led  to  rapid  in- 
troduction of  slavery  in  the  south.  His  in- 
vention thus  affected  our  national  history  in 
a  manner  little  dreamed  of  by  the  inventor. 


LESTER  WALLACIv  (John  Lester  Wal- 
lack),  for  many  years  the  leading  light 
comedian  upon  the  American  stage,  was 
the  son  of  James  W.  Wallack,  the  "  Brum- 
mcll  of  the  Stage."  Bot^  father  and  son 
were  noted  for  their  comeliness  of  feature 
and  form.  Lester  Wallack  was  born  in 
New  York.  January  i,  1819.  He  received 
his  education  in  England,  and  made  his  first 
appearance  on  the  stage  in  1848  at  the  New 
Broadv^iay  theater,  New  York.  He  acted 
light  comedy  parts,  and  also  occasion- 
ally in  romantic  plays  like  Monte  Cristo, 
which  play  made  him  his  fame.  He  went 
to  England  and  played  under  management 
of  such  men  as  Hamblin  and  Burton, and  then 
returned  to  New  York  with  his  falher,  who 
opened  the  first  Wallack's  theater,  at  the 
corner  of  Broome  and  Broadway,  in  1852. 
The  location  was  afterward  changed  to 
Thirteenth  and  Broadway,  in  1861,  and 
later  to  its  present  location,  Broadway  and 
Tiiirteenlh,  in  1882.  The  elder  Wallack 
died   in    1S64,    after  which   Lester  assumed 


management,  jointly  with  Theodore  Moss. 
Lester  Wallack  was  commissioned  in  the 
queen's  service  while  in  England,  and  there 
he  also  married  a  sister  to  tlie  famous  artist, 
the  late  John  Everett  Millais.  While  Les- 
ter Wallack  never  played  in  the  interior 
cities,  his  name  was  as  familiar  to  the  public 
as  that  of  our  greatest  stars.  He  died  Sep- 
tember 6,   1888,  at  Stamford,    Connecticut. 


GEORGE  MORTIMER  PULLMAN, 
the  palace  car  magnate,  inventor, 
multi-millionaire  and  manufacturer,  may- 
well  be  classed  among  the  remarkable 
self-made  men  of  the  century.  He  was 
born  March  3,  1831,  in  Chautauqua  county. 
New  York.  His  parents  were  poor,  and 
his  education  was  limited  to  what  he  could 
learn  of  the  rudimentary  branches  in  the 
district  school.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
went  to  work  as  clerk  for  a  country  mer- 
chant. He  kept  this  place  three  year^, 
stud>ing  at  night.  When  seventeen  he 
went  to  Albion,  New  York,  and  Vv-orked  for 
his  brother,  who  kept  a  cabinet  shop  there. 
Five  years  later  he  went  into  business  for 
himself  as  contractor  fur  moving  buildings 
along  the  line  of  the  Erie  canal,  which  was 
then  being  widened  by  the  state,  and  was 
successful  in  this.  In  185S  he  removed  to 
Chicago  and  engaged  in  the  business  of 
moving  and  raising  houses.  The  work  was 
novel  there  then  and  he  was  quite  success- 
ful. About  this  time  the  discomfort  attend- 
ant on  traveling  at  night  attracted  his  at- 
tention. He  reasoned  that  the  public  would 
gladly  pay  for  comfortable  sleeping  accom- 
modations. A  few  sleeping  cars  were  in 
use  at  that  time,  but  they  were  v.-retcliedly 
crude,  uncomfortable  affairs.  In  1S5Q  he 
bought  two  old  day  coaches  from  the  Ciii- 
cago&  Alton  road  and  remodeled  them  some- 
thing like  the  general  plan  of  the  sleeping- 


122 


COMPEXDICM    OF    BIOGRArHT. 


cars  of  the  present  day.  They  were  put 
into  service  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  and 
became  popular  at  once.  In  1863  he  built 
the  first  sleeping-car  resembling  the  Pullman 
cars  of  to-day.  It  cost  $18,000  and  was 
the  "Pioneer."  After  that  the  Pullman 
Palace  Car  Company  prospered.  It  had 
shops  at  different  cities.  In  1880  the  Town 
of  Pullman  was  founded  by  Mr.  Pullman 
and  his  company,  and  this  model  manufac- 
turing community  is  known  all  over  the 
world.    Mr.  Pullman  died  October  19,  1897. 


TAMES  E.  B.  STUART,  the  most  famous 
kJ  cavalry  leader  of  the  Southern  Confed- 
eracy during  the  Civil  war,  was  born  in 
Patrick  county,  Virginia,  in  1833.  Oil 
graduating  from  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  West  Point,  in  1854,  he  was  as- 
signed, as  second  lieutenant,  to  a  regiment 
of  mounted  rifles,  receiving  his  commission 
in  October.  In  March,  1855,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  newly  organized  First  cavalry, 
and  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  the 
following  December,  and  to  captain  April 
22,  1861.  Taking  the  side  of  the  south. 
May  14,  1 861,  he  was  made  colonel  of  a 
Virginia  cavalry  regiment,  and  served  as 
such  at  Bull  Run.  In  September,  1861,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-gen- 
eral, and  major-general  early  in  1862.  On 
the  reorganization  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  in  June  of  the  latter  year,  when 
R.  E.  Lee  assumed  command.  General  Stu- 
art made  a  reconnoissance  with  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  cavalry  and  four  guns, 
and  in  two  days  made  the  circuit  of  McClel- 
lan's  army,  producing  much  confusion  and 
gathering  useful  information,  and  losing  but 
one  man.  August  25,  1862,  he  captured 
part  of  Pope's  headquarters'  train,  including 
that  general's  private  baggage  and  official 
correspondence,    and  the  next  night,    in  a 


descent  upon  Manasses,  capturing  immense 
quantities  of  commissary  and  quartermaster 
store,  eight  guns,  a  number  of  locomotives 
and  a  few  hundred  prisoners.  During  the 
invasion  of  Maryland,  in  September,  1862, 
General  Stuart  acted  as  rearguard,  resisting 
the  advance  of  the  Federal  cavalry  at  South 
Mountain,  and  at  Antietam  commanded  the 
Confederate  left.  Shortly  after  he  crossed 
the  Potomac,  making  a  raid  as  far  as  Cham- 
bersburg,  Pennsylvania.  In  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg,  December  13,  1862,  Gen- 
eral Stuart's  command  was  on  the  extreme 
right  of  the  Confederate  line.  At  Chancel- 
lorsville,  after  "Stonewall  "  Jackson's  death 
and  the  wounding  of  General  A.  P.  Hill, 
General  Stuart  assumed  command  of  Jack- 
son's corps,  which  he  led  in  the  sevefe  con- 
test of  May  3,  1863.  Early  in  June,  the 
same  year,  a  large  force  of  cavalry  was 
gathered  under  Stuart,  at  Culpepper,  Vir- 
ginia, which,  advancing  to  join  General  Lee 
in  his  invasion  of  Pennsylvania,  was  met  at 
Brandy  Station,  by  \^No  divisions  of  cavalry 
and  two  brigades  of  infantry,  under  General 
John  I.  Gregg,  and  driven  back.  During  the 
movements  of  the  Gettysburg  campaign  he 
rendered  important  services.  In  May,  1864, 
General  Stuart  succeeded,  by  a  detour,  in 
placing  himself  between  Richmond  and 
Sheridan's  advancing  column,  and  at  Yellow 
Tavern  was  attacked  in  force.  During  the 
fierce  conflict  that  ensued  General  Stuart 
was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  at  Rich- 
mond, May  1 1,  1864. 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE,  the  fourteenth 
president  of  the  United  States — from 
1853  until  1857 — was  born  November  23, 
1804,  at  Hillsboro,  New  Hampshire.  He 
came  of  old  revolutionary  stock  and  his 
father  was  a  governor  of  the  state.  Mr. 
Pierce  entered  Bowdoin    College  in    1820, 


COMPEXDIi'M   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


123 


was  graduated  in  1824,  and  took  up  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Wood- 
bury, and  later  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
Mr.  Pierce  practiced  his  profession  with 
varying  successes  in  his  native  town  and 
also  in  Concord.  He  was  elected  to  the 
state  legislature  in  1833  and  served  in  that 
body  until  1837,  the  last  two  years  of  his 
term  serving  as  speaker  of  the  house.  He 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate  in 
1837,  just  as  President  Van  Buren  began 
his  term  of  office.  Mr.  Pierce  served  until 
1842,  and  many  times  during  Polk's  term  he 
declined  important  public  offices.  During 
the  war  with  Mexico  Mr.  Pierce  was  ap- 
pointed brigadier-general,  and  he  embarked 
with  a  portion  of  his  troops  at  Newport, 
Rhode  .Island,  May  27,  1847,  and  went  with 
them  to  the  field  of  battle.  He  served 
through  the  war  and  distinguished  himself 
by  his  skill,  bravery  and  excellent  judg- 
ment. When  he  reached  liis  home  in  his 
native  state  he  was  received  coldly  by  the 
opponents  of  the  war,  but  the  advocates  of 
the  war  made  up  for  his  cold  reception  by 
the  enthusiastic  welcome  which  they  ac- 
corded him.  Mr.  Pierce  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  and  in  the  political 
strife  that  followed  he  gave  his  support  to 
the  pro-slavery  wing  of  the  Democratic 
party.  The  Democratic  convention  met  in 
Baltimore,  June  12,  1852,  to  nominate  a 
candidate  for  tlie  presidency,  and  they  con- 
tinued in  session  four  days,  and  in  thirty- 
five  ballotings  no  one  had  secured  the  re- 
quisite two-thirds  vote.  Mr.  Pierce  had  not 
received  a  vote  as  yet,  until  the  Virginia 
delegation  brought  his  name  forward,  and 
finally  on  the  forty-ninth  ballot  Mr,  Pierce 
received  282  votes  and  all  the  other  candi- 
dates eleven.  His  opponent  on  the  Whig 
ticket  was  General  Winfield  Scott,  who 
onlv   received    the   electoral  votes    of    four 


states.  Mr.  Pierce  was  inaugurated  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  March  4,  1853, 
with  W.  R.  King  as  vice  president,  and  the 
following  named  gentlemen  were  afterward 
chosen  to  fill  the  positions  in  the  cabinet: 
William  S.  Marcy,  James  Guthrie,  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  James  C.  Dobbin,  Robert  Mc- 
Clelland, James  Campbell  and  Caleb  Gush- 
ing. During  the  administration  of  President 
Pierce  the  Missouri  compromise  law  was 
repealed,  and  all  the  territories  of  the  Union 
were  thrown  open  to  slavery,  and  the  dis- 
turbances in  Kansas  occurred.  In  1857  he 
was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  James 
Buchanan,  and  retired  to  his  home  in  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire.  He  always  cherished 
his  principles  of  slavery,  and  at  the  out- 
break of  the  rebellion  he  was  an  adherent  of 
the  cause  of  the  Confederacy.  He  died  at 
Concord,  New  Hampshire,  October  8,  1869. 


JAMES  B.  WEAVER,  well  known  as  a 
leader  of  the  Greenback  and  later  of  the 
Populist  party,  was  born  at  Dayton,  Ohio, 
June  12,  1833.  He  received  his  earlier 
education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  town, 
and  entered  the  law  department  of  the  Ohio 
University,  at  Cincinnati,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1854.  Removing  to  the  grow- 
ing state  of  Iowa,  he  became  connected 
with  "The  Iowa  Tribune,"  at  the  state 
capital,  Des  Moines,  as  one  of  its  editors. 
He  afterward  practiced  law  and  was  elected 
district  attorney  for  the  second  judicial  dis- 
trict of  Iowa,  on  the  Republican  ticket  in 
1866,  which  office  he  held  for  a  short  time. 
In  1 867  Mr.  Weaver  was  appointed  assessor 
of  internal  revenue  for  the  first  district  of 
Iowa,  and  filled  that  position  until  some- 
time in  1873.  He  was  elected  and  served 
in  the  forty-sixth  congress.  In  1880  th3 
National  or  Greenback  party  in  convention 
at  Chicago,  nominated  James  B.  Weaver  as 


12  J: 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BI0GRAPH7'. 


its  candidate  for  tiie  presidency.  By  a 
union  of  the  Democratic  and  National 
parties  in  fiis  district,  he  was  elected  to  the 
forty-ninth  congress,  and  re-elected  to  the 
same  office  in  the  fall  of  1886.  Mr.  Weaver 
was  conceded  to  be  a  very  fluent  speaker, 
and  quite  active  in  all  political  work.  On 
July  4,  1892,  at  the  National  convention 
of  the  People's  party,  General  James  B. 
Weaver  was  chosen  as  the  candidate  for 
president  of  that  organization,  and  during 
the  campaign  that  followed,  gained  a  na- 
tional reputation. 


ANTHONY  JOSEPH  DREXEL,  one 
of  the  leading  bankers  and  financiers  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1S26,  and  was  the  son  of 
Francis  M.  Drexel,  who  had  established 
the  large  banking  institution  of  Drexel  & 
Co. ,  so  well  known.  The  latter  was  a  native 
of  Dornbirn,  in  the  Austrian  Tyrol.  He 
studied  languages  and  fine  arts  at  Turin, 
Italy.  On  returning  to  his  mountain  home, 
in  1809,  and  finding  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
French,  he  went  to  Switzerland  and  later 
to  Paris.  In  1 812,  after  a  short  visit  home, 
he  went  to  Berlin,  where  he  studied  paint- 
ing until  1S17,  in  which  year  he  emigrated 
io  America,  and  settled  in  Philadelphia.  A 
few  years  later  he  went  to  Chili  and  Peru, 
where  he  executed  some  fine  portraits  of 
notable  people,  including  General  Simon 
Bolivar.  After  spending  some  time  in  Mex- 
ico, he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business.  .  In  1S37  he 
founded  the  house  of  Drexel  &  Co.  He 
died  in  1837,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  two 
sons,  Anthony  J.  and  Francis  A.  His  son, 
Anthony  J.  Drexel,  Jr. ,  entered  the  bank 
when  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  before  he 
was  through  with  his  schooling,  and  after 
that  the  history  of  the  banking   business  of 


which  he  was  the  head,  was  the  history  of  his 
life.  The  New  York  house  of  Dre.xel,  Mor- 
gan &  Co.  was  established  in  1850;  the 
Paris  house,  Drexel,  Harjes  &  Co., in  1867. 
The  Drexel  banking  houses  have  supplied 
iand  placed  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars 
n  government,  corporation,  railroad  and 
other  loans  and  securities.  The  reputation 
of  the  houses  has  always  been  held  on  the 
highest  plane.  Mr.  Drexel  founded  and 
heavily  endowed  the  Drexel  Institute,  in 
Philadelphia,  an  institution  to  furnish  better 
and  wider  avenues  of  employment  to  young 
people  of  both  sexes.  It  has  departments 
of  arts,  science,  mechanical  arts  and  domes- 
tic economy.  Mr.  Drexel, Jr., departed  this 
life  June  30,   1893. 


SAMUEL  FINLEY  BREESE  MORSE, 
inventor  of  the  recording  telegraph  in- 
strument, was  born  in  Charlestowii,  Massa- 
chusetts, April  27,  1791.  He  graduated 
from  Yale  College  in  18 10,  and  took  up  art 
as  his  profession.  He  went  to  London  with 
the  great  American  painter,  Washington 
AUston,  and  studied  in  the  Royal  Academy 
under  Benjamin  West.  His  "  Dying  Her- 
cules," his  first  effort  in  sculpture,  took  the 
gold  medal  in  1813.  He  returned  to  Amer- 
ica in  181 5  and  continued  to  pursue  his 
profession.  He  was  greatly  interested  in 
scientific  studies,  which  he  carried  on  in 
connection  with  other  labors.  He  founded 
the  National  Academy  of  Design  and  was 
many  years  its  president.  He  returned  to 
Europe  and  spent  three  years  in  study 
in  the  art  centers,  Rome,  Florence,  Venice 
and  Paris.  In  1832  he  returned  to  America 
and  while  on  the  return  voyage  the  idea  of 
a  recording  telegraph  apparatus  occurred  to 
him,  and  he  made  a  drawing  to  represent  his 
conception.  He  was  the  first  to  occupy  the 
chair  of    fine  arts  in  the  University  of  New 


COMPEXDILM    OF    BlOGRAPIir 


125 


York  City,  and  in  1835  he  set  up  his  rude 
instrument  in  his  room  in  the  university. 
But  it  was  not  until  after  many  years  of 
discouragement  and  reverses  of  fortune  that 
he  finally  was  successful  in  placing  his  inven- 
tion before  the  public.  In  1844,  by  aid  of 
the  United  States  government,  h.e  had  con- 
structed a  telegraph  line  forty  miles  in  length 
from  Washington  to  Baltimore.  Over  this 
line  the  test  was  made,  and  the  first  tele- 
graphic message  was  flashed  May  24,  1844, 
from  the  United  States  supreme  court  rooms 
to  Baltimore.  It  read,  "What  hath  God 
wrought!"  His  fame  and  fortune  were  es- 
tablished in  an  instant.  Wealth  and  honors 
poured  in  upon  him  from  that  day.  The 
nations  of  Europe  vied  with  each  other 
in  honoring  the  great  inventor  with  medals, 
titles  and  decorations,  and  the  learned 
societies  of  Europe  hastened  to  enroll  his 
name  upon  their  membership  lists  and  confer 
degrees.  In  1858  he  was  the  recipient  of  an 
honor  never  accorded  to  an  inventor  before. 
The  ten  leading  nations  of  Europe,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Emporer  Napoleon,  ap- 
pointed representatives  to  an  international 
congress,  which  convened  at  Paris  for  the 
special  purpose  of  expressing  gratitude  of-  the 
nations,  and  they  voted  him  a  present  of 
400,000  francs. 

Professor  IVIorse  was  present  at  the  unveil- 
ing of  a  bronze  statue  erected  in  his  honor  in 
Central  Park,  New  York,  in  1871.  His  last 
appearance  in  public  was  at  the  unveiling 
of  the  statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  New 
York  in  1872,  when  he  made  the  dedica- 
tory speech  and  unveiled  the  statue.  He 
died  April  2,   1872,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 


MORRISON  REMICH  WAITE, seventh 
chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  at  Lyme,  Connecticut,  November  29, 
1816.      He  was  a  graduate   from  Yale   Col- 


lege in  1837,  in  the  class  with  \\'illiam  M. 
Evarts.  His  father  was  judge  of  the  su- 
preme court  of  errors  of  the  state  of  Con- 
necticut, and  in  his  office  young  Waite 
studied  law.  He  subsequently  removed  to 
Ohio,  and  was  elected  to  the  legislature  of 
that  state  in  1849.  He  removed  from 
Maumee  City  to  Toledo  and  became  a  prom- 
inent legal  light  in  that  state.  He  was 
nominated  as  a  candidate  for  congress  re- 
peatedly but  declined  to  run,  and  also  de- 
clined a  place  on  the  supreme  bench  of  the 
state.  He  won  great  distinction  for  his  able 
handling  of  the  Alabama  claims  at  Geneva, 
before  the  arbitration  tribunal  in  1S71,  and 
was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States  in  1874  on  the 
death  of  Judge  Chase.  When,  in  1876,  elec- 
toral commissioners  were  chosen  to  decide 
the  presidential  election  controversy  between 
Tilden  and  Hayes,  Judge  Waite  refused  to 
serve  on  that  commission. 

His  death  occurred  March  2^,   1888.. 


ELISHA  KENT  KANE  was  one  of  the 
distinguished  American  explorers  of  the 
unknown  regions  of  the  frozen  north,  and 
gave  to  the  world  a  more  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  Arctic  zone.  Dr.  Kane  was 
born  February  3,  1820,  at  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the 
universities  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  took  his  medical  degree  in  1843.  He 
entered  the  service  of  the  United  States 
navy,  and  was  physician  to  the  Chinese 
embassy.  Dr.  Kane  traveled  extensively 
in  the  Levant,  Asia  and  Western  Africa, 
and  also  served-  in  the  Mexican  war,  in 
which  he  was  severely  wounded.  His 
first  Arctic  expedition  was  under  De  Haven 
in  the  first  Grinnell  expedition  in  search 
of  Sir  John  Franklin  in  1S50.  He  com- 
manded    the    second     Grinnell    expedition 


126 


COMPENDIUM  OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


in  1853-55.  and  discovered  an  open  polar 
sea.  For  this  expedition  he  received  a  gold 
medal  and  other  distinctions.  He  published 
a  narrative  of  his  first  polar  expedition  in 
1853,  and  in  1856  published  two  volumes 
relating  to  his  second  polar  expedition.  He 
was  a  man  of  active,  enterprising  and  cour- 
ageous spirit.  His  health,  which  was  al- 
ways delicate,  was  impaired  by  the  hard- 
ships of  his  Arctic  expeditions,  from  which 
he  never  fully  recovered  and  from  which  he 
died  February  16,  1857,  at  Havana. 


ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON  was  a 
daughter  of  Judge  Daniel  Cady  and 
Margaret  Livingston,  and  was  born  Novem- 
ber 12,  181  5,  at  Johnstown,  New  York.  She 
was  educated  at  the  Johnstown  Academy, 
where  she  studied  with  a  class  of  boys,  and 
was  fitted  for  college  at  the  age  of  fifteen, 
after  which  she  pursued  her  studies  at  Mrs. 
Willard's  Seminary,  at  Troy.  Her  atten- 
tion was  called  to  the  disabilities  of  her  sex 
by  her  own  educational  experiences,  and 
through  a  study  of  Blackstone,  Story,  and 
Kent.  Miss  Cady  was  married  to  Henry  B. 
Stanton  in  1840,  and  accompanied  him  to 
the  world's  anti-slavery  convention  in  Lon- 
don. While  there  she  made  the  acquain- 
tance of  Lucretia  Mott.  Mrs.  Stanton 
resided  at  Boston  until  1847,  when  the 
family  moved  to  Seneca  Falls,  New  York, 
and  she  and  Lucretia  Mott  signed  the  first 
call  for  a  woman's  rights  convention.  The 
meeting  was  held  at  her  place  of  residence 
July  19-20,  1848.  This  was  the  first  oc- 
casion of  a  formal  claim  of  suffrage  for 
women  that  was  made.  Mrs.  Stanton  ad- 
dressed the  New  York  legislature,  in  1S54, 
on  the  rights  of  married  women,  and  in 
i860,  in  advocacy  of  the  granting  of  di- 
vorce for  drunkenness.  She  also  addressed 
the  legislature  and   the    constitutional   con- 


vention, and  maintained  that  during  the 
revision  of  the  constitution  the  state  was 
resolved  into  its  original  elements,  and  that 
all  citizens  had,  therefore,  a  right  to  vote 
for  the  members  of  that  convention.  After 
1869  Mrs.  Stanton  frequently  addressed 
congressional  committees  and  state  consti- 
tutional conventions,  and  she  canvassed 
Kansas,  Michigan,  and  other  states  when 
the  question  of  woman  suffrage  was  sub- 
mitted in  those  states.  Mrs.  Stanton  was 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Revolution,"  and 
most  of  the  calls  and  resolutions  for  con- 
ventions have  come  from  her  pen.  She 
was  president  of  the  national  committee, 
also  of  the  Woman's  Loyal  League,  and 
of  the  National  Association,  for  many  years. 


DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD,  a  great 
American  jurist,  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut in  1805.  He  entered  Williams  College 
when  sixteen  years  old,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  law  in  1825.  In  1828  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  and  went  to  New  York, 
where  he  soon  came  into  prominence  be- 
fore the  bar  of  that  state.  He  entered  upoti 
the  labor  of  reforming  the  practice  and 
procedure,  which  was  then  based  upon  the 
common  law  practice  of  England,  and  had 
become  extremely  complicated,  difficult  and 
uncertain  in  its  application.  His  first  paper 
on  this  subject  was  published  in  1839,  and 
after  eight  years  of  continuous  efforts  in  this 
direction,  he  was  appointed  one  of  a  com- 
mission by  New  York  to  reform  the  practice 
of  that  state.  The  result  was  embodied  in 
the  two  codes  of  procedure,  civil  and  crimi- 
nal, the  first  of  which  was  adopted  almost 
entire  by  the  state  of  New  York,  and  has 
since  been  adopted  by  more  than  half  the 
states  in  the  Union,  and  became  the  basis 
of  the  new  practice  and  procedure  in  Eng- 
land, contained  iii  the  Judicature  act.      He 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIO  GRAPH!'. 


127 


was  later  appointed  chairman  cf  a  new  corn- 
mission  to  codify  the  entire  body  of  laws. 
This  great  work  employed  many  years  in  its 
completion,  but  when  finished  it  embraced 
a  civil,  penal,  and  political  code,  covering 
the  entire  field  of  American  laws,  statutory 
and  common.  This  great  body  of  law  was 
adopted  by  California  and  Dakota  territory 
in  its  entirety,  and  many  other  states  have 
since  adopted  its  substance.  In  1867  the 
British  Association  for  Social  Science  heard 
a  proposition  from  Mr.  Field  to  prepare  an 
international  code.  This  led  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  "  Draft  Outlines  of  an  Interna- 
tional Code,"  which  was  in  fact  a  complete 
body  of  international  laws,  and  introduced 
the  principle  of  arbitration.  Other  of  his 
codes  of  the  state  of  New  York  have  since 
been  adopted  by  that  state. 

In  addition  to  his  great  works  on  law, 
Mr.  Field  indulged  his  literary  tastes  by  fre- 
quent contributions  to  general  literature, 
and  his  articles  on  travels,  literature,  and 
the  political  questions  of  the  hour  gave 
him  rank  with  the  best  writers  of  his  time. 
His  father  was  the  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field, 
and  his  brothers  were  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Rev. 
Henry  Martin  Field,  and  Justice  Stephen 
J.  Field  of  the  United  States  supreme 
court.  David  Dudley  Field  died  at  New 
York,  April  13,   1S94. 


HENRY  M.  TELLER,  a  celebrated 
American  politician,  and  secretary  of 
the  interior  under  President  Arthur,  was  born 
May  23,  1830,  in  Allegany  county,  New 
York.  He  was  of  Hollandish  ancestry  and 
received  an  excellent  education,  after  which 
he  took  up  the  study  of  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  the  state  of  New  York. 
Mr.  Teller  removed  to  Illinois  in  January, 
1858,  and  practiced  for  three  years  in  that 
state.      From  thence  he  moved  to  Colorado 


in  1 86 1  and  located  at  Central  City,  which 
was  then  one  of  the  principal  mining  towns 
in  the  state.  His  exceptional  abilities  as 
a  lawyer  soon  brought  him  into  prominence 
and  gained  for  him  a  numerous  and  profit- 
able clientage.  In  politics  he  affiliated  with 
the  Republican  party,  but  declined  to  become 
a  candidate  for  office  until  the  admission  of 
Colorado  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate. 
Mr.  Teller  drew  the  term  ending  March 
4,  1877,  but  was  re-elected  December  11, 
1876,  and  served  until  April  17,  1882,  when 
he  was  appointed  by  President  Arthur  as 
secretary  of  the  interior.  He  accepted  a 
cabinet  position  with  reluctance,  and  on 
March  3,  1885,  he  retired  from  the  cabinet, 
having  been  elected  to  the  senate  a  short 
time  before  to  succeed  Nathaniel  P.  Hill. 
Mr.  Teller  took  his  seat  on  March  4,  1S85, 
in  the  senate,  to  which  he  was  afterward 
re-elected.  He  served  as  chairmait  on  the 
committee  of  pensions,  patents,  mines  and 
mining,  and  was  also  a  member  of  commit- 
tees on  claims,  railroads,  privileges  and 
elections  and  public  lands.  Mr.  Teller  came 
to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  advo- 
cates of  the  silver  cause.  He  was  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  Republican  National  conven- 
tion at  St.  Louis  in  1896,  in  which  he  took 
an  active  part  and  tried  to  have  a  silver 
plank  inserted  in  the  platform  of  the  party. 
Failing  in  this  he  felt  impelled  to  bolt  the 
convention,  which  he  did  and  joined  forces 
with  the  great  silver  movement  in  the  cam- 
paign which  followed,  being  recognized  in 
that  campaign  as  one  of  the  most  able  and 
eminent  advocates  of  "silver"   in   America. 


JOHN  ERICSSON,  an  eminent  inven- 
tor and  machinist,  who  won  fame  in 
America,  was  born  in  Sweden,  July  31,1 803. 
In   early  childhood  he  evinced  a  decided  in- 


128 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHr. 


clination  to  mechanical  pursuits,  and  at  the 
age  of  eleven  he  was  appointed  to  a  cadet- 
ship  in  the  engineer  corps,  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy. 
In  1826  he  introduced  a  "flame  engine," 
which  he  had  invented,  and  offered  it  to 
English  capitalists,  but  it  was  found  that  it 
could  be  operated  only  by  the  use  of  wood 
for  fuel.  Shortly  after  this  he  resigned  his 
commission  in  the  army  of  Sweden,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  mechanical  pursuits.  He 
discovered  and  introduced  the  principle  of 
artificial  draughts  in  steam  boilers,  and  re- 
ceived a  prize  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  for  his  locomotive,  the  "Novelty," 
which  attained  a  great  speed,  for  that  day. 
The  artificial  draught  effected  a  great  saving 
in  fuel  and  made  unnecessary  the  huge 
smoke-stacks  formerly  used,  and  the  princi- 
ple is  still  applied,  in  modified  form,  in  boil- 
ers. He  ai.so  invented  a  steam  fire-engine, 
and  later  a  hot-air  engine,  which  he  at- 
tempted to  apply  in  the  operation  of  his 
ship,  "Ericsson,"  but  as  it  did  not  give  the 
speed  required,  he  abandoned  it,  but  after- 
wards applied  it  to  machinery  for  pumping, 
hoisting,  etc. 

Ericsson  was  first  to  apply  the  screw 
propeller  to  navigation.  The  English  peo- 
ple not  receiving  this  new  departure  readily, 
Ericsson  came  to  America  in  1839,  and 
built  the  United  States  steamer,  "Prince- 
ton," in  which  the  screw-propeller  was  util- 
ized, the  first  steamer  ever  built  in  which 
the  propeller  was  under  water,  out  of  range 
of  the  enemy's  shots.  The  achievement 
which  gave  him  greatest  renown,  however, 
was  the  ironclad  vessel,  the  "Monitor,"  an 
ei:tirely  new  type  of  vessel,  which,  in  March, 
1862,  attacked  the  Confederate  monster 
ironclad  ram,  "  Virginia,"  and  after  a  fierce 
struggle,  compelled  her  to  withdraw  from 
Hampton  Roads  for  repairs.      After  the  war 


one  of  his  most  noted  inventions  was  his 
vessel,  "  Destroyer,"  with  a  submarine  gun, 
which  carried  a  projectile  torpedo.  In  1S86 
the  king  of  Spain  conferred  on  him  the 
grand  cross  of  the  Order  of  Naval  Merit. 
He  died  in  March,  1889,  and  his  body  was 
transferred,  with  naval  honors,  to  the  country 
of   his  birth. 

JAMES  BUCHANAN,  the  fifteenth  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  in  Franklin 
county,  April  23,  1791.  He  was  of  Irish 
ancestry,  his  father  having  come  to  this 
country  in  1783,  in  quite  humble  circum- 
stances, and  settled  in  the  western  part  of 
the  Kej'stone  state. 

James  Buchanan  remained  in  his  se- 
cluded home  for  eight  years,  enjoying  but 
few  social  or  intellectual  adv9.ntages.  His 
parents  were  industrious  and  frugal,  and 
prospered,  and,  in  1799,  the  family  removed 
to  Mercersbur  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
was  placed  in  school.  His  progress  was 
rapid,  and  in  i8oi  he  entered  Dickinson 
College,  at  Carlisle,  where  he  took  his  place 
among  the  best  scholars  in  the  institution. 
In  1809  he  graduated  with  the  highest  hon- 
ors in  his  class.  He  was  then  eighteen,  tail, 
graceful  and  in  vigorous  health.  He  com- 
menced the  study  of  law  at  Lancaster,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1812.  He  rose 
very  rapidly  in  his  profession  and  took  a 
stand  with  the  ablest  of  his  fellow  lawyers. 
When  but  twenty-six  years  old  he  success- 
fully defended,  unaided  by  counsel,  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  state  who  was  before  the 
bar  of  t.hc  state  senate  under  articles  of  im- 
peachment. 

During  the  war  of  18 12-15,  ^^r.  Buch- 
anan sustained  the  government  with  all  his 
power,  eloquently  urging  the  vigorous  prose- 
cution of  the  war,  and  enlisted  as  a  private 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAP/IT 


129 


volunteer  to  assist  in  repelling  the  British 
who  had  sacked  and  burned  the  public 
buildings  of  Washington  and  threatened 
Baltimore.  At  that  time  Buchanan  was 
a  Federalist,  but  the  opposition  of  that 
party  to  the  war  with  Great  Britain  and  the 
alien  and  sedition  laws  of  John  Adams, 
brought  that  party  into  disrepute,  and  drove 
many,  among  them  Buchanan,  into  the  Re- 
publican, or  anti-Federalist  ranks.  He  was 
elected  to  congress  in  1S28.  In  1831  he 
was  sent  as  minister  to  Russia,  and  upon 
his  return  to  this  country,  in  1833,  was  ele- 
vated to  the  United  States  senate,  and  re- 
mained in  that  position  for  twelve  years. 
Upon  the  accession  of  President  Polk  to 
office  he  made  Mr.  Buchanan  secretary  of 
state.  Four  years  later  he  retired  to  pri- 
vate life,  and  in  1853  he  was  honored  with 
the  mission  to  England.  In  1856  the  na- 
tional Democratic  convention  nominated 
him  for  the  presidency  and  he  was  elected. 
It  was  during  his  administration  that  the 
rising  tide  of  the  secession  movement  over- 
took the  country.  Mr.  Buchanan  declared 
that  the  national  constitution  gave  him  no 
power  to  do  anything  against  the  movement 
to  break  up  the  Union.  After  his  succession 
by  Abraham  Lincoln  in  i860,  Mr.  Buchanan 
retired  to  his  home  at  Wheatland,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  died  June  i,   1868. 


JOHN  HARVARD,  the  founder  of  the 
Harvard  University,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land about  the  year  1608.  He  received  his 
education  at  Emanuel  College,  Cambridge, 
and  came  to  America  in  1637,  settling  in 
Massachusetts.  He  was  a  non-conformist 
minister,  and  a  tract  of  land  was  set  aside 
for  him  in  Charlestown,  near  Boston.  He 
was  at  once  appointed  one  of  a  committee  to 
formulate  a  body  of  laws  for  the  colony. 
One  year  before  his   arrival   in   the  colony 


the  general  court  had  voted  the  sum  of  four 
hundred  pounds  toward  the  establishment  of 
a  school  or  college,  half  of  which  was  to  be 
paid  the  next  year  In  1637  preliminary 
plans  were  made  for  starting  the  school.  In 
1 63 8  John  Harvard,  who  had  shown  great 
interest  in  the  new  institution  of  learning 
proposed,  died,  leaving  his  entire  property, 
about  twice  the  sum  originally  voted,  to  the 
school,  together  with  three  hundred  volumes 
as  a  nucleus  for  a  library.  The  institution 
was  then  given  the  name  of  Harvard,  and 
established  at  Newton  (now  Cambridge), 
Massachusetts.  It  grew  to  be  one  of  the  two 
principal  seats  of  learning  in  the  new  Vv'orld, 
and  has  maintained  its  reputation  since.  It 
now  consists  of  twenty-two  separate  build- 
ings, and  its  curriculum  embraces  over  one 
hundred  and  seventy  elective  courses,  and  it 
ranks  among  the  great  universities  of  the 
world. 

ROGER  BROOKE  TANEY,  a  noted 
jurist  and  chief  justice  of  the  United 
States  supreme  court,  was  born  in  Calvert 
county,  Maryland,  March  17,  1777.  He 
graduated  fiom  Dickinson  College  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  took  up  the  study  of  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1799.  He 
was  chosen  to  the  legislature  from  his  county, 
and  in  1801  removed  to  Frederick,  Mary- 
land. He  became  United  States  senator 
from  Maryland  in  18 16,  and  took  up  his 
permanent  residence  in  'Baltimore  a  few 
years  later.  In  1824  he  became  an  ardent 
admirer  and  supporter  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  upon  Jackson's  election  to  the  presi- 
dency, was  appointed  attorney  general  of 
the  United  States.  Two  years  later  he  was 
appointed  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and 
after  serving  in  that  capacity  for  nearly  one 
year,  the  senate  refused  to  confirm  the  ap- 
pointment.     In    1835,   upon    the    death  of 


130 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


Chief-justice  Marshall,  he  was  appointed  to 
that  place,  and  a  political  change  having 
occurred  in  the  make  up  of  the  senate,  he 
was  confirmed  in  1836.  He  presided  at 
his  first  session  in  January  of  the  following 
year. 

The  case  which  suggests  itself  first  to 
the  average  reader  in  connection  with  this 
jurist  is  the  celebrated  "  Dred  Scott  "  case, 
which  came  before  the  supreme  court  for 
decision  in  1856.  In  his  opinion,  delivered 
on  behalf  of  a  majority  of  the  court,  one 
remarkable  statement  occurs  as  a  result  of 
an  exhaustive  survey  of  the  historical 
grounds,  to  the  effect  that  "  for  more  than 
a  century  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution they  (Africans)  had  been  regarded 
so  far  inferior  tfiat  they  had  no  rights  which 
a  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  Judge 
Taney  retained  the  office  of  chief  justice 
until  his  death,  in  1864. 


JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY.— This  gen- 
tleman had  a  world-wide  reputation  as 
an  historian,  which  placed  him  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  great  men  of  America.  He  was 
born  April  15,  1814,  at  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, was  given  a  thorough  preparatory 
education  and  then  attended  Harvard,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1831'.  He  also 
studied  at  Gottingen  and  Berlin,  read  law 
and  in  1836  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  la 
1 84 1  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  the 
legation  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  in  1866-67 
served  as  United  States  minister  to  Austria, 
serving  in  the  same  capacity  during  1869 
and  1870  to  England.  In  1856,  after  long 
and  exhaustive  research  and  preparation, he 
published  in  London  "The  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic."  It  embraced  three  vol- 
umes and  immediately  attracted  great  at- 
tention throughout  Europe  and  America  as 
a  work  of  unusual   merit.      From    1861    to 


1868  he  produced  "The  History  of  the 
United  Netherlands,"  in  four  volumes. 
Other  works  followed,  with  equal  success, 
and  his  position  as  one  of  the  foremost  his- 
torians and  writers  of  his  day  was  firmly 
established.  His  death  occured  May  29, 
1877-  

ELIAS  HOWE,  the  inventor  of  the  sew- 
ing machine,  well  deserves  to  be  classed 
among  the  great  and  noted  men  of  Amer- 
ica. He  was  the  son  of  a  miller  and  farmer 
and  was  born  at  Spencer,  Massachusetts, 
July  9,  1819.  In  1835  he  went  to  Lowell 
and  worked  there,  and  later  at  Boston,  in  the 
machine  shops.  His  first  sewing  machine 
was  completed  in  1 845 ,  and  he  patented  it  in 
1846,  laboring  with  the  greatest  persistency 
in  spite  of  poverty  and  hardships,  working 
for  a  time  as  an  engine  driver  on  a  railroad 
at  pauper  wages  and  with  broken  health. 
He  tlien  spent  two  years  of  unsuccessful  ex- 
ertion in  England,  striving  in  vain  to  bring 
his  invention  into  public  notice  and  use. 
He  returned  to  the  United  States  in  almost 
hopeless  poverty,  to  find  that  his  patent 
had  been  violated.  At  last,  however,  he 
found  friends  who  assisted  him  financially, 
and  after  years  of  litigation  he  made  gor)d 
his  claims  in  the  courts  in  1854.  His  inven- 
tion afterward  brought  him  a  large  fortune. 
During  the  Civil  war  he  volunteered  as  a 
private  in  the  Seventeenth  Connecticut  Vol- 
unteers, and  served  for  some  time.  During 
his  life  time  he  received  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  and  many  other  medals. 
His  death  occurred  October  3,  1867,  at 
Brooklyn,  New  York. 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS,  celebrated  as  an 
eloquent  preacher  and  able  pulpit  ora- 
tor, was  born  in  Boston  on  the  13th  day  of 
December,     1835.       He    received    excellent 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT 


131 


educational  advantages,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1855.  Early  in  life  he  decided 
upon  the  ministry  as  his  life  work  and 
studied  theology  in  the  Episcopal  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  at  Alexandria,  Virginia.  In 
1859  he  was  ordained  and  the  same  year 
became  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent, 
in  Philadelphia.  Three  years  later  he  as- 
sumed the  pastorate  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  where  he  remained  until  1870. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  accepted 
the  pastoral  charge  of  Trinity  Church  in 
Boston,  where  his  eloquence  and  ability  at- 
tracted mach  attention  and  built  up  a  pow- 
erful church  organization.  Dr.  Brooks  also 
devoted  considerable  time  to  lecturing  and 
literary  work  and  attained  prominence  in 
these  lines. 

WILLIAM  B.  ALLISON,  a  statesman 
of  national  reputation  and  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  was  born 
March  2,  1829,  at  Perry,  Ohio.  He  grew 
up  on  his  father's  farm,  which  he  assisted 
in  cultivating,  and  attended  the  district 
school.  When  sixteen  years  old  he  went 
to  the  academy  at  Wooster,  and  subse- 
quently spent  a  year  at  the  Allegheny  Col- 
lege, at  Meadville,  Pennsylvania.  He  next 
taught  school  and  spent  another  year  at  the 
Western  Reserve  College,  at  Hudson,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Allison  then  took  up  the  study  of  lav/ 
at  Wooster,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1851,  and  soon  obtained  a  position 
as  deputy  county  clerk.  His  political  lean- 
ings were  toward  the  old  line  Whigs,  who 
afterward  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Hj  was  a  delegate  to  the  state 
convention  in  1856,  in  the  campaign  of 
which  lie  supported  Fremont  for  president. 
Mr  Allison  removed  to  Dubuque,  Iowa, 
in  the  following  year.  He  rapidly  rose  to 
prominence  at  the  bar  an  1    i.i  politics.      In 


i860  lie  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  the 
Republican  convention  held  in  Chicago,  of 
which  he  was  elected  one  of  the  secretaries. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  he  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  staff  of  the  governor.  His 
congressional  career  opened  in  1862,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  thirty-eighth  congress; 
he  was  re-elected  three  times,  serving  from 
March  4,  1863,  to  March  3,  1871.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  ways  and  means  committee 
a  good  part  of  his  term.  His  career  in  the 
United  States  senate  began  in  1873,  and  he 
rapidly  rose  to  eminence  in  national  affairs, 
his  service  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  that 
body  being  marked  by  close  fealty  to  the 
Republican  party.  He  twice  declined  the 
portfolio  of  the  treasury  tendered  him  by 
Garfield  and  Harrison,  and  his  name  was 
prominently  mentioned  for  the  presidency 
at  several  national  Republican  conventions. 


JV/|ARY  ASHTON  LIVERMORE,  lec- 
i  V  1  turer  and  v/riter,  was  born  in  Boston, 
December  19,  1821.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Timothy  Rice,  and  married  D.  P.  Liver- 
more,  a  preacher  of  the  Universalist  church. 
She  contributed  able  articles  to  many  of  the 
most  noted  periodicals  of  this  country  and 
England.  During  the  Civil  war  she  labored 
zealously  and  with  success  on  behalf  of  the 
sanitary  commission  which  played  so  impor- 
tant a  part  during  that  great  struggle.  She 
became  editor  of  the  "  Woman's  Journal," 
published  at  Boston  in  1870. 

She  held  a  prominent  place  as  a  public 
speaker  and  writer  on  woman's  suffrage, 
temperance,  social  and  religious  questions, 
and  her  influence  was  great  in  every  cause 
she  advocated. 


JOHN  B.    GOUGH.  a  noted  temperance 
lecturer,  wh  )  wun   his  fame  in  America, 
wa3  born  in   the  village  of  Sandgate,  Kent, 


1^2 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BI0GRAPH7'. 


England,  August  22,  1817.  He  came  to 
the  United  States  at  the  age  of  twelve, 
lie  followed  the  trade  of  bookbinder,  and 
Jived  in  great  poverty  on  account  of  the 
liquor  habit.  In  1843,  however,  he  re- 
formed, and  began  his  career  as  a  tem.per- 
ance  lecturer.  He  worked  zealously  in  the 
cause  of  temperance,  and  his  lectures  and 
published  articles  revealed  great  earnestness. 
He  formed  temperance  societies  throughout 
the  entire  country,  and  labored  with  great 
success.  He  visited  England  in  the  same 
cause  about  the  year  1853  and  again  in 
1878.  He  also  lectured  upon  many  other 
topics,  in  Vv'hich  he  attained  a  wide  reputa- 
tion. His  death  occurred  February  i8, 
1886.  

THOM.\S  BUCHANAN  READ,  author, 
sculptor  and  painter,  was  born  in  Ches- 
ter county,  Pennsylvania,  March  12,  1822. 
He  early  evinced  a  taste  for  art,  and  began 
the  study  of  sculpture  in  Cincinnati.  Later 
he  found  painting  more  to  his  liking.  He 
went  to  New  York,  where  he  followed  this 
profession,  and  later  to  Boston.  In  1846 
he  located  in  Philadelphia.  He  visited 
Italy  in  1850,  and  studied  at  Florence, 
where  he  resided  almost  continuously  for 
twenty-two  years.  He  returned  to  America 
in  1872,  and  died  in  New  York  May  1 1  of 
the  same  year. 

He  was  the  author  of  many  heroic 
poems,  but  the  one  giving  him  the  most  re- 
nown is  his  famous  "Sheridan's  Ride,"  of 
which  he  has  also  left  a  representation  in 
painting. 

EUGENE  V.  DEBS,  the  former  famous 
president  of  the  American  Railway 
Union,  and  great  labor  leader,  was  born  in 
the  city  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  in  1855. 
He   received    his    education    in    the    public 


schools  of  that  place  and  at  the  age  (A 
sixteen  years  began  work  as  a  painter  in 
the  \'andalia  shops.  After  this,  for  some 
three  years,  he  was  employed  as  a  loco- 
motive fireman  on  the  same  road.  His 
first  appearance  in  public  life  was  in  his 
canvass  for  the  election  to  the  ofSce  of  city 
clerk  of  Terre  Haute.  In  this  capacity  he 
served  two  terms,  and  when  twenty  six 
years  of  age  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
legislature  of  the  state  of  Indiana.  While 
a  member  of  that  body  he  secured  the 
passage  of  several  bills  in  the  interest  of 
organized  labor,  of  which  he  was  always 
a  faithful  champion.  Mr.  Debs'  speech 
nominating  Daniel  Voorhees  for  the  United 
States  senate  gave  him  a  wide  reputation  for 
oratory.  On  the  expiration  of  his  term  in 
the  legislature,  he  was  elected  grand  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Fireman  and  filled  that  office 
for  fourteen  successive  years.  He  was 
always  an  earnest  advocate  of  confederation 
of  railroad  men  and  it  was  mainly  through 
his  efforts  that  the  United  Order  of  Railway 
Employes,  composed  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Railway  Trainmen  and  Conductors, 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firem.en  and 
the  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid  Association  was 
formed,  and  he  became  a  member  of  its 
supreme  council.  The  order  was  dissolved 
by  disagreement  between  two  of  its  leading 
orders,  and  then  Mr.  Debs  conceived  ths 
idea  of  the  American  Railway  Union.  He 
worked  on  the  details  and  the  union  came 
into  e.xistence  in  Chicago,  June  20,  i  S93.  For 
a  time  it  prospered  and  became  one  of  the 
largest  bodies  of  railway  men  in  the  world. 
It  won  in  a  contest  with  the  Great  Northern 
Railway.  In  the  strike  made  by  the  union 
in  sympathy  with  the  Pullman  employes 
inaugurated  in  Chicago  June  25.  1S94,  and 
the  consequent  rioting,    the    Railway  Union 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


i;,8 


lost  much  prestige  and  Mr.  Debs,  in  company 
with  others  of  the  officers,  being  held  as  in  con- 
tempt of  the  United  States  courts,  he  suffered 
a  sentence  of  six  months  in  jail  at  Wood- 
stock, McHenry  county,  Ilh'nois.  In  1897 
Mr.  Debs,  on  the  demise  of  the  American 
Railway  Union,  organized  the  Social 
Democracy,  an  institution  founded  on  the 
best  lines  of  the  communistic  idea,  which 
was  to  provide  homes  and  employment  for 
its  members. 


JOHN  G.  CARLISLE,  famous  as  a  law- 
3er,  congressman,  senator  and  cabinet 
officer,  was  born  in  Campbell  (now  Kenton) 
county,  Kentucky,  September  5,  1835,  on  a 
farm.  He  received  tlie  usual  education  oi 
the  time  and  began  at  an  early  age  to  teach 
school  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  study  of 
law.  Soon  opportunity  offered  and  he 
entered  an  office  in  Covington,  Kentucky, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar  in 
1858.  Politics  attracted  his  attention  and 
in  1859  he  was  elected  to  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives in  the  legislature  of  his  native 
state.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1 86 1 , 
he  embraced  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  was 
largely  instrumental  in  preserving  Kentucky 
to  tlie  federal  cause.  He  resumed  his  legal 
practice  for  a  time  and  declined  a  nomina- 
tion as  presidential  elector  in  1864.  In 
1866  and  again  in  1869  Mr.  Carlisle  was 
elected  to  the  senate  of  Kentucky.  ■  He  re- 
signed this  position  in  1871  and  was  chosen 
lieutenant  governor  of  the  state,  which  office 
he  held  until  1875.  He  was  one  of  tiie 
presidential  e!ectors-at- large  for  Ken- 
tucky in  1876.  He  first  entered  congress  in 
1877,  and  soon  became  a  prominent  leader 
on  the  Democratic  side  of  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives, and  continued  a  member  of 
that  body  through  the  forty-sixth,  forty- 
seventh,   forty-eighth    and   forty-ninth   con- 


gresses, and  was  speaker  of  the  house  during 
the  two  latter.  He  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  senate  to  succeed  Senritor 
Blackburn,  and  remained  a  member  of  that 
branch  of  congress  until  March,  1893,  when 
he  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  treasury. 
He  performed  the  duties  of  that  high  office 
until  March  4,  1897,  throughout  the  en- 
tire second  administration  of  President 
Cleveland.  His  ability  and  many  years  of 
public  service  gave  him  a  national  reputa- 
tion. 


FRANCES  E.  WILLARD,  for  many  years 
president  of  the  'Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  and  a  noted  American 
lecturer  and  writer,  was  born  in  Rochester, 
New  York,  September  28,  1839.  Graduating 
from  the  Northwestern  Female  College  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  she  began  teaching  and  met 
with  great  success  in  many  cities  of  the  west. 
She  was  made  directress  of  Genesee  Wes- 
leyan  Seminary  at  Lima,  Ohio,  in  1867,  and 
four  years  later  was  elected  president  of  the 
Evanston  College  for  young  ladies,  a  branch 
of  the  Northwestern  University. 

During  the  two  years  succeeding  1869 
she  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the 
east,  visiting  Egypt  and  Palestine,  a.id 
gathering  materials  for  a  valuable  course  of 
lectures,  which  she  delivered  at  Chicago  on 
her  return.  She  became  very  popular,  and 
won  great  influence  in  the  temperance 
cause.  Her  work  as  president  of  the  Wo- 
man's Christian  Temperance  Union  greatly 
strengthened  that  society,  and  she  made 
frequent  trips  to  Europe  in  the  uiterest  of 
that  cause. 

RICHARD  OLNEY.— Among  the  promi- 
nent men  who  were  members  of  the 
cabinet  of  President  Cleveland  in  his  second 
administration,  the  gentleman  whose  nama 


COMPENDIUM  OF  BJOGRAPHT. 


beads  this  h  :^  i  le^-^Tne  place,  oc- 

ccDving   ^  general 

and  seer 

Mr.  Olney  came  trc  -  est 

and   most   honored  Ncv  _. .. es; 

the  first  of  his  ancestors  to  come  from  Eng- 
land settled  in  Ma^achnsetts  in  1635.  This 
was  Thomas  Olney.  He  was  a  friend  and 
co-religionist  of  Rt^er  Williams,  and  when 
the  latter  moved  to  what  is  now  Rhode 
fcland,  went  with  him  and  became  one  of 
the  founders  of  Providence  Plantations. 

Richard  Olney  was  bom  in  Oxford, 
Massachusetts,  in  1835,  and  received  the 
elements  of  his  earlier  edncation  in  the  com- 
mon schools  which  New  England  is  so  proad 
of.  He  entered  Brown  University,  from 
'vhich  he  graduated  in  1856,  and  passed  the 
Harvard  law  school  two  years  later.  He 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession  with 
J2dge  B.  F.  Thomas,  a  prominent  man  of 
that  locality.  For  years  Richard  Olney  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
ieamed  lawyers  in  Masachnsetts.  Twice 
he  vras  o-?er?-d  a  place  on  the  bench  of  the 
=■-.-.-  —.of  the  state,  bnt  both  times 

be    :  Hr  —1=    ='^^75   z  Democrat 

in  his  f  r.y  years 

was  a  tr-;!    _  ::      i^ :     ; -:=  of  that 

party.  In  1874  Mr.  Olney  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  legislature.  In  1876,  daring 
tfie  heated  presidential  campaign,  to 
^rengthen  the  cause  of  Mr.  Ti-den  in  the 
New  England  states,  it  was  intimated  that 
in  the  event  of  that  gentleman's  election  to 
tne  president^,  Mr.  Olney  would  be  attor- 
t^ev  peoeraL 

\\lien  Grover  Cleveland  was  elected  pr^- 
'*»'jt  of  the  United  States,  on  his  inangnra- 
tica  in  March,  1893,  he  tendered  the  posi- 
con  of  attorney  general  to  Richard  Olney. 
"Ihis  was  accepted,  and  that  gentleman  fel- 
led the  duties  of  the  oSce  ondl  the  death 


of  Walter  O.  Gresham,  in  May.  1895.  made 
vacant  the  position  of  secretar}-  of  state. 
This  post  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Olney.  Whfle  occnpying  the  later 
office.  Mr.  Olney  brooght  hin^elf  into  inter- 
national prominence  by  some  very  able  state 
papers- 


JOHX  j.-^i  KS'l'Iv.  for  many  years  corr.p- 
troller  of  the  carrency.  and  an  emir.ent 
financier,  was  bom  in  Knoxboro,  OneiJa 
coonty.  New  York.  May  19.  1S28.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  education  and  gradoated  at 
Hamilton  College  in  1849.  For  abo'Jt 
thirteen  years  he  was  engaged  as  a  private 
banker,  or  in  a  position  in  a  baak,  where 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  finance.  In  1862.  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  then  secretary  of  the  treasury,  ap- 
pointed him  to  an  oSce  in  that  department 
of  the  government,  and  later  he  had  charge 
of  the  mint  coinage  correapondeace.  In  i  S67 
Mr.  Keox  was  made  deputy  comptixjller 
of  the  carrency,  and  in  that  capacity,  in 
1870.  he  made  two  reports  on  the  mint 
service,  with  a  codification  of  the  mint  and 
coinage  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
sa^esting  many  important  amendments 
These  reports  were  oidered  printed  by  reso- 
lution  of  congress.  The  bill  which  he  pre- 
pared, with  some  slight  changes,  was  sub- 
sequently passed,  and  has  been  known  in 
history  as  the  "  Coinage  Act  of  1873.*' 

In  1872  Mr.  Knox  --vrs  appointed  comp- 
troller of  the  currency,  and  held  that  re- 
sponsible position  nntii  18S4,  when  he  re- 
signed. He  then  accej-ted  the  position  of 
preadent  of  the  Nationsl  Bank  of  the  Re- 
public, of  New  York  City,  which  institation 
he  served  for  many  years.  He  was  the 
authored  "  United  States  Notes,"  published 
in  1884.  In  the  reports  spoken  of  above,  a 
historv  of  the  two  United  States   bacL:  :? 


COMPENDIUM  OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


135 


given,  together  with  that  of  the  state  and 
national  banking  system,  and  oiach  valuable 
statistical  matter  relating  to  kindred  sab- 
ject5. 

NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE.— In  the 
opinion  of  many  critics  Hawthorne  is 
prononnced  the  foremost  American  novelist, 
=i.n  of  romance  is  said 
;r.     His  repatation  is 


~  class  with 

C.  Abbott. 

tre  he  gave 


he  graduated  in  1825 
H    W   L^-- 
He  then  r 

his  attent:o-  :,  .  irrijre 
tales  and  other  articles  ;r 
cals.     His  first  ventore  : 
mgrce.   "*  Fanshaw,'' ore- 
removed  t 

-2  '•  Aaier 

:  OEt  of  eausteace. 
:  ■  Twice  ToM  TaSes, 

ch;  jdy  made  op  of  his  foroaer  c  ; 

tj  magazines.     In  1S3S— 41  he  1..  -  _  ^  -  .- 
tjoo  in  the  Boston  ctEtooi  hoase,  bat  later 
took:----'--   r  "Brook:---     ------ 

a  5C'  --  afta-  the 

In  xtj.1   ..t    -L=  '    i:.i   :v,£ 

res-iesce  at  tLt  ige  at  C- 

MiSi  -   '  -^/-..^^    „5   vziZ^iatX^'iZit    ::: 

his  *  *  ^o>ji-<:rs    pe-«>-n    an    Old 


a  57  ne 


years  Lenox,  Massachusetts. 

and  the  ' '  House  of  the  Seven  Gabies 


J  me. 

was 

E::t-.edale 

Life 

iom 

e  was  ap- 

— pool. 

;ar5, 

aly. 

up 

:tt3. 

e.x- 
N'e'A- 
-       -         -         .n  to 
-./ve  Mr.  Hawthorne 
e    following    books: 
n  Historj-, "   • '  The  Won- 
-:  _ T..;  Snow  Image,"  "Tangle- 
wood   Tales,"    "The  Marble   Fann,"  and 
" '  Oor  Old  Home. "  After  his  death  appeared 
a  series  of  "Notebooks,"  edited  by  his  wife. 


prcf  :i-;i  there,  as  well 
R  In  1852  : 

c:   1 :_ „  Pierce. "a 

he  warmly  regarded. 
pointed  ^ ''■'':'  ----- 
Engiar. 

c 

h-   re 
Uljile 


been  p 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  -  ;    r. 

dent   of  the  United  States,  was   bora 
Febraary  12,  1809,  in  Lame  coanty  f Har- 
din coon^j,  Kentucky,  in  a  If^-cabin  near 
H    '-  —  'e.     >\lien   be  was  er~'  -  -    -- 
ed  with  bis  parents  t 
3  river,    and  a  year  .^-.^r 
His  fatiierthea  married  V.r-.. 


Scarlet  Letter. 

3 


ibos  empsoyed 
-s^rks.   "The 
two 


focdoes   ior  debate,  a  tood  ot  bomor'^. 


136 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


anecdote,  as  well  as  the  composition  of  rude 
verses.  He  made  a  trip  at  the  age  of  nine- 
tctn  to  New  Orleans  on  a  ilat-boat,  and  set- 
tled in  Illinois  in  1830.  He  assisted  his 
father  to  build  a  log  house  and  clear  a  farm 
on  the  Sangamon  river  near  Decatur,  Illinois, 
and  split  the  rails  with  which  to  fence  it.  In 
1 85 1  he  was  employed  in  the  building  of  a 
flat-boat  on  the  Sangamon,  and  to  run  it  to 
New  Orleans.  The  voyage  gave  him  anew 
insight  into  the  horrors  of  slavery  in  the 
south.  On  his  return  he  settled  at  New 
Salem  and  engaged,  first  as  a  clerk  in  a  store, 
then  as  grocer,  surveyor  and  postmaster,  and 
he  piloted  the  first  steamboat  that  as- 
cended the  Sangamon.  He  participated  in 
the  Black  Hawk  war  as  captain  of  volun- 
teers, and  after  his  return  he  studied  law, 
interested  himself  in  politics,  and  became 
prominent  locally  as  a  public  speaker.  He 
was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1834  as  a 
'•  Clay  Whig, "  and  began  at  once  to  dis- 
play a  command  of  language  and  forcible 
rhetoric  that  made  him  a  match  for  his 
more  cultured  opponents.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1837,  and  began  prac- 
tice at  Springfield.  He  married  a  lady  of  a 
prominent  Kentucky  family  in  1842.  He 
was  active  in  the  presidential  campaigns  of 
1840  and  1844  and  was  an  elector  on  the 
Harrison  and  Clay  tickets,  and  was  elected 
to  congress  in  1846,  over  Peter  Cartwright. 
He  voted  for  the  Wilmot  proviso  and  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  opposed  the  war  with  Mexico,  but 
gained  little  prominence  during  his  two 
years'  service.  He  then  returned  to  Spring- 
field and  devoted  his  attention  to  law,  tak- 
ing little  interest  in  politics,  until  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  compromise  and  the  passage 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  in  1 8 54.  This 
awakened  his  interest  in  politics  again  and 
he  attacked  tlie  champion  of  that   measure. 


Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in. a  speech  at  Spring- 
field that  made  him  famous,  and  is  said 
by  those  who  heard  it  to  be  the  greatest 
speech  of  his  life.  Lincoln  was  selected  as 
candidate  for  the  United  States  senate,  but 
was  defeated  by  Trumbull.  Upon  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  the  Whig 
party  suddenly  went  to  pieces,  and  the  Re- 
publican party  gathered  head.  At  the 
Bloomington  Republican  convention  in  1856 
Lincoln  made  an  effective  address  in  v.^hich 
he  first  took  a  position  antagonistic  to  the  ex- 
istence of  slavery.  He  was  a  Fremont  elector 
and  received  a  strong  support  for  nomina- 
tion as  vice-president  in  the  Philadelphia 
convention.  In  1858  he  v/as  the  unanimous 
choice  of  the  Republicans  for  the  United 
States  senate,  and  the  great  campaign  of  de- 
bate which  followed  resulted  in  the  election 
of  Douglas,  but  established  Lincoln's  repu- 
tation as  the  leading  exponent  of  Republican 
doctrines.  He  began  to  be  mentioned  in 
Illinois  as  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and 
a  course  of  addresses  in  the  eastern  states 
attracted  favorable  attention.  When  the 
national  convention  met  at  Chicago,  his 
rivals.  Chase,  Seward,  Bates  and  others, 
were  compelled  to  retire  before  the  western 
giant,  and  he  was.nominated,  with  Hannibal 
Hamlin  as  his  running  mate.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  had  now  been  disrupted,  and 
Lincoln's  election  assured.  He  carried 
practically  every  northern  state,  and  the 
secession  of  South  Carolina,  followed  by  a 
number  of  the  gulf  states,  took  place  before 
his  inauguration.  Lincoln  is  the  only  presi- 
dent who  was  ever  compelled  to  reach 
Washington  in  a  secret  manner.  He  es- 
caped assassination  by  avoiding  Baltimore, 
and  was  quietly  inaugurated  March  4,  1861. 
His  inaugural  address  was  firm  but  con- 
ciliatory, and  he  said  to  the  secessionists: 
"You   h.ave    no  oath  registered   in  hea\en 


COMrEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


137 


to  destroy  the  government,  while  1  have  the 
most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect  and 
(Itfcnd  it.'  He  made  up  his  cabinet  chiefly 
of  those  pohtical  rivals  in  his  own  party — 
Seward,  Chase,  Cameron,  Bates — and  se- 
cured the  co-operation  of  the  Douglas  Dem- 
o.rats.  His  great  deeds,  amidst  the  heat 
and  turmoil  of  war,  were:  His  call  for 
seventy-five  thousand  volunteers,  and  the 
blockading  of  southern  ports;  calling  of  con- 
gress in  extra  session,  July  14,  1S61,  and 
obtaining  f<3ur  hundred  thousand  men  and 
four  hundred  million  dollars  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war;  appointing  Stanton  secre- 
tary of  war;  issuing  the  emancipation  proc- 
lamation; calling  three  hundred  thou- 
sand volunteers;  address  at  Gettysburg 
cemetery;  commissioned  Grant  as  lieuten- 
ant-general and  commander-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States;  his  second 
inaugural  address;  liis  visit  to  the  army  be- 
fore Richmond,  and  his  entry  into  Rich- 
mond the  day  after  its  surrender. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  shot  by  Jotm 
Wi'kes  Booth  in  a  box  in  Ford's  theater 
at  Washington  the  night  of  April  14,  1865, 
and  expired  the  following  morning.  His 
body  was  buried  at  Oak  Ridge  cemetery, 
Springfield,  Illinois,  and  a  monument  com- 
memorating his  great  work  marks  his  resting 
place. 

STEPHEN  GIRARD,  the  celebrated 
philanthropist,  was  born  in  Bordeaux, 
France,  May  24,  1750.  He  became  a  sailor 
engaged  in  the  American  coast  trade,  and 
also  made  frequent  trips  to  the  West  Indies. 
During  the  Revolutionary  war  he  was  a 
grocer  and  liquor  seller  in  Philadelphia. 
He  married  in  that  city,  and  afterward 
separated  from  his  wife.  After  the  war  he 
again  engaged  in  the  coast  and  West  India 
trade,  and  his  fortu.je  began  to  accumulate 


from  receiving  goods  from  West  Indian 
planters  during  the  insurrection  in  Hayti, 
little  of  which  was  ever  called  for  again. 
He  became  a  private  banker  in  Phihidelphia 
in  1812,  and  afterward  was  a  director  in  the 
United  States  Bank.  He  made  much  tnoiiey 
by  leasing  property  in  the  city  in  times  of 
depression,  and  upon  the  revival  of  industry 
sub-leasing  at  enormous  profit.  He  became 
the  wealthiest  citizen  of  the  United  States 
of  his  time. 

He  was  eccentric,  ungracious,  and  a 
freethinker.  He  had  few,  if  any,  friends  in 
his  lifetime.  However,  he  was  most  chari- 
tably disposed,  and  gave  to  charitable  in- 
stitutions and  schools  with  a  liberal  hand. 
He  did  more  than  any  one  else  to  relieve 
the  suffering  and  deprivations  during  the 
great  yellow  fever  scourge  in  Philadelphia, 
devoting  his  personal  attention  to  the  si^k. 
He  endowed  and  ■  made  a  free  institution, 
the  famous  Will's  Eye  and  Ear  Intirnjary 
of  Philadelph  a — one  of  the  largest  institu- 
tions of  its  kind  in  the  world.  At  his  death 
practically  all  his  iu)mense  wealth  was  be- 
queathed to  charitable  institutions,  mure 
than  two  millions  of  dollars  going  to  the 
founding  of  Girard  College,  which  was  to 
be  devoted  to  the  education  and  training  of 
boys  between  the  ag.  s  of  six  and  ten  years. 
Large  donations  were  also  made  to  institu- 
tions in  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans. 
The  [Principal  building  of  Girard  College, is 
the  most  magnificent  example  of  Greek 
architecture  in  America.  Girard  died  De- 
cember 26,    I  S3  I. 


LOUIS  J.  R.  AGASSIZ,  the  eminent  nat- 
uralist and  geolog  st,  was  born  in  the 
parish  of  Motier,  near  Lake  Neuchatel,  Swit- 
zerland, May  28,  1807,  but  attained  his 
greatest  fame  after  becoming  an  American 
citizen.      He  studied  the  medical  sciences  at 


138 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


Zurich,  Heidelberg  and  Munich.  His  first 
work  was  a  Latin  description  of  the  fishes 
which  Martius  and  Spix  brought  from  Brazil. 
This  was  published  in  1 829-3 1  •  He  devoted 
much  time  to  the  study  of  fossil  fishes,  and 
in  1832  was  appointed  professor  of  natural 
history  at  Neuchatel.  He  greatly  increased 
his  reputation  by  a  great  work  in  French, 
entitled  " Researches  on  Fossil  Fishes,"  in 
1832-42,  in  which  he  made  many  important 
improvements  in  the  classification  of  fishes. 
Having  passed  many  summers  among  the 
Alps  in  researches  on  glaciers,  he  propounded 
some  new  and  interesting  ideas  on  geology, 
and  the  agency  of  glaciers  in  his  "Studies 
by  the  Glaciers."  This  was  published  in 
1840.  This  latter  work,  with  his  "  System 
of  the  Glaciers,"  published  in  1847,  '^re 
among  his  principal  works. 

In  1846,  Professor  Agassiz  crossed  the 
ocean  on  a  scientific  excursion  to  the  United 
States,  and  soon  determined  to  remain  here. 
He  accepted,  about  the  beginning  of  1848, 
the  chair  of  zoology  and  geology  at  Harvard. 
He  explored  the  natural  history  of  the 
United  States  at  different  times  and  gave  an 
impulse  to  the  study  of  nature  in  this 
country.  In  1865  he  conducted  an  expedi- 
tion to  Brazil,  and  explored  the  lower  Ama- 
zon and  its  tributaries.  In  1868  he  was 
made  non-resident  professor  of  natural  his- 
tory at  Cornell  University.  In  December, 
1,871,  he  accompanied  the  Hassler  expedi- 
tion, under  Professor  Pierce,  to  the  South 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans.  He  died  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  December  14, 
1873- 

Among  other  of  the  important  works  of 
Professor  Agassiz  may  be  mentioned  the  fol- 
lowing: "Outlines  of  Comparative  Physi- 
ology," "Journey  to  Brazil,"  and  "Contri- 
butions to  the  Natural  History  of  the  United 
States."      It   is  said  of  Professor  Agassiz, 


that,  perhaps,  with  the  exception  of  Hugh 
Miller,  no  one  had  so  popularized  science  in 
his  day,  or  trained  so  many  young  natural- 
ists. Many  of  the  theories  held  by  Agassiz 
are  not  supported  by  many  of  the  natural- 
ists of  these  later  days,  but  upon  many  of 
the  speculations  into  the  origin  of  species  and 
in  physics  he  has  left  the  marks  of  his  own 
strongly  marked  individuality. 


WILLIAM  WINDOM.— As  a  prominent 
and  leading  lawyer  of  the  great  north- 
west, as  a  member  of  both  houses  of  con- 
gress, and  as  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch 
won  for  himself  a  prominent  position  in  the 
history  of  our  country. 

Mr.  Windom  was  a  native  of  Ohio, 
born  in  Belmont  county,  May  10,  1827. 
He  received  a  good  elementary  education  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  state,  and  took  up 
the  study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until 
1855.  In  the  latter  year  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  move  further  west,  and  accordingly 
went  to  Minnesota,  and  opening  an  office, 
became  identified  with  the  interests  of  that 
state,  and  the  northwest  generally.  In 
1858  he  took  his  place  in  the  Minnesota 
delegation  in  the  national  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, at  Washington,  and  continued 
to  represent  his  constituency  in  that  body 
for  ten  years.  In  1871  Mr.  Windom  was 
elected  United  States  senator  from  Min- 
nesota, and  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office 
after  fulfilling  the  duties  of  the  position  for 
a  full  term,  in  1876.  On  the  inauguration 
of  President  Garfield,  in  March,  1881,  Mr. 
Windom  became  secretary  of  the  treasury 
in  his  cabinet.  He  resigned  this  office  Oc- 
tober 27,  i88t,  and  was  elected  senator 
from  the   North  Star  state    to  fill   the   va- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


139 


cancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  A.  J. 
Etlgerton.  Mr.  Wiiidoni  served  in  that 
chamber  until  March,    1883. 

WilHam    Windom    died    in     New    Yurk 
City  January  29,    1S91. 


DON  M.  DICKINSON,  an  American 
politician  and  lawyer,  was  born  in 
Port  Ontario,  New  York,  January  17,  1846. 
lie  removed  with  his  parents  to  Michigan 
when  he  was  but  two  years  old.  He  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Detroit 
and  at  the  University  of  Michigan  at  Ann 
Arbor,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one.  In  1872  he  was  made 
secretary  of  the  Democratic  state  central 
committee  of  Michigan,  and  his  able  man- 
agement of  the  campaign  gave  him  a  prom- 
inent place  in  the  councils  of  his  party.  In 
1876,  during  the  Tilden  campaign,  he  acted 
as  chairman  of  the  state  central  committee. 
He  was  afterward  chosen  to  represent  his 
state  in  the  Democratic  national  committee, 
and  in  1886  he  was  appointed  postmaster- 
general  by  President  Cleveland.  After  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  he  returned 
to  Detroit  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law. 
In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1896,  Mr. 
Dickinson  adhered  to  the  "gold  wing  "of 
the  Democracy,  and  his  influence  was  felt 
in  the  national  canvass,  and  especially  in 
his  own  state. 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR,  the  founder  of 
vJ  the  Astor  family  and  fortiines,  while  not 
a  native  of  this  country,  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  men  of  his  time,  and  as  all  his 
wealth  and  fame  were  acquired  here,  he 
may  well  be  classed  among  America's  great 
men.  He  was  born  near  Heidelberg,  Ger- 
many, July  17,  1763,  and  when  twenty 
years  old  emigrated  to  the  United  States. 
Even  at  that   age   he  exhibited  remarkable 


business  ability  and  foresight,  and  soon  he 
was  investing  capital  in  furs  which  he  took 
to  London  and  sold  at  a  great  profit.  He 
next  settled  at  New  York,  and  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  the  fur  trade.  He  exported 
furs  to  Europe  in  his  own  vessels,  which  re- 
turned with  cargoes  of  foreign  commodities, 
and  thus  he  rapidly  amassed  an  immense 
fortune.  In  181 1  he  founded  Astoria  on 
the  western  coast  of  North  America,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river,  as  a  depot 
for  the  fur  trade,  for  the  promotion  of 
which  he  sent  a  number  of  expeditions  to 
the  Pacific  ocean.  He  also  purchased  a 
large  amount  of  real  estate  in  New  York, 
the  value  of  which  increased  enormously 
All  through  life  his  business  ventures  were 
a  series  of  marvelous  successes,  and  he 
ranked  as  one  of  the  most  sagacious  and 
successful  business  men  in  the  world.  He 
died  March  29,  1848,  leaving  a  fortune  es- 
timated at  over  twenty  million  dollars  to 
his  children,  who  have  since  increased  it. 
John  Jacob  Astor  left  $400,000  to  found  a 
public  library  in  New  York  City,  and  his  son, 
William  B.  Astor,  who  died  in  1875,  left 
$300,000  to  add  to  his  father's  bequest. 
This  is  known  as  the  Astor  Library,  one  of 
the  largest  in  the  United  States. 


SCHUYLER  COLFAX,  an  eminent 
American  statesman,  was  born  in  New 
York  City,  March  23,  1823,  being  a  grand- 
son of  General  William  Colfax,  the  com- 
mander of  Washington's  life-guards.  In 
1836  he  removed  with  his  mother,  who  was 
then  a  widow,  to  Indiana,  settling  at  South 
Bend.  Young  Schuyler  studied  law,  and 
in  1845  became  editor  of  the  "St.  Josepli 
Valley  Register,"  a  Whig  paper  published 
at  South  Bend.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  which  formed  a  new  constitu- 
tion   for  Indiana  in  1850,  and   he  opposed 


140 


COMPENDIUM   OF  BIOGRAPHY. 


the  clause  tliat  prohibited  colored  men 
from  settling  in  that  state.  In  1851  he  was 
defeated  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  congress 
but  was  elected  in  1854,  and,  being  repeat- 
edly re-elected,  continued  to  represent  that 
district  in  congress  until  1869.  He  became 
one  of  the  most  prominent  and  influential 
members  of  the  house  of  representatives, 
and  served  three  terms  as  speaker.  During 
the  Civil  war  he  was  an  active  participant 
in  all  public  measures  of  importance,  and 
was  a  confidential  friend  and  adviser  of 
President  Lincoln.  In  May,  1868,  Mr. 
Colfax  was  nominated  for  vice-president  on 
the  ticket  with  General  Grant,  and  was 
elected.  After  the  close  of  his  term  he  re- 
tired from  office,  and  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  lectur- 
ing and  literary  pursuits.  His  death  oc- 
curred January  23,  1885.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  in  America, 
and  that  order  erected  a  bronze  statue  to 
his  memory  in  University  Park,  Indianapo- 
lis, Indiana,  which  was  unveiled  in  May, 
1SS7. 

WILLIAM  FREEMAN  VILAS,  who  at- 
tained a  national  reputation  as  an  able 
lawyer,  statesman,  and  cabinet  officer,  was 
born  at  Chelsea,  Vermont,  July  g,  1840. 
His  parents  removed  to  Wisconsin  when 
our  subject  was  but  eleven  years  of  age, 
and  there  with  the  early  settlers  endured  ail 
the  hardships  and  trials  incident  to  pioneer 
life.  William  F.  Vilas  was  given  all  the 
advantages  found  in  the  common  schools, 
and  supplemented  this  by  a  course  of  study 
in  the  Wisconsin  State  University,  after 
wliich  he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  and  began  practicing  at  Madison. 
Shortly  afterward  the  Civil  war  broke  oat 
and  Mr.  Vilas  enlisted   and  became   colonel 


of  the  Twenty-third  regiment  of  Wisconsin 
Volunteers,  serving  throughout  the  war  with 
distinction.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  re- 
turned to  Wisconsin,  resumed  his  law  prac- 
tice, and  rapidly  rose  to  eminence  in  this 
profession.  In  1885  he  was  selected  by 
President  Cleveland  for  postmaster-general 
and  at  the  close  of  his  term  again  returned 
to  Madison,  Wisconsin,  to  resume  the  prac- 
tice of  law. 


THOMAS  McINTYRE  COOLEY,  an  em- 
inent American  jurist  and  law  writer, 
was  born  in  Atticji,  New  York,  January  6, 
1824.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1846, 
and  four  years  later  was  appointed  reporter 
of  the  supreme  court  of  Michigan,  which 
office  he  continued  to  hold  for  seven  years. 
In  the  meantime,  in  1859,  he  became  pro- 
fessor of  the  law  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  and  soon  afterward  was 
made  dean  of  the  faculty  of  that  depart- 
ment. In  1864  he  was  elected  justice  of 
the  supreme  court  of  Michigan,  in  1867  be- 
came chief  justice  of  that  court,  and  in 
1869  was  re-elected  for  a  term  of  eight 
years.  In  1881  he  again  joined  the  faculty 
of  the  University  of  Michigan,  assuming  the 
professorship  of  constitutional  and  adminis- 
trative law.  His  works  on  these  branches 
have  become  standard,  and  he  is  recog- 
nized as  authority  on  this  and  related  sub- 
jects. Upon  the  passage  of  the  inter-state 
commerce  law  in  1887  he  became  chairman 
of  the  commission  and  served  in  that  capac- 
ity four  years. 


JOHN  PETER  ALTGELD,  a  noted 
kJ  American  politician  and  writer  on  social 
questions,  was  born  in  Germany,  December 
30,  1847.  He  came  to  America  with  his 
parents  and  settled  in  Ohio  when  two  years 
old.      In  1 SG4  lij  entered  the  Union  army 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIIT. 


141 


and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war,  after 
wliich  he  settled  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  He 
was  elected  judge  of  the  superior  court  of 
Cook  county,  Illinois,  in  1886,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  until  elected  governor  of 
Illinois  in  1892,  as  a  Democrat.  During 
the  first  year  of  his  term  as  governor  he  at- 
tracted national  attention  by  his  pardon  of 
the  anarchists  convicted  of  the  Hajniarkct 
murder  in  Chicago,  and  again  in  1894  by 
his  denunciation  of  President  Cleveland  for 
calling  out  federal  troops  to  suppress  the 
rioting  in  connection  with  the  great  Pull- 
man strike  in  Chicago.  At  the  national 
convention  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Chi- 
cago, in  July,  1896,  he  is  said  to  have  in- 
spired the  clause  in  the  platform  denuncia- 
tory of  interference  by  federal  authorities  in 
local  affairs,  and  "government  by  injunc- 
tion." He  was  gubernatorial  candidate  for 
re-election  on  the  Democratic  ticket  in  1896, 
but  was  defeated  by  John  R.  Tanner,  Re- 
publican. Mr.  Altgeld  published  two  vol- 
umes of  essays  on  "  Live  Questions,"  evinc- 
ing radical  views  on  social  matters. 


ADLAI  EWING  STEVENSON, an  Amer. 
ican  statesman  and  politician,  was  born 
in  Christian  county,  Kentucky,  October  23, 
1835,  and  removed  witli  the  family  to 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  in  1852.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858,  and  set- 
tled in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Metamora,  Illinois.  In  1861  he  was 
made  master  in  chancery  of  Woodford 
county,  and  in  1864  was  elected  state's  at- 
torney. In  1868  he  returned  to  Blooming- 
ton  and  formed  a  law  partnership  with 
James  S.  Ewing.  He  had  served  as  a  pres- 
idential elector  in  1864,  and  in  1868  was 
elected  to  congress  as  a  Democrat,  receiv- 
ing a  majority  vote  from  every  county  in  his 
district.      He     became     promment     in     his 


party,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  national 
convention  in  1884.  On  the  election  of 
Cleveland  to  the  presidency  Mr.  Stevenson 
was  appointed  first  assistant  postmaster- 
general.  After  the  expiration  of  his  term 
he  continued  to  e.xert  a  controlling  influence 
in  the  politics  of  his  state,  and  in  1892  was 
elected  vice-president  of  the  United  States 
on  the  ticket  vvith  Grover  Cleveland.  At 
the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  he  re- 
sumed the  practice  of  law  at  Bloomington, 
Illinois. 

SIMON  CAMERON,  whose  name  is 
prominently  identified  with  the  history 
of  the  United  States  as  a  political  leader 
and  statesman,  was  bom  in  Lancaster  coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  March  8,  1799.  He  grew 
to  manhood  in  his  native  county,  receiving 
good  educational  advantages,  and  develop- 
ing a  natural  inclination  for  political  life. 
He  rapidly  rose  in  prominence  and  became 
the  most  influential  Democrat  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  in  1845  waselected  by  that  party 
to  the  United  States  senate.  Upon  the 
organization  of  the  Republican  party  he  was 
one  of  the  first  to  declare  his  allegiance  to 
it,  and  in  1856  was  re-elected  United  States 
senator  from  Pennsylvania  as  a  Republican. 
In  March,  1861,  he  was  appointed  secretary 
of  war  by  President  Lincoln,  and  served 
until  early  in  1862,  when  he  was  sent  as 
minister  to  Russia,  returning  in  1863.  In 
1866  he  was  again  elected  United  States 
senator  and  served  until  1877,  when  he  re- 
signed and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  James 
Donald  Cameron.  He  continued  to  exert  a 
powerful  influence  in  political  affairs  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death,  June  26,   1889. 

James  Donald  Cameron  was  the  eld- 
est son  of  Simon  Cameron,  and  also 
attained  a  high  rank  among  American 
st.itesmen.      He   was     born   at   Harrisburg, 


144 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


Pennsylvania,  May  14,  1833,  and  received  an 
excellent  education,  graduating  at  Princeton 
College  in  1852.  He  rapidly  developed  into 
one  of  the  most  able  and  successful  business 
men  cf  the  country  and  was  largely  .inter- 
ested in  and  identified  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  coal,  iron,  lumber  and  manu- 
facturing interests  of  his  native  state.  He 
served  as  cashier  and  afterward  president  of 
the  Middletownbank,  and  in  1861  was  made 
vice-president,  and  in  1863  president  of 
the  Northern  Central  railroad,  holding  this 
position  until  1874,  when  he  resigned  and 
was  succeeded  by  Thomas  A.  Scott.  This 
road  was  of  great  service  to  the  government 
during  the  war  as  a  means  of  communica- 
tion between  Pennsylvania  and  the  national 
capital,  via  Baltimore.  Mr.  Cameron  also 
took  an  active  part  in  political  affairs, 
always  as  a  Republican.  In  May,  1876, 
he  was  appointed  secretary  of  war  in  Pres- 
ident Grant's  cabinet,  and  in  1877  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  United  States 
senate.  He  was  re-elected  in  1885,  and 
again  in  1 891,  serving  until  1896,  and  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  members  of  that  bodv. 


ADOLPHUS  W.  GREELEY,  a  famous 
American  arctic  explorer,  was  born  at 
Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  March  27, 
1844.  He  graduated  from  Brown  High 
School  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  a  year 
later  enlisted  in  Company  B,  Nineteenth 
Massachusetts  Infantry,  and  was  made  first 
sergeant.  In  1863  he  was  promoted  to 
second  lieutenant.  After  the  war  he  was 
assigned  to  the  Fifth  United  States  Cavalry, 
and  became  first  lieutenant  in  1873.  He 
was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  United  States 
■signal  service  shortly  after  the  close  of  the 
-war.  An  expedition  was  fitted  out  by  the 
United    States    government     in    18S1,    un- 


der auspices  of  the  weather  bureau,  and 
Lieutenant  Greeley  placed  in  command. 
They  set  sail  from  St.  Johns  the  first  week 
in  July,  and  after  nine  days  landed  in  Green- 
land, where  they  secured  the  services  of  two 
natives,  together  with  sledges,  dogs,  furs 
and  equipment.  They  encountered  an  ice 
pack  early  in  August,  and  on  the  '28th  of 
that  month  freezing  weather  set  in.  Two 
of  his  party.  Lieutenant  Lockwood  and  Ser- 
geant Brainard,  added  to  the  known  maps 
about  forty  miles  of  coast  survey,  and 
reached  the  highest  point  yet  attained  by 
man,  eighty-three  degrees  and  twenty-four 
minutes  north,  longitude,  forty-four  degrees 
and  five  minutes  west.  On  their  return  to 
Fort  Conger,  Lieutenant  Greeley  set  out 
for  the  south  on  August  9,  1883.  He 
reached  Baird  Inlet  twenty  days  later  with 
liis  entire  party.  Here  they  were  compelled 
to  abandon  their  boats,  and  drifted  on  an 
ice-floe  for  one  month.  They  then  went 
into  camp  at  Cape  Sabine,  where  tliey  suf- 
fered untold  hardships,  and  eighteen  of  the 
party  succumbed  to  cold  and  hunger,  and 
had  relief  been  delayed  two  days  longer 
none  would  have  been  found  alive.  They 
were  picked  up  by  the  relief  expedition, 
under  Captain  Schley,  June  22,  1884.  The 
dead  were  taken  to  New  York  for  burial. 
Many  sensational  stories  were  published 
concerning  the  expedition,  and  Lieutenant 
Greeley  prepared  an  exhaustive  account 
of  his  explorations  and  experiences. 


LEVI  P.  MORTON,  the  millionaire  poli- 
tician, was  born  in  Shoreham,  Ver- 
mont, May  16,  1824,  and  his  early  educa- 
tion consisted  of  the  rudiments  which  he 
obtained  in  the  common  school  up  to  the 
age  of  fourteen,  and  after  that  time  what 
knowledge  he  gained  was  wrested  from  the 
hard  school  of  experience.      He  removed  to 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPIir. 


143 


Hanover,  Vermont,  then  Concord,  Vermont, 
and  afterwards  to  Boston.  He  had  worked 
in  a  store  at  Shoreham,  his  native  village, 
and  on  going  to  Hanover  he  established  a 
store  and  went  into  business  for  himself. 
In  Boston  he  clerked  in  a  dry  goods  store, 
and  then  opened  a  business  of  his  own  in 
the  same  line  in  New  York.  After  a  short 
career  he  failed,  and  was  compelled  to  set- 
tle with  his  creditors  at  only  fifty  cents  on 
the  dollar.  He  began  the  struggle  anew, 
and  when  the  war  began  he  established  a 
banking  house  in  New  York,  with  Junius 
Morgan  as  a  partner.  Through  his  firm 
and  connections  the  great  government  war 
loans  were  floated,  and  it  resulted  in  im- 
mense profits  to  his  house.  When  he  was 
again  thoroughly  established  he  invited  his 
former  creditors  to  a  banquet,  and  under 
each  guest's  plate  was  found  a  check  cover- 
ing the  amount  of  loss  sustained  respec- 
tively, with  interest  to  date. 

President  Garfield  appointed  Mr.  Mor- 
ton as  minister  to  France,  after  he  had  de- 
clined the  secretaryship  of  the  navy,  and  in 
1888  he  was  nominated  as  candidate  for 
vice-president,  with  Harrison,  and  elected. 
In  1894  he  was  elected  governor  of  New 
York  over  David  B.  Hill,  and  served  one 
term. 


CHARLES  KENDALL  ADAMS,  one 
of  the  most  talented  and  prominent 
educators  this  country  has  known,  was  born 
January  24,  1835,  ^t  Derby,  Vermont.  He 
received  an  elementary  education  in  the 
common  schools,  and  studied  two  terms  in 
the  Derby  Academy.  Mr.  Adams  moved 
with  his  parents  to  Iowa  in  1856.  He  was 
very  anxious  to  pursue  a  collegiate  course, 
but  this  was  impossible  until  he  had  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-one.  In  the  autumn  of 
1856  he  began  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek 


at  Denmark  Academy,  and  in  September, 
1857,  he  was  admitted  to  the  University  of 
Michigan.  Mr.  Adams  was  wholly  depend- 
ent upon  himself  for  the  means  of  his  edu- 
cation. During  his  third  and  fourth  year 
he  became  deeply  interested  in  historical 
studies,  was  assistant  librarian  of  the  uni- 
versity, and  determined  to  pursue  a  post- 
graduate course.  In  1864  he  was  appointed 
instructor  of  history  and  Latin  and  v/as  ad- 
vanced to  an  assistant  professorship  in  1865, 
and  in  1867,  on  the  resignation  of  Professoi 
White  to  accept  the  presidency  of  Cornell, 
he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  chair  of  profes- 
sor of  history.  This  he  accepted  on  con- 
dition of  his  being  allowed  to  spend  a  year 
for  special  study  in  Germany,  France  and 
Italy.  Mr.  Adams  returned  in  1868,  and 
assumed  the  duties  of  his  professorship. 
He  introduced  the  German  system  for  the 
instruction  of  advanced  history  classes,  and 
his  lectures  were  largely  attended.  In  1885, 
on  the  resignation  of  President  White  at 
Cornell,  he  was  elected  his  successor  and 
held  the  office  for  seven  years,  and  on  Jan- 
uary 17,  1893,  he  was  inaugurated  presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Pres- 
ident Adams  was  prominently  connected 
with  numerous  scientific  and  literary  organ- 
izations and  a  frequent  contributor  to  the 
historical  and  educational  data  in  the  peri- 
odicals and  journals  of  the  country.  He 
was  the  author  of  the  following:  "  Dem- 
ocracy and  Monarchy  in  France,"  "  Manual 
of  Historical  Literature,"  "  A  Plea  for  Sci- 
entific Agriculture,"  "  Higher  Education  in 
Germany." 

JOSEPH  B.  FORAKER,  a  prominent  po- 
litical leader  and  e.x-governor  of  Ohio, 
was  born  near  Rainsboro,  Highland  county, 
Ohio,  July  5,  1846.  His  parents  operated 
a  small  farm,  with  a  grist  and  sawmill,  hav- 


144 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BlOGRAPIir. 


ing  emigrated  hither  from  Virginia  and 
Delaware  on  account  of  their  distaste  for 
slavery. 

Joseph  was  reared  upon  a  farm  until 
1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Eighty-ninth 
Ohio  Infantry.  Later  he  was  made  ser- 
geant, and  in  1864  commissioned  first  lieu- 
tenant. The  next  year  he  was  brevetted 
captain.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was 
mustered  out  of  the  army  after  a  brilliant 
service,  part  of  the  time  being  on  the  staff 
of  General  Slocum.  He  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Missionary  Ridge,  Lookout  Mount- 
ain and  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  in  Sher- 
man's march  to  the  sea. 

For  two  years  subsequent  to  the  war 
young  Foraker  was  studying  at  the  Ohio 
Wesleyan  University  at  Delaware,  but  later 
went  to  Cornell  University,  at  Unity,  New 
York,  from  which  he  graduated  July  i, 
1869.  He  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  In  1879  Mr.  Foraker  was  elected 
judge  of  the  superior  court  of  Cincinnati 
and  held  the  office  for  three  years.  In  1883 
he  was  defeated  in  the  contest  for  the  gov- 
ernorship with  Judge  Hoadly.  In  1885, 
however,  being  again  nominated  for  the 
same  office,  he  was  elected  and  served  two 
terms.  In  1889,  in  running  for  governor 
again,  this  time  against  James  E.  Camp- 
bell, he  was  defeated.  Two  years  later  his 
career  in  the  United  States  senate  began. 
Mr.  Foraker  was  always  a  prominent  figure 
at  all  national  meetings  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  a  strong  power,  politically,  in  his 
native  state. 


LYMAN  ABBOTT,  an  eminent  American 
preacher  and  writer  on  religious  sub- 
jects, came  of  a  noted  New  England 
family.  His  father.  Rev.  Jacob  Abbott,  was 
a  prolific  and  popular  writer,  and  his  uncle. 
Rev.    John    S.    C.     Abbott,   was    a    noted 


preacher  and  author.  Lyman  Abbott  was 
born  December  18,  1835,  in  Roxbury, 
Massachusetts.  He  graduated  at  the  New 
York  University,  in  1853,  studied  law,  and 
practiced  for  a  time  at  tlte  bar,  after  which 
he  studied  theology  with  his  uncle.  Rev. 
John  S.  C.  Abbott,  and  in  i860  was  settled 
in  the  ministry  at  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  re- 
maining there  until  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  then  became  connected  with  the 
Freedmen's  Commission,  continuing  this 
until  1868,  when  he  accepted  the  pastorate 
of  the  New  England  Congregational  church, 
in  New  York  City.  A  few  years  later  he  re- 
signed, to  devote  his  time  principally  to  lit- 
erary pursuits.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
edited  for  the  American  Tract  Society,  its 
"Illustrated  Christian  Weekly,"  also  the 
New  York  "Christian  Union."  He  pro- 
duced many  works,  which  had  a  wide  circu- 
lation, among  which  may  be  mentioned  the 
following:  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  His  Life  and 
Teachings,"  "Old  Testament  Shadows  of 
New  Testament  Truths,"  "Morning  and 
Evening  Exercises,  Selected  from  Writings 
of  Henry  Ward  Beecher, "  "  Laicus,  or  the 
Experiences  of  a  Layman  in  a  Country 
Parish,"  "Popular  Religious  Dictionary," 
and  "Commentaries  on  Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke,  John  and  Acts." 


GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS.— The 
well-known  author,  orator  and  journal- 
ist whose  name  heads  this  sketch,  was  born 
at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  February  24, 
1824.  Having  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
most  excellent  education  in  his  native  land, 
he  went  to  Europe  and  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Berlin.  He  made  an  extensive 
tour  throughout  the  Levant,  from  which  he 
returned  home  in  1850.  At  that  early  age 
literature  became  his  field  of  labor,  and  in 
185  I  he  published  his  first  important  work, 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


145 


"  Nile  Notes  of  a  Howadji."  In  1852  two 
works  issued  from  his  facile  pen,  "The 
Howadji  in  Syria,"  and  "Lotus-Eating." 
Later  on  he  was  the  author  of  the  well- 
known  "  Potiphar  Papers,"  "  Prue  and  L" 
and  "Trumps."  He  greatly  distinguished 
himself  throughout  this  land  as  a  lecturer 
on  many  subjects,  and  as  an  orator  had  but 
few  peers.  He  was  also  well  known  as  one 
of  the  most  fluent  speakers  on  the  stump, 
making  many  political  speeches  in  favor  of 
the  Republican  party.  In  recognition  of 
his  valuable  services,  Mr.  Curtis  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Grant,  chairman  of 
the  advisory  board  of  the  civil  service.  Al- 
though a  life-long  Republican,  Mr.  Curtis 
refused  to  support  Blaine  for  the  presidency 
in  1884,  because  of  his  ideas  on  civil  ser- 
vice and  other  reforms.  For  his  memorable 
and  magnificent  eulogy  on  Wendell  Phillips, 
delivered  in  Boston,  in  1884,  that  city  pre- 
sented Mr.  Curtis  with  a  gold  medal. 

George  W.  Curtis,  however,  is  best 
known  to  the  reading  public  of  the  United 
States  by  his  connection  with  the  Harper 
Brothers,  having  been  editor  of  the  "Har- 
per's Weekly,"  and  of  the  "  Easy  Chair," 
in  "  Harper's  Monthly  Magazine,  "for  many 
years,  in  fact  retaining  that  position  until 
the  day  of  his  death,  which  occurred  August 
31.   1892.  

ANDREW  JOHNSON,  the  seventeenth 
president  of  the  United  States,  served 
from  1865  to  1869.  He  was  born  Decem- 
ber 8,  1808,  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
and  was  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  four 
years.  He  never  attended  school,  and  was 
apprenticed  to  a  tailor.  While  serving  his 
apprenticeship  he  suddenly  acquired  a  pas- 
sion for  knowledge,  atjd  learned  to  read. 
From  that  time  on  he  spent  all  his  spare 
time  in  reading,  and    after  working   for  two 


years  as  a  journeyman  tailor  at  Lauren's 
Court  House,  South  Carolina,  he  removed 
to  Greenville,  Tennessee,  where  he  worked 
at  his  trade  and  was  married.  Under  his 
wife's  instruction  he  made  rapid  progress  in 
his  studies  and  manifested  such  an  interest 
in  local  politics  as  to  be  elected  as  "  work- 
ingmen's  candidate  "  alderman  in  1828,  and 
in  1830  to  the  mayoralty,  and  was  twice 
re-elected  to  each  office.  Mr.  Johnson 
utilized  this  time  in  cultivating  his  talents 
as  a  public  speaker,  by  taking  part  in  a  de- 
bating society.  He  was  elected  in  1835  to 
the  lower  house  of  the  legislature,  was  re- 
elected in  1839  as  a  Democrat,  and  in 
1 84 1  was  elected  state  senator.  Mr.  John- 
son was  elected  representative  in  congress 
in  1843  and  was  re-elected  four  times  in 
succession  until  1853,  when  he  was  the  suc- 
cessful candidate  for  the  gubernatorial  chair 
of  Tennessee.  He  was  re-elected  in  1855 
and  in  1857  he  entered  the  United  States 
senate.  In  i860  he  was  supported  by  the 
Tennessee  delegation  to  the  Democratic 
convention  for  the  presidential  nomination, 
and  lent  his  influence  to  the  Breckinridge 
wing  of  the  party.  At  the  election  of  Lin- 
coln, which  brought  about  the  first  attempt 
at  secession  in  December,  i860,  Mr.  John- 
son took  a  firm  attitude  in  the  senate  for 
the  Union.  He  was  the  leader  of  the  loy- 
alists in  East  Tennessee.  By  the  course 
that  Mr.  Johnson  pursued  in  this  crisis  he 
was  brought  prominently  before  the  north- 
ern people,  and  when,  in  March,  1S62,  he 
was  appointed  military  governor  of  Ten- 
nessee with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general, 
he  increased  his  popularity  by  the  vigorous 
manner  in  which  he  labored  to  restore 
order.  In  the  campaign  of  1864  he  was 
elected  vice-president  on  the  ticket  with 
President  Lincoln,  and  upon  the  assassi- 
nation of  the    latter    he    succeeded    to  the 


146 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRATHT. 


presidency,  April  15,  1865.  He  retained 
the  cabinet  of  President  Lincoln,  and  at 
first  exhibited  considerable  severity  towards 
the  former  Confederates,  but  he  soon  inau- 
gurated a  policy  of  reconstruction,  pro- 
claimed a  general  amnesty  to  the  late  Con- 
federates, and  established  provisional  gov- 
ernments in  the  southern  states.  These 
states  claimed  representation  in  congress  in 
the  following  December,  and  then  arose  the 
momentous  question  as  to  what  should  be 
the  policy  of  the  victorious  Union  against 
their  late  enemies.  The  Republican  ma- 
jority in  congress  had  an  apprehension  that 
the  President  would  undo  the  results  of  the 
war,  and  consequently  passed  two  bills  over 
the  executive  veto,  and  the  two  highest 
branches  of  the  government  v.'ere  in  open 
antagonism.  The  cabinet  was  reconstructed 
in  July,  and  Messrs.  Randall,  Stanbury  and 
Browning  superseded  Messrs.  Denison, 
Speed  and  Harlan.  In  August,  1867,  Pres- 
ident Johnson  removed  the  secretary  of  war 
and  replaced  him  with  General  Grant,  but 
when  congress  met  in  December  it  refused 
to  ratify  the  removal  of  Stanton,  who  re- 
sumed the  functions  of  his  office.  In  1868 
the  president  again  attempted  to  remove 
Stanton,  who  refused  to  vacate  his  post 
and  was  sustained  by  the  senate.  Presi- 
dent Johnson  was  accused  by  congress  of 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  but  the  trial 
resulted  in  his  acquittal.  Later  he  was  Uni- 
ted States  senator  from  Tennessee,  and 
died  July  31,  1875. 


EDMUND  RANDOLPH,  first  attorney- 
general  of  the  United  States,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  August  10,  1753.  His  father, 
John  Randolph,  was  attorney-general  of 
Virginia,  and  lived  and  died  a  royalist.  Ed- 
mund was  educated  in  the  law.  but  joined 
the  army  as   aide-de-camp   to    Washington 


in  1775,  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  He 
was  elected  to  the  Virginia  convention  in 
1776,  and  attorney-general  of  the  state  the 
same  year.  In  1779  he  was  elected  to  the 
Continental  congress,  and  served  four  years 
in  that  body.  He  was  a  member  of  the  con- 
vention in  1787  that  framed  the  constitu- 
tion. In  that  convention  he  proposed  what 
was  known  as  the  "  Virginia  plan"  of  con- 
federation, but  it  was  rejected.  He  advo- 
cated the  ratification  of  the  constitution  in 
ttie  Virginia  convention,  although  he  had  re- 
fused to  sign  it.  He  became  governor  of 
Virginia  in  1788,  and  the  next  year  Wash- 
ington appointed  him  to  the  office  of  at- 
torney-general of  the  United  States  upon 
the  organization  of  the  government  under 
the  constitution.  He  was  appointed  secre- 
tary of  state  to  succeed  Jefferson  during 
Washington's  second  term,  but  resigned  a 
year  later  on  account  of  differences  in  the 
cabinet  concerning  the  policy  pursued  to- 
ward the  new  French  republic.  He  died 
September   12,   181 3. 


W INFIELD  SCOTT  HANCOCK  was 
born  in  Montgomery  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, February  14,  1824.  He  received 
his  early  education  at  the  Norristown 
Academy,  in  his  native  county,  and,  in  1840, 
was  appointed  a  cadet  in  the  United  States 
Military  Academy,  at  West  Point.  He  was 
graduated  from  the  latter  in  1844,  and  brev- 
etted  as  second  lieutenant  of  infantry.  In 
1853  he  was  made  first  lieutenant,  and  two 
years  later  transferred  to  the  quartermaster's 
department,  with  the  rank  of  captain,  and 
in  1863  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major.  He 
served  on  the  frontier,  and  in  the  war  with 
Mexico,  displaying  conspicuous  gallantry  dur- 
ing the  latter.  He  also  took  a  part  in  the 
Seminole  war,  and  in  the  troubles  in  Kan- 
sas, in  1857,  and  in  California,  at   the  out- 


COMPENDIUM  OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


147 


break  of  the  Civil  war,  as  chief  quarter- 
master of  the  Southern  district,  he  exerted 
a  powerful  influence.  In  1861  he  applied 
for  active  duty  in  the  field,  and  was  assigned 
to  the  department  of  Kentucky  as  chief 
quartermaster,  but  before  entering  upon  that 
duty,  was  appointed  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers.  His  subsequent  history  during 
the  war  was  substantially  that  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  He  participated  in  the 
campaign,  under  McClellan,  and  led  the 
gallant  charge,  which  captured  Fort  Magru- 
der,  won  the  day  at  the  battle  of  Wil- 
liamsburg, and  by  services  rendered  at 
Savage's  Station  and  other  engagements, 
won  several  grades  in  the  regular  service, 
and  was  recommended  by  McClellan  for 
major-general  of  volunteers.  He  was  a  con- 
spicuous figure  at  South  Mountain  and  An- 
tietam.  He  was  commissioned  major-gen- 
eral of  volunteers,  November  29,  1862,  and 
made  commander  of  the  First  Division  of 
the  Second  Corps,  which  he  led  at  Fred- 
ricksburg  and  at  Chancellorsville.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Second 
Corps  in  June,  1863,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  July  i,  2  and  3,  of  that  year, 
took  an  important  part.  On  his  arrival  on 
the  field  he  found  part  of  the  forces  then 
in  retreat,  but  stayed  the  retrograde 
movement,  checked  the  enemy,  and  on  the 
following  day  commanded  the  left  center, 
repulsed,  on  the  third,  the  grand  assault  of 
General  Lee's  army,  and  was  severely 
wounded.  For  his  services  on  that  field 
General  Hancock  received  the  thanks  of 
congress.  On  recovering  from  his  wound, 
he  was  detailed  to  go  north  to  stimulate  re- 
cruiting and  fill  up  the  diminished  corps,  and 
was  the  recipient  of  many  public  receptions 
and  ovations.  In  March,  1864,  he  returned 
to  his  command,  and  in  the  Wilderness  and 
at    Spottsylvania   led   large    bodies   of    men 


successfully  and  conspicuously.  From  that 
on  to  the  close  of  the  campaign  he  was  a 
prominent  figure.  In  November,  1864,  he 
was  detailed  to  organize  the  First  Veteran 
Reserve  Corps,  and  at  the  close  of  hostilities 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Mid- 
dle Military  Division.  In  July,  1866,  he 
was  made  major-general  of  the  regular 
service.  He  was  at  the  head  of  various 
military  departments  until  1872,  when  he 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Atlantic,  which  post  he  held 
until  his  death.  In  1869  he  declined  the 
nomination  for  governor  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  president,  in  1880,  and  was  de- 
feated by  General  Garfield,  who  had  a  popu- 
lar majority  of  seven  thousand  and  eighteen 
and  an  electoral  majority'lof  fifty-nine.  Gen- 
eral Hancock  died  February  9,   1886. 


THOMAS  PAINE,  the  most  noted  polit- 
ical and  deistical  writer  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary period,  was  born  in  England,  Jan- 
uary 29,  1737,  of  Quaker  parents.  His  edu- 
cation was. obtained  in  the  grammar  schools 
of  Thetford,  his  native  town,  and  supple- 
mented by  hard  private  study  while  working 
at  his  trade  of  stay-maker  at  London  and 
other  cities  of  England.  He  was  for  a  time 
a  dissenting  preacher,  although  he  did  not 
relinquish  his  employment.  He  married  a 
revenue  ofScial's  daughter,  and  was  employed 
in  the  revenue  service  for  some  time.  He 
then  became  a  grocer  and  during  all  this  time 
he  was  reading  and  cultivating  his  literary 
tastes,  and  had  developed  a  clear  and  forci- 
ble style  of  composition.  He  was  chosen  to 
represent  the  interests  of  the  excisemen, 
and  published  a  pamphlet  that  brought 
him  considerable  notice.  He  was  soon  after- 
ward introduced  to  Benjamin  Franklin,  and 
having  been  dismissed  from  the  service  on  a 


148 


COMrEJVBIUM   OF    lUOGRAJ'HV 


charge  of  smuggling,  his  resentment  led  him 
to  accept  the  advice  of  that  statesman  to 
come  to  America,  in  1774.  He  became 
editor  of  the  ' '  Pennsylvania  Magazine,"  and 
the  next  year  published  his  "Serious 
Thoughts  upon  Slavery"  in  the  "Penn- 
sylvania Journal."  His  greatest  political 
work,  however,  was  written  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Dr.  Rush,  and  entitled  "Common 
Sense."  It  was  the  most  popular  pamphlet 
written  during  the  period  and  he  received 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  from  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  in  recognition  of  its 
value.  His  periodical,  the  "Crisis,"  began 
in  1776,  and  its  distribution  among  the 
soldiers  did  a  great  deal  to  keep  up  the  spirit 
of  revolution.  He  was  made  secretary  cf 
the  committee  of  foreign  affairs,  but  was  dis- 
missed for  revealing  diplomatic  secrets  in 
one  of  his  controversies  with  Silas  Deane. 
He  was  originator  and  promoter  of  a  sub- 
scription to  relieve  the  distress  of  the  soldiers 
near  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  sent  to 
France  with  Henry  Laurens  to  negotiate  the 
treaty  with  France,  and  was  granted  three 
thousand  dollars  by  congress  for  his  services 
there,  and  an  estate  at  New  Rochelle,  by  the 
state  of  New  York. 

In  1787,  after  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  he  went  to  France,  and  a  few 
years  later  published  his  "  Rights  of  Man," 
defending  the  French  revolution,  which 
gave  him  great  popularity  in  France.  He 
was  made  a  citizen  and  elected  to  the  na- 
tional convention  at  Calais.  He  favored 
banishment  of  the  king  to  America,  and 
opposed  his  execution.  He  was  imprisoned 
for  about  ten  months  during  1794  by  the 
Robespierre  party,  during  which  time  he 
wrote  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  his  great  deis- 
tical  work.  He  was  in  danger  of  the  guillo- 
tine for  several  months.  He  took  up  his 
residence  with  the  family  of  James  Monroe, 


then  minister  to  France  and  was  chosen 
again  to  the  convention.  He  returned 
to  the  United  States  in  1802,  and  was 
cordially  received  throughout  the  coun- 
try except  at  Trenton,  where  he  was  insulted 
by  Federalists.  He  retired  to  his  estate  at 
New  Rochelle,  and  his  death  occurred  June 
8,   1809. 

JOHN  WILLIAM  MACKAY  was  one  of 
America's  noted  men,  both  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  western  coast  and  the 
building  of  the  Mackay  and  Bennett  cable. 
He  was  born  in  1831  at  Dublin,  Ireland; 
came  to  New  York  in  1840  and  his  boyhood 
days  were  spent  in  Park  Row.  He  went 
to  California  some  time  after  the'  argonauts 
of  1849  and  took  to  the  primitive  methods 
of  mining — ^lost  and  won  and  finally  drifted 
into  Nevada  about  i86o.  The  bonanza  dis- 
coveries which  were  to  have  such  a  potent 
influence  on  the  finance  and  statesmanship 
of  the  day  came  in  1872.  Mr.  Mackay 
founded  the  Nevada  Bank  in  1878.  He  is 
said  to  have  taken  one  hundred  and 
fifty  million  dollars  in  bullion  out  of 
the  Big  Bonanza  mine.  There  were  as- 
sociated with  him  in  this  enterprise  James 
G.  Fair,  senator  from  Nevada;  William 
O'Brien  and  James  C.  Flood.  When 
vast  wealth  came  to  Mr.  Mackay  he  be- 
lieved it  his  duty  to  do  his  country  some 
service,  and  he  agitated  in  his  mind  the 
building  of  an  American  steamship  line, 
and  while  brooding  over  this  his  attention 
was  called  to  the  cable  relations  between 
America  and  Europe.  The  financial  man- 
agement of  the  cable  was  selfish  and  ex- 
travagant, and  the  capital  was  heavy  with 
accretions  of  financial  "  water  "  and  to  pay 
even  an  apparent  dividend  upon  the  sums 
which  represented  the  nominal  value  of  the 
cables,  it  was  necessary    to  hold    the    rates 


COMPEN'DIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


149 


at  an  exorbitant  figure.  And,  moreover, 
the  cables  were  foreign;  in  one  the  influence 
of  France  being  paramount  and  in  the  other 
that  of  England;  and  in  the  matter  of  intel- 
ligence, so  necessary  in  case  of  war,  we 
would  be  at  the  mercy  of  our  enemies.  This 
train  of  thought  brought  Mr.  Mackay  into  re- 
lation with  James  Gordon  Bennett,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  "  New  York  Herald."  The 
result  of  their  intercourse  was  that  Mr.  Mac- 
kay so  far  entered  into  the  enthusiasm  of 
Mr.  Bennett  over  an  independent  cable, 
that  he  offered  to  assist  the  enterprise  with 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  was  the 
inception  of  the  Commercial  Cable  Com- 
pany, or  of  what  has  been  known  for  years 
as   the    Mackav-Bennett  cable. 


ELISHA  GRAY,  the  great  inventor  and 
electrician,  was  born  August  2,  1835. 
at  Barnesville,  Belmont  county,  Ohio.  He 
was,  as  a  child,  greatly  interested  in  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  and  read  with  avidity 
all  the  books  he  could  obtain,  relating  to 
this  subject.  He  was  apprenticed  to  various 
trades  during  his  boyhood,  but  his  insatiable 
thirst  for  knowledge  dominated  his  life  and 
he  found  time  to  study  at  odd  intervals. 
Supporting  himself  by  working  at  his  trade, 
he  found  time  to  pursue  a  course  at  Oberlin 
College,  where  he  particularly  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  physicial  science.  Ivlr. 
Gray  secured  his  first  patent  for  electrical 
or  telegraph  apparatus  on  October  i,  1867. 
His  attention  was  first  attracted  to  tele- 
phonic transmission  during  this  year  and  he 
saw  in  it  a  way  of  transmitting  signals  for 
telegraph  purposes,  and  conceived  the  idea 
■of  electro-tones,  tuned  to  different  tones  in 
the  scale.  He  did  not  then  realize  the  im- 
portance of  his  invention,  his  thoughts  being 
employed  on  the  capacity  of  the  apparatus 
for  transmitting   musical    tones   throuirh   an 


electric  circuit,  and  it  was  not  until  1874 
that  he  was  again  called  to  consider  the  re- 
production of  electrically-transmitted  vibra- 
tions through  the  medium  of  animal  tissue. 
He  continued  experimenting  with  various 
results,  which  finally  culminated  in  his 
taking  out  a  patent  for  his  speaking  tele- 
phone on  February  14,  1876.  He  took  out 
fifty  additional  patents  in  the  course  of 
eleven  years,  among  which  were,  telegraph 
switch,  telegraph  repeater,  telegraph  annun- 
ciator and  typewriting  telegraph.  From 
1869  until  1873  he  was  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  telegraph  apparatus  in  Cleve- 
land and  Chicago,  and  filled  the  office  of 
electrician  to  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany. He  was  awarded  the  degree  of  U. 
S.,  and  in  1874  he  went  abroad  to  perfect 
himself  in  acoustics.  Mr.  Gray's  latest  in- 
vention was  known  as  the  telautograph  or 
long  distance  writing  machine.  Mr.  Gray 
wrote  and  published  several  works  on  scien- 
tific subjects,  among  which  were:  "Tele- 
graphy and  Telephony,"  and  "  Experi- 
mental Research  in  Electro-Harmonic  Tele- 
graphy and  Telephony." 


"\^.^HITELAW  REID.— Among  the  many 
V  V  men  who  have  adorned  the  field  of 
journalism  in  the  United  States,  few  stand 
out  with  more  prominence  than  the  scholar, 
author  and  editor  whose  name  heads  this  ar- 
ticle. Born  at  Xenia,  Greene  county,  Ohio, 
October  27,  1837,  he  graduated  at  Miami 
University  in  1856.  For  about  a  year  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  graded  schools  of 
South  Charleston,  Ohio,  after  which  he  pur- 
chased the  "Xenia  News,"  which  he  edited 
for  about  two  years.  This  paper  was  the 
first  one  outside  of  Illinois  to  advocate  the 
nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Mr.  Reid 
having  been  a  Republican  since  the  birth  of 
that  party  in  1856.      After   taking  an  active 


150 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIIV 


part  in  the  campaign,  in  the  winter  of  1860- 
61,  he  went  to  the  state  capital  as  corres- 
pondent of  three  daily  papers.  At  the  close 
of  the  session  of  the  legislature  he  became 
city  editor  of  the  "Cincinnati  Gazette," 
and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  went  to 
the  front  as  a  correspondent  for  that  journal. 
For  a  time  he  served  on  the  staff  of  General 
Morris  in  West  Virginia,  with  the  rank  of 
captain.  Shortly  after  he  was  on  the  staff 
of  General  Rosecrans,  and,  under  the  name 
of  "Agate,"  wrote  most  graphic  descrip- 
tions of  the  movements  in  the  field,  espe- 
cially that  of  the  battle  ol  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing. In  the  spring  of  1862  Mr.  Reid  went 
to  Washington  and  was  appointed  librarian 
to  the  house  of  representatives,  and  acted  as 
correspondent  of  the  "  Cincinnati  Gazette." 
His  description  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
written  on  the  field,  gained  him  added 
reputation.  In  1865  he  accompanied  Chief 
Justice  Chase  on  a  southern  tour,  and  pub- 
lished "After  the  War;  a  Southern  Tour." 
During  the  next  two  years  he  was  engaged 
in  cotton  planting  in  Louisiana  and  Ala- 
bama, and  published  "Ohio  in  the  War." 
In  1868  he  returned  to  the  "  Cincinnati  Ga- 
zette," becoming  one  of  its  leading  editors. 
The  same  year  he  accepted  the  invitation  of 
Horace  Greeley  and  became  one  of  the  staff 
on  the  "  New  York  Tribune."  Upon  the 
death  of  Mr.  Greeley  in  1872,  Mr.  Reid  be- 
came editor  and  chief  proprietor  of  that 
paper.  In  187S  he  was  tendered  the  United 
States  mission  to  Berlin,  but  declined.  The 
offer  was  again  made  by  the  Garfield  ad- 
ministration, but  again  he  declined.  In 
1878  he  was  elected  by  the  New  York  legis- 
lature regent  of  the  university,  to  succeed 
General  John  A.  Dix.  Under  the  Harrison 
administration  he  served  as  United  States 
minister  to  France,  and  in  1892  was  the 
Republican  nominee  for  the  vice-presidency 


of  the  United  States.  Among  other  works- 
published  by  him  were  the  "  Schools  of 
Journalism,"  "The  Scholar  in  Politics," 
''Some  Newspaper  Tendencies,"  and 
' '  Town-Hall  Suggestions.  " 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD  was  one  of 
the  most  powerful  and  effective  preach- 
ers the  world  has  ever  produced,  swaying 
his  hearers  and  touching  the  hearts  of  im- 
mense audiences  in  a  manner  that  has  rarely 
been  equalled  and  never  surpassed.  While 
not  a  native  of  America,  yet  much  of  his 
labor  was  spent  in  this  country.  He  wielded 
a  great  influence  in  the  United  States  in 
early  days,  and  his  death  occurred  here;  so 
that  he  well  deserves  a  place  in  this  volume 
as  one  of  the  most  celebrated  men  America 
has  known. 

George  Whitefield  was  born  in  the  Bull 
Inn,  at  Gloucester,  England,  December  16, 
17 14.  He  acquired  the  rudiments  of  learn- 
ing in  St.  Mary's  grammar  school.  Later 
he  attended  Oxford  University  for  a  time, 
where  he  became  intimate  with  the  Oxford 
Methodists,  and  resolved  to  devote  himself 
to  the  ministry.  He  was  ordained  in  the 
Gloucester  Cathedral  June  20,  1836,  and 
the  following  day  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  the  same  church.  On  that  day  there 
commenced  a  new  era  in  Whitefield's  life. 
He  went  to  London  and  began  to  preach  at 
Bishopsgate  church,  his  fame  soon  spread- 
ing over  the  city,  and  shortly  he  was  en- 
gaged four  times  on  a  single  Sunday  in  ad- 
dressing audiences  of  enormous  magnitude, 
and  he  preached  in  various  parts  of  his  native 
country,  the  people  crowding  in  multitudes 
to  hear  him  and  hanging  upon  the  rails  and 
rafters  of  the  churches  and  approaches  there- 
to. He  finally  sailed  for  America,  landing 
in  Georgia,  where  he  stirred  the  people  to 
great  enthusiasm.      During  the   balance  of 


//.ftirt7iisf>-(ii\^ 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


\l 


his  life  he  divided  his  time  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  and  it  is  recorded  that 
he  crossed  the  Atlantic  thirteen  times.  He 
came  to  America  for  the  seventh  time  in 
1770.  He  preached  every  day  at  Boston 
from  the  17th  to  the  20th  of  September, 
1770,  then  traveled  to  Newbury  port,  preach- 
ing at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  September 
29,  on  the  way.  That  evening  he  went  to 
Newburyport,  where  he  died  the  ne.xt  day, 
Sunday,  September  30,   1770. 

"  Whitefield's  dramatic  power  was  amaz- 
ing,"  says  an  eminent  writer  in  describing 
him.  "  His  voice  was  marvelously  varied, 
and  he  ever  had  it  at  command — an  organ, 
a  flute,  a  harp,  all  in  one.  His  intellectual 
powers  were  not  of  a  high  order,  but  he  had 
an  abundance  of  that  ready  talent  and  that 
wonderful  magnetism  vv'hich  makes  the  pop- 
ular preacher;  and  beyond  all  natural  en- 
dowments, there  was  in  his  ministry  the 
power  of  evangelical  truth,  and,  as  his  con- 
verts believed,  the  presence  of  the  spirit  of 
God." 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  BRUSH,  one  of 
America's  prominent  men  in  the  devel- 
opment of  electrical  science,  was  born  March 
17,  1849,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  spent 
his  early  life  on  his  father's  farm.  From 
the  district  school  at  Wickliffe,  Ohio,  he 
passed  to  the  Shaw  Academy  at  CoUamer, 
and  then  entered  the  high  school  at  Cleve- 
land. His  interest  in  chemistry,  physics 
and  engineering  was  already  marked,  and 
during  his  senior  year  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  chemical  and  physical  appar- 
atus. During  these  years  he  devised  a  plan 
fur  lighting  street  lamps,  constructed  tele- 
scopes, and  his  first  electric  arc  lamp,  also 
an  electric  motor.  In  September,  1867,  he 
entered  the  engineering  department  of  the 
University    of    Michigan    and   graduated   in 


1869,  which  was  a  year  in  advance  of  his 
class,  with  the  degree  of  M.  E.  He  then 
returned  to  Cleveland,  and  for  three  years 
was  engaged  as  an  analytical  chemist  and 
for  four  years  in  the  iron  business.  In 
1875  Mr.  Brush  became  interested  in  elec- 
tric lighting,  and  in  1876,  after  four  months' 
experimenting,  he  completed  the  dynamo- 
electric  machine  that  has  made  his  name 
famous,  and  in  a  shorter  time  produced  the 
series  arc  lamps.  These  were  both  patent- 
ed in  the  United  States  in  1876,  and  he 
afterward  obtained  fifty  patents  on  his  later 
inventions,  including  the  fundamental  stor- 
age battery,  the  compound  series,  shunt- 
winding  for  dynamo-electric  machines,  and 
the  automatic  cut-out  for  arc  lamps.  His 
patents,  two-thirds  of  which  have  already 
been  profitable,  are  held  by  the  Brush 
Electric  Company,  of  Cleveland,  while  his 
foreign  patents  are  controlled  by  the  Anglo- 
American  Brush  Electric  Ligiit  Company, 
of  London.  In  18S0  the  Western  Reserve 
University  conferred  upon  Mr.  Brush  the 
degree  of  Ph.  D.,  and  in  1881  the  French 
government  decorated  him  as  a  chevalier  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor. 


HENRY  CLEWS,  of  Wall-street  fame, 
was  one  of  the  noted  old-time  opera- 
tors on  that  famous  street,  and  was  also  an 
author  of  some  repute.  Mr.  Clews  was 
born  in  Staffordshire,  England,  August  14, 
1840.  His  father  had  him  educated  with 
the  intention  of  preparing  him  for  the  minis- 
try, but  on  a  visit  to  the  United  States  the 
young  man  became  interested  in  a  business 
life,  and  was  allowed  to  engage  as  a  clerk  in 
the  importing  house  of  Wilson  G.  Hunt  & 
Co.,  of  New  York.  Here  he  learned  the 
first  principles  of  business,  and  when  the  war 
broke  out  in  1861  young  Clews  saw  in  the 
needs  of  the    government  an   opportunity  to- 


L"4 


COMPEXDIUM    OF    BlOGRAPIir. 


reap  a  golden  harvest.  He  identified  him- 
self with  the  negotiating  of  loans  for  the 
government,  and  used  his  powers  of  pur- 
suasion  upon  the  great  money  powers  to 
•convince  them  of  the  stability  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  value  of  its  securities.  By 
enthusiasm  and  patriotic  arguments  he  in- 
duced capitalists  to  invest  their  money  in 
government  securities,  often  against  their 
judgment,  and  his  success  was  remarkable. 
His  was  one  of  the  leading  firms  that  aided 
the  struggling  treasury  department  in  that 
critical  hour,  and  his  reward  was  great.  In 
addition  to  the  vast  wealth  it  brought, 
President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Chase 
both  wrote  important  letters,  acknowledging 
his  valued  service.  In  1873,  by  the  repu- 
diation of  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the 
state  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Clews  lost  six  million 
dollars  which  he  had  invested  in  those  se- 
curities. It  is  said  that  he  is  the  only  man, 
with  one  exception,  in  Wall  street,  who 
ever  regained  great  wealth  after  utter  dis- 
aster. His  "  Twenty-Eight  Years  in  Wall 
Street  "  has  been  widely  read. 


ALFRED  VAIL  was  one  of  the  men  that 
gave  to  the  world  the  electric  telegraph 
and  the  names  of  Henry,  Morse  and  Vail 
will  forever  remain  linked  as  the  prime  fac- 
tors in  that  great  achievement.  Mr.  Vail 
was  born  September  25,  1807,  at  Morris- 
town,  New  Jersey,  and  was  a  son  of  Stephen 
Vail,  the  proprietor  of  the  Speedwell  Iron 
Works,  near  Morristown.  At  the  age  of 
seventeen,  after  he  had  completed  his  stud- 
ies at  the  Morristown  Academy,  Alfred  Vail 
went  into  the  Speedwell  Iron  Works  and 
contented  himself  with  the  duties  of  his 
position  until  he  reached  his  majority.  He 
then  determined  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
ministry,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  he 
■entered  the  University  of   the    City  of    New 


York,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1836.  His 
health  becoming  impaired  he  labored  for  a 
titne  under  much  uncertainty  as  to  his  future 
course.  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse  had  come 
to  the  university  in  1835  as  professor  of  lit- 
erature and  fine  arts,  and  about  this  time, 

1837,  Professor  Gale,  occupying  the  chair 
of  chemistry,  invited  Morse  to  exhibit  his 
apparatus  for  the  benefit  of  the  students. 
On  Saturday,  September  2,  1837,  tlie  exhi- 
bition took  place  and  Vail  was  asked  to  at- 
tend, and  with  his  inherited  taste  for  me- 
chanics and  knowledge  of  their  construction, 
he  saw  a  great  future  for  the  crude  mechan- 
ism used  by  Morse  in  giving  and  recording 
signals.  Mr.  Vail  interested  his  father  in 
the  invention,  and  Morse  was  invited  to 
Speedwell  and  the  elder  Vail  promised  to 
help  him.  It  was  stipulated  that  Alfred 
Vail  should  construct  the  required  apparatus 
and  exhibit  before  a  committee  of  congress 
the  telegraph  instrument,  and  was  to  receive 
a  quarter  interest  in  the  invention.  Morse 
had  devised  a  series  of  ten  numbered  leaden 
types,  which  were  to  be  operated  in  giving 
the  signal.  This  was  not  satisfactory  to 
Vail,  so  he  devised  an  entirely  new  instru- 
ment, involving  a  lever,  or  "point,"  on  a 
radically  different  principle,  which,  when 
tested,  produced  dots  and  dashes,  and  de- 
vised the  famous  dot-and-dash  alphabet, 
misnamed  the  "  Morse."  At  last  the  ma- 
chine was  in  working   order,  on  January  6, 

1838.  The  machine  was  taken  to  Wash- 
ington, where  it  caused  not  only  wonder, 
but  excitement.  Vail  continued  his  experi- 
ments and  ■  devised  the  lever  and  roller. 
When  the  line  between  Baltimore  and 
Washington  was  cornpleted.  Vail  was  sta- 
tioned at  the  Baltimore  end  and  received 
the  famous  first  message.  It  is  a  remarka- 
ble fact  that  not  a  single  feature  of  the 
original   invention  of    Morse,  as  formulated 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArilT. 


155' 


by  his  caveat  and  repeated  in  his  original 
patent,  is  to  be  found  in  Vail's  apparatus. 
From  1837  to  1844  it  was  a  combination  of 
tlie  inventions  of  Morse,  Henry  and  Vail, 
but  the  work  of  Morse  fell  gradually  into 
desuetude,  while  Vail's  conception  of  an 
alphabet  has  remained  unchanged  for  half  a 
century.  Mr.  Vail  published  but  one  work, 
"American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph," 
in  1845,  and  died  at  Morristown  at  the  com- 
paratively early  age  of  fifty-one,  on  January 
19.   1859-  

ULYSSES  S.  GRANT,  the  eighteenth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  April  27,  1822,  at  Point  Pleasant,  Cler- 
mont county,  Ohio.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  entered  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  June,  1843,  and  was  given  his 
brevet  as  second  lieutenant  and  assigned  to 
the  Fourth  Infantry.  He  remained  in  the 
service  eleven  years,  in  which  time  he 
was  engaged  in  the  Mexican  war  with  gal- 
lantry, and  was  thrice  brevetted  for  conduct 
in  the  field.  In  1848  he  married  Miss  Julia 
Dent,  and  in  1854,  having  reached  the 
grade  of  captain,  he  resigned  and  engaged 
in  farming  near  St.  Louis.  In  i860  he  en- 
tered the  leather  business  with  his  father  at 
Galena,  Illinois. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  in  1861, 
he  commenced  to  drill  a  company  at  Ga- 
lena, and  at  the  same  time  offered  his  serv- 
ices to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army, 
but  he  had  few  influential  friends,  so  re- 
ceived no  answer.  He  was  employed  by 
the  governor  of  Illinois  in  the  organization 
of  the  various  volunteer  regiments,  and  at 
the  end  of  a  few  weeks  was  given  the 
colonelcy  of  the  Twenty- first  Infantry,  from 
that  state.  His  military  training  and  knowl- 
edge soon  attracted  the  attention  of  his  su- 


perior officers,  and  on  reporting  to  General 
Pope  in  Missouri,  the  latter  put  him  in 
the  way  of  advancement.  August  7,  1861, 
he  was  promoted  to'  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers,  and  for  a  few  weeks 
was  occupied  in  watching  the  movements  of 
partisan  forces  in  Missouri.  September  i, 
the  same  year,  he  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Department  of  Southeast  Missouri, 
with  headquarters  at  Cairo,  and  on  the  6th 
of  the  month,  without  orders,  seized  Padu- 
cah,  which  commanded  the  channel  of  the 
Oiiio  and  Tennessee  rivers,  by  which  he  se- 
cured Kentucky  for  the  Union.  He  now 
received  orders  to  make  a  demonstration  on 
Belmont,  which  he  did,  and  with  about  three 
thousand  raw  recruits  held  his  own  against 
the  Confederates  some  seven  thousand 
strong,  bringing  back  about  two  hundred 
prisoners  and  two  guns.  In  February, '1862, 
he  moved  up  the  Tennessee  river  with 
the  naval  fleet  under  Commodore  Foote. 
The  latter  soon  silenced  Fort  Henry,  and 
Grant  advanced  against  Fort  Donelson  and 
took  their  fortress  and  its  garrison.  His 
prize  here  consisted  of  si.\ty-five  cannon, 
seventeen  thousand  si.K  hundred  stand  of 
arms,  and  fourteen  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twenty-three  prisoners.  This  was  the 
first  important  success  won  by  the  Union 
forces.  Grant  was  immediately  made  a 
major-general  and  placed  in  command  of 
the  district  of  West  Tennessee.  In  April, 
I S62,  he  fought  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing, and  after  the  evacuation  of  Corinth  by 
the  enemy  Grant  became  commander  of  the 
Department  of  the  Tennessee.  He  now 
made  his  first  demonstration  toward  V'icks- 
burg,  but  owing  to  the  incapacity  of  subor- 
dinate officers,  was  unsuccessful.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1S63,  he  took  command  of  all  the 
troops  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  devoted 
several  months  to    the   siege   of    Vicksburg, 


156 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


which  was  finally  taken  possession  of  by  him 
Julj'4,  with  thirty-one  thousand  six  hundred 
prisoners  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
cannon,  thus  throwing  the  Mississippi  river 
open  to  the  Federals.  He  was  now  raised 
to  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  regular 
army,  October  following,  at  the  head  of 
the  Department  of  the  Mississippi,  General 
Grant  went  to  Chattanooga,  where  he  over- 
threw the  enemy,  and  united  with  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  The  remarkable  suc- 
cesses achieved  by  him  pointed  Grant  out 
for  an  appropriate  commander  of  all  na- 
tional troops,  and  in  February,  1864,  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-general  was  made  for  him 
by  act  of  congress.  Sending  Sherman  into 
Georgia,  Sigel  into  the  Valley  of  West  Vir- 
ginia and  Butler  to  attsmpt  the  capture  of 
Richmond  he  fought  his  v\'ay  through  the 
Wilderness  to  the  James  and  pressed  the 
siege  of  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy. 
After  the  fall  of  the  latter  Grant  pressed 
the  Confederate  army  so  hard  that  their 
commander  surrendered  at  Appomattox 
Court  House,  April  9,  1865.  This  virtually 
ended  the  war. 

After  the  war  the  rank  of  general  was 
conferred  upon  U.  S.  Grant,  and  in  1868  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  United  States, 
and  re-elected  his  own  successor  in  1872. 
After  the  expiration  of  the  latter  term  he 
made  his  famous  tour  of  the  world.  He  died 
at  Mt.  McGregor,  near  Saratoga,  New  York, 
July  23,  1885,  and  was  buried  at  Riverside 
Park,  New  York,  where  a  magnificent  tomb 
has  been  erected  to  hold  the  ashes  of  the 
nation's  hero. 


JOHN  MARSHALL,  the  fourth  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  United  States  supreme  court, 
was  born  in  Germantown,  Virginia,  Septem- 
ber 24,  1755.  His  father,  Colonel  Thomas 
Marshall,  served  with  distinction  in  the  Rev- 


olutionary war,  while  he  also  served  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war  until  1779,  where 
he  became  noted  in  the  field  and  courts 
martial.  While  on  detached  service  he  at- 
tended a  course  of  law  lectures  at  William 
and  Mary  College,  delivered  by  Mr.  Wythe, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  next  year 
he  resigned  his  commission  and  began  his 
career  as  a  lawyer.  He  was  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  convention  called  in  Virginia 
to  ratify  the  Federal  constitution.  He  was 
tendered  the  attorney-generalship  of  the 
United  States,  and  also  a  place  on  the  su- 
preme bench,  besides  other  places  of  less 
honor,  all  of  which  he  declined.  He 
went  to  France  as  special  envoy  in  1798, 
and  'the  next  year  was  elected  to  congress. 
He  served  one  year  and  was  appointed,  first, 
secretary  of  war,  and  then  secretary  of  state, 
and  in  1801  was  made  chief  justice  of  the 
United  States.  He  held  this  high  office  un- 
til his  death,  in  1835. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall's  early  education 
was  neglected,  and  his  opinions,  the  most 
valuable  in  existence,  are  noted  for  depth 
of  wisdom,  clear  and  comprehensive  reason- 
ing, justice,  and  permanency,  rather  than  for 
wide  learning  and  scholarly  construction. 
His  decisions  and  rulings  are  resorted  to 
constantly  by  our  greatest  lawyers,  and  his 
renown  as  a  just  judge  and  profound  jurist 
was  world  wide. 


LAWRENCE  BARRETT  is  perhaps 
known  more  widely  as  a  producer  of 
new  plays  than  as  a  great  actor.  He  was 
born  in  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  in  1838,  and 
educated  himself  as  best  he  could,  and  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  became  salesman 
for  a  Detroit  dry  goods  house.  He  after- 
wards began  to  go  upon  the  stage  as  a 
Bupernumerary,  and  his  ambition  was  soon 
rewarded  by  the  notice  of  the  management. 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


157 


During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  a 
soldier,  and  after  valiant  service  for  his 
country  he  returned  to  the  stage.  He  went 
to  Europe  and  appeared  in  Liverpool,  and 
returning  in  1869,  he  began  playing  at 
Booth's  theater,  with  Mr.  Booth.  He  was 
afterward  associated  with  John  McCullough 
in  the  management  of  the  California 
theater.  Probably  the  most  noted  period 
of  his  work  was  during  his  connection  with 
Edwin  Booth  as  manager  of  that  great 
actor,  and  supporting  him  upon  the  stage. 
Mr.  Barrett  was  possessed  of  the  crea- 
tive instinct,  and,  unlike  Mr.  Booth,  he 
sought  new  fields  for  the  display  of  his 
genius,  and  only  resorted  to  traditional 
drama  in  response  to  popular  demand.  He 
preferred  new  plays,  and  believed  in  the 
encouragement  of  modern  dramatic  writers, 
and  was  the  only  actor  of  prominence  in  his 
time  that  ventured  to  put  upon  the  stage 
new  American  plays,  which  he  did  at  his 
own  expense,  and  the  success  of  his  experi- 
ments proved  the  quality  of  his  judgment. 
He  died  March  21,   1891. 


ARCHBISHOP  JOHN  HUGHES,  a  cel- 
ebrated Catholic  clergyman,  was  born 
at  Annaboghan,  Tyrone  county,  Ireland, 
June  24,  1797,  and  emigrated  to  America 
when  twenty  years  of  age,  engaging  for 
some  time  as  a  gardener  and  nurseryman. 
In  1819  he  entered  St.  Mary's  College, 
where  he  secured  an  education,  paying  his 
way  by  caring  for  the  college  garden.  In 
1825  he  was  ordained  a  deacon'of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  church,  and  in  the  same  year, 
a  priest.  Until  1 838  he  had  pastoral  charges 
in  Philadelphia,  where  he  founded  St.  John's 
Asylum  in  1829,  and  a  few  years  later  es- 
tablished the  "Catholic  Herald."  In  1838 
he  was  made  bishop  of  Basileopolis  in  parti- 
bus    and    coadjutor    to    Bishop   Dubois,    of 


New  York,  and  in  1842  became  bishop  of 
New  York.  In  1839  he  founded  St.  John's 
College,  at  Fordham.  In  1850  he  was 
made  archbishop  of  New  York.  In  186 1-2 
he  was  a  special  agent  of  the  United  States 
in  Europe,  after  which  he  returned  to  this 
country  and  remained  until  his  death,  Jan- 
uary 3,  1864.  Archbishop  Hughes  early 
attracted  much  attention  by  his  controver- 
sial correspondence  with  Rev.  John  Breck- 
inridge in  1833-35.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
ability,  a  fluent  and  forceful  writer  and  an 
able  preacher. 

RUTHERFORD  BIRCHARD  HAYES 
was  the  nineteenth  president  of  the 
United  States  and  served  from  1877  to  1 88 1 . 
He  was  born  October  4,  1822,  at  Delaware, 
Ohio,  and  his  ancestry  can  be  traced  back 
as  far  as  1280,  when  Haj-esand  Rutherford 
v.ere  two  Scottish  chieftans  fighting  side  by 
side  with  Baliol,  William  Wallace  and 
Robert  Bruce.  The  Hayes  family  had  for 
a  coat  of  arms,  a  shield,  barred  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  flying  eagle.  There  was  a 
circle  of  stars  about  the  eagle,  while  on  a 
scroll  underneath  was  their  motto,  ''Recte." 
Misfortune  overtook  the  family  and  in  1680 
George  Hayes,  the  progenitor  of  the  Ameri- 
can family,  came  to  Connecticut  and  settled 
at  Windsor.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was 
a  very  delicate  child  at  his  birth  and  was 
not  expected  to  live,  but  he  lived  in  spite  of 
all  and  remained  at  home  until  he  was 
seven  years  old,  when  he  was  placed  in 
school.  He  was  a  very  tractable  pupil,  being 
always  very  studious,  and  in  1838  entered 
Ken3'on  College,  graduating  from  the  same 
in  1842.  He  then  took  up  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Thomas  Sparrow  at  Colum- 
bus, but  in  a  short  time  he  decided  to  enter 
a  law  school  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
where  for  two  years  he  was  immersed  in  the 


108 


COMPENDIUM   OF  BIOGRAPHY. 


study  of  law.  Mr.  Hayes  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1845  ''^  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  very 
soon  entered  upon  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession  with  Ralph  P.  Buckland,  of 
Fremont,  Ohio.  He  remained  there  three 
years,  and  in  1849  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  where  his  ambition  found  a  new 
stimulus.  Two  events  occurred  at  this 
period  that  had  a  powerful  influence  on  his 
after  life.  One  was  his  marriage  to  Miss 
Lucy  Ware  Webb,  and  the  other  was  his 
introduction  to  a  Cincinnati  literary  club, 
a  body  embracing  such  men  as  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  John  Pope,  and  Edward  F.  Noyes. 
In  1856  he  was  nominated  for  judge  of  the 
court  of  common  pleas,  but  declined,  and 
two  years  later  he  was  appointed  city 
solicitor.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion 
Mr.  Hayes  was  appointed  major  of  the 
Twenty-third  Ohio  Infantry,  June  7.  1S61, 
and  in  July  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
Virginia,  and  October  15,  i86i,saw  him 
promoted  to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy  of  his 
regiment.  He  was  made  colonel  of  the 
Seventy-ninth  Ohio  Infantry,  but  refused  to 
leave  his  old  comrades;  and  in  the  battle  of 
South  Mountain  he  was  wounded  very 
severely  and  was  unable  to  rejoin  his  regi- 
ment until  November  30,  1862.  He  had 
been  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the 
regiment  on  October  15,  1862.  In  the 
following  December  he  was  appointed  to 
command  the  Kanawa  division  and  was 
given  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  for 
meritorious  services  in  several  battles,  and 
in  1864  he  was  brevetted  major-general  for 
distinguished  services  in  1864,  during 
which  campaign  he  was  wounded  several 
times  and  five  horses  had  been  shot  under 
him.  Mr.  Hayes'  first  venture  in  politics 
was  as  a  Whig,  and  later  he  was  one  of  the 
first  to  unite  with  the  Republican  party.  In 
1864  he  was  elected  from  the  Second  Ohio 


district  to  congress,  re-elected  in  1866, 
and  in  1867  was  elected  governor  of  Ohio 
over  Allen  G.  Thurman,  and  was  re-elected 
in  1869.  Mr.  Hayes  was  elected  to  the 
presidency  in  1876,  for  the  term  of  four 
years,  and  at  its  close  retired  to  private  life, 
and  went  to  his  home  in  Fremont,  Ohio, 
where  he  died  on  January  17,   1893. 


WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN  became 
a  celebrated  character  as  the  nominee 
of  the  Democratic  and  Populist  parties  for 
president  of  the  United  States  in  1896.  He 
was  born  March  19,  i860,  at  Salem,  Illi- 
nois. He  received  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  county,  and 
later  on  he  attended  the  Whipple  Academy 
at  Jacksonville.  He  also  took  a  course  in 
Illinois  College,  and  after  his  graduation 
from  the  same  went  to  Chicago  to  study 
law,  and  entered  the  Union  College  of  Law 
as  a  student.  He  was  associated  with  the 
late  Lyman  Trumbull,  of  Chicago,  during 
his  law  studies,  and  devoted  considerable 
time  to  the  questions  of  government.  He 
graduated  from  the  college,  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  went  to  Jacksonville,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Eliza- 
beth Baird.  In  1887  Mr.  Bryan  removed 
to  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  formed  a  law 
partnership  with  Adolphus  R.  Talbot.  He 
entered  the  field  of  politics,  and  in  1888 
was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  state  con- 
vention, which  was  to  choose  delegates  to 
the  national  convention,  during  which  he 
made  a  speech  which  immediately  won  him 
a  high  rank  in  political  affairs.  He  declined, 
in  the  next  state  convention,  a  nomination 
for  lieutenant-governor,  and  in  1890  he  was 
elected  congressman  from  the  First  district 
of  Nebraska,  and  was  the  youngest  member 
of  the  fifty-scconJ  congress.  He  cham- 
pioned  the   Wilson   tariff  bill,    and   served 


COMPE.VDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


159 


three  terms  in  the  house  of  representatives. 
He  next  ran  for  senator,  but  was  defeated 
by  John  M.  Thurston,  and  in  1896  he  was 
selected  by  the  Democratic  and  Populist 
parties  as  their  nominee  for  the  presidency, 
being  defeated  by  William  McKinley. 


MARVIN  HUGHITT,  one  of  America's 
famous  railroad  men,  was  born  in 
Genoa,  New  York,  and  entered  the  railway 
service  in  1856  as  superintendent  of  tele- 
graph and  trainmaster  of  the  St.  Louis,  Al- 
ton &  Chicago,  now  Chicago  &  Alton  Rail- 
road. Mr.  Hughitt  was  superintendent  of 
the  southern  division  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  from  1862  until  1864,  and  was,  later 
on,  the  general  superintendent  of  the  road 
until  1870.  He  was  then  connected  with 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road as  assistant  general  manager,  and  re- 
tained this  position  until-  1871,  when  he  be- 
came the  general  manager  of  Pullman's 
Palace  Car  Company.  In  1872  he  was  made 
general  superintendent  of  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Railroad.  He  served  during 
1876  and  up  to  1 880  as  general  manager, 
and  from  1880  until  1887  as  vice-presi- 
dent and  general  manager.  He  was  elected 
president  of  the  road  in  1887,  in  recog- 
nition of  his  ability  in  conducting  the 
affairs  of  the  road.  He  was  also  chosen 
president  of  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul,  Minne- 
apolis &  Omaha  Railway;  the  Fremont,  Elk- 
horn  &  Missouri  Valley  Railroad,  and  the 
Milwaukee,  Lake  Shore  &  Western  Railroad, 
and  his  services  in  these  capacities  stamped 
hirn  as  one  of  the  most  able  railroad  mana- 
gers of  his  day. 


JOSEPH  MEDILL,  one  of  the  most 
<J  eminent  of  American  journalists,  was 
born  in  New  Brunswick,  Canada,  April  6, 
1823.      In  1831  his   father    moved    to  Stark 


county,  Ohio,  and  until  1841  Joseph  Medill 
worked  on  his  father's  farm.  Later  he 
studied  law,  and  began  the  practice  of  that 
profession  in  1846  at  New  Philadelphia, 
Ohio.  But  the  newspaper  field  was  more 
attractive  to  Mr.  Medill,  and  three  years 
later  he  founded  a  free-soil  Whig  paper  at 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  and  after  that  time  jour- 
nalism received  all  his  abilities.  "The 
Leader,"  another  free-soil  Whig  paper,  was 
founded  by  Mr.  Medill  at  Cleveland  in  1852. 
In  that  city  he  also  became  one  of  the  first 
organizers  of  the  Republican  party.  Shortlj' 
after  that  event  he  removed  to  Chicago  and 
in  1855,  with  two  partners,  he  purchased 
the  "  Chicago  Tribune."  In  the  contest  for 
the  nomination  for  the  presidency  in  i860, 
Mr.  Medill  worked  with  unflagging  zeal  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  his  warm  personal  friend,  and 
was  one  of  the  president's  stanchest  sup- 
porters during  the  war.  Mr.  Medill  was  a 
member  of  the  Illinois  Constitutional  con- 
vention in  1870.  President  Grant,  in  1871, 
appointed  the  editor  a  member  of  the  first 
United  States  civil  service  commission,  and 
the  following  year,  after  the  fire,  he  was 
elected  mayor  of  Chicago  by  a  great  ma- 
jority. During  1873  and  1874  Mr.  Medill 
spent  a  year  in  Europe.  Upon  his  return 
he  purchased  a  controlling  interest  in  the 
"  Chicago  Tribune." 


CLAUSSPRECKELS,  the  great  ■'  sugar 
baron, "  and  one  of  the  most  famous 
representatives  of  commercial  life  in  Amer- 
ica, was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1840, 
locating  in  New  York.  He  very  soon  be- 
came the  proprietor  of  a  small  retail  gro- 
cery store  on  Church  street,  and  embarked 
on  a  career  that  has  since  astonished  the 
\\orld.  He  sold  out  his  business  and  went 
to  California    with   the   argonauts  of   1849, 


IGO 


COMPEA'DIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIIV. 


not  as  a  prospector,  but  as  a  trader,  and  for 
years  after  his  arrival  on  the  coast  he  was 
still  engaged  as  a  grocer.  At  length,  after  a 
quarter  of  a  century  of  fairly  prosperous 
business  life,  he  found  himself  in  a  position 
where  an  ordinary  man  would  have  retired, 
but  Mr.  Spreckles  did  not  retire;  he  had 
merely  been  gathering  capital  for  the  real 
work  of  his  life.  His  brothers  had  followed 
him  to  California,  and  in  combination  with 
them  he  purchased  for  forty  thousand  dollars 
an  interest  in  the  Albany  Brewery  in  San 
Francisco.  But  the  field  was  not  extensive 
enough  for  the  development  of  his  business 
abilities,  so  Mr.  Sprecklas  branched  out 
extensively  in  the  sugar  business.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  the  entire  output  of 
sugar  that  was  produced  on  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  after  1885  was  known  as 
the  "Sugar  King  of  Sandwich  Islands." 
He  controlled  absolutely  the  sugar  trade  of 
the  Pacific  coast  which  was  known  to  be 
not  less  than  ten  million  dollars  a  year. 


CHARLES  HENRY  PARICHURST, 
famous  as  a  clergyman,  and  for  many 
years  president  of  the  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Crime,  was  born  April  17, 
1842,  at  Framingham,  Massachusetts,  of 
English  descent.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  was  pupil  in  the  grammar  school  at 
Clinton,  Massachusetts,  and  for  the  ensu- 
ing two  years  was  a  clerk  in  a  dry  goods 
store,  which  position  he  gave  up  to  prepare 
, himself  for  college  at  Lancaster  academy. 
■Mr.  Parkhurst  went  to  Amherst  in  1862, 
and  after  taking  a  thorough  course  he  gradu- 
ated in  1866,  and  in  1867  became  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  Amherst  High  School.  He  re- 
tained this  position  until  1870,  when  he 
•visited  Germany  with  the  intention  of  tak- 
ing a  course  in  philosophy  and  theology, 
biit  was  forced  to  abandon  this  intention  on 


account  of  illness  in  the  family  causing  his 
early  return  from  Europe.  He  accepted  the 
chair  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Williston  Semi- 
nary, Easthampton,  Massachusetts,  and  re- 
mained there  two  years.  He  then  accom- 
panied his  wife  to  Europe,  and  devoted  two 
years  to  study  in  Halle,  Leipsic  and  Bonn. 
Upon  his  return  home  he  spent  considerable 
time  in  the  study  of  Sanscrit,  and  in  1874 
he  became  the  pastor  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional church  at  Lenox,  Massachusetts.  He 
gained  here  his  reputation  as  a  pulpit  ora- 
tor, and  on  March  9,  1880,  he  became  the 
pastor  of  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian 
church  of  New  York.  He  was,  in  1890, 
made  a  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Pre- 
vention of  Crime,  and  the  same  year  be- 
came its  president.  He  delivered  a  sermon 
in  1892  on  municipal  corruption,  for  which 
he  was  brought  before  the  grand  jury,  which 
body  declared  his  charges  to  be  without  suffi- 
cient foundation.  But  the  matter  did  not  end 
here,  for  he  immediately  went  to  work  on  a 
second  sermon  in  which  he  substantiated  his 
foriner  sermon  and  wound  up  by  saying, 
"I  know,  for  I  have  seen."  He  was  again 
summoned  before  that  august  body,  and  as 
a  result  of  his  testimony  and  of  the  investi- 
gation of  the  jurors  themselves,  the  police 
authorities  were  charged  with  incompetency 
and  corruption.  Dr.  Parkhurst  was  the 
author  of  the  following  works:  ' '  The  Forms 
of  the  Latin  Verb,  Illustrated  by  Sanscrit," 
"The  Blind  Man's  Creed  and  Other  Ser- 
mons," "The  Pattern  on  the  Mount,"  and 
"  Three  Gates  on  a  Side." 


HENRY  BERGH,  although  a  writer, 
diplomatist  and  government  official, 
was  noted  as  a  philanthropist — the  founder 
of  the  American  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Animals.  On  his  labors  for 
the    dumb    creation    alone    rests   his   fame. 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


161 


Alone,  in  the  face  of  indifference,  opposition 
and  ridicule,  he  began  the  reform  which  is 
now  recognized  as  one  of  the  beneficent 
movements  of  the  age.  Tlirough  his  exer- 
tions as  a  speaker  and  lecturer,  but  above 
all  as  a  bold  worker,  in  the  street,  in  the 
court  room,  before  the  legislature,  the  cause 
he  adopted  gained  friends  and  rapidly  in- 
creased in  power  until  it  has  reached  im- 
mense proportions  and  influence.  The  work 
of  the  society  covers  all  cases  of  cruelty  to 
all  sorts  of  animals,  employs  every  moral 
agency,  social,  legislative  and  personal,  and 
touches  points  of  vital  concern  to  health  as 
well  as  humanity. 

Henry  Bergh  was  born  in  New  York 
City  in  1823,  and  was  educated  at  Colum- 
bia College.  In  1863  he  was  made  secre- 
tary of  the  legation  to  Russia  and  also 
served  as  vice-consul  there.  He  also  de- 
voted some  time  to  literary  pursuits  and  was 
the  author  of  "Love's  Alternative,"  a 
drama;  "Married  Off,"  a  poem;  "'The 
Portentous  Telegram, "  "The  Ocean  Para- 
gon;" "The  Streets  of  New  York,"  tales 
and  sketches. 


HENRY  BENJAMIN  WHIPPLE,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  of  American  di- 
vines, was  born  in  Adams,  Jefferson  county, 
New  York,  February  15,  1822.  He  was 
brought  up  in  the  mercantile  business,  and 
early  in  life  took  an  active  interest  in  polit- 
ical affairs.  In  1847  he  became  a  candidate 
for  holy  orders  and  pursued  theological 
studies  with  Rev.  W.  D.  Wilson,  D.  D., 
afterward  professor  in  Cornell  University. 
He  was  ordained  deacon  in  1849,  in  Trinity 
church,  Geneva,  New  York,  by  Rt.  Rev. 
W.  H.  De  Lancey,  D.  D.,  and  took  charge 
of  Zion  church,  Rome,  New  York,  Decem- 
ber I,  1849.  In  1850,  our  subject  was  or- 
dained  priest    by    Bishop  De    Lancey.      In 


1857  hebecame  rector  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Communion,  Chicago.  On  the  30th 
of  June,  1859,  he  was  chosen  bishop  of 
Minnesota,  and  took  charge  of  the  interests 
of  the  Episcopal  church  in  that  state,  being 
located  at  Faribault.  In  i860  Bishop 
Whipple,  with  Revs.  I.  L.  Breck,  S.  W. 
Mauncey  and  E.  S.  Peake,  organized  the 
Bishop  Seabury  Mission,  out  of  which  has 
grown  the  Cathedral  of  Our  Merciful  Savior, 
the  Seabury  Divinity  School,  Shattuck 
School  and  St.  Mary's  Hall,  which  have 
made  Faribault  City  one  of  the  greatest 
educational  centers  of  the  northwest.  Bishop 
Whipple  also  became  noted  as  the  friend 
and  defender  of  the  North  American  In- 
dians and  planted  a  number  of  successful 
missions  among  them. 


EZRA  CORNELL  was  one  of  the  greatest 
philanthropists  and  friends  of  education 
the  country  has  known.  He  was  born  at 
Westchester  Landing,  New  York,  January 
II,  1807.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  his  na- 
tive state  and  became  a  prominent  figure  in 
business  circles  as  a  successful  and  self-made 
man.  Soon  after  the  invention  of  the  elec- 
tric telegraph,  he  devoted  his  attention  to 
that  enterprise,  and  accumulated  an  im- 
mense fortune.  In  1865,  by  a  gift  of  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  he  made  possible 
the  founding  of  Cornell  University,  which 
was  named  in  his  honor.  He  afterward 
made  additional  bequests  amounting  to  many 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  His  death  oc- 
curred at  Ithaca,  New  York,  December  9, 
1874-  

IGNATIUS  DONNELLY,  widely  known 
i  as  an  author  and  politician,  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  November  3, 
1 83 1.  He  was  educated  at  the  public 
schools  of  that  city,  and  graduated  from  the 


162 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPIIV. 


Central  High  School  in  1849.  He  studied 
law  in  the  office  of  Judge  B.  H.  Brewster, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1852.  In 
the  spring  of  1856,  Mr.  Donnelly  emigrated 
to  Minnesota,  then  a  new  territory,  and,  at 
Hastings,  resumed  the  practice  of  law  in 
partnership  with  A.  M.  Hayes.  In  1857, 
and  again  in  1858,  he  was  defeated  for  state 
senator,  but  in  1859  he  was  elected  by  the 
Republicans  as  lieutenant-governor,  and  re- 
elected in  1 86 1.  In  1862  he  was  elected  to 
represent  the  Second  district  of  Minnesota 
in  congress.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  same 
office  in  1864  and  in  1866.  He  was  an 
abolitionist  and  warmly  supported  President 
Lincoln's  administration,  but  was  strongly 
in  favor  of  leniency  toward  the  people  of 
the  south,  after  the  war.  Iii  many  ways  he 
was  identified  with  some  of  the  best  meas- 
ures brought  before  the  house  during  his 
presence  there.  In  the  spring  of  1868,  at 
the  request  of  the  Republican  national  com- 
mittee, he  canvassed  New  Hampshire  and 
Connecticut  in  the  interests  of  that  party. 
E.  B.  Washburne  about  this  time  made  an 
attack  on  Donnelly  in  one  of  the  papers  of 
Minnesota,  which  was  replied  to  on  the  floor 
of  the  house  by  a  fierce  phillipic  that  will 
long  be  remembered.  Through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Washburne  interests  Mr.  Don- 
nelly failed  of  a  re-election  in  1870.  In 
1873  he  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  from 
Dakota  county,  and  continuously  re-elected 
until  1878.  In  1886  he  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  the  house  for  two  years.  In  later 
years  he  identified  himself  with  the  Popu- 
list party. 

In  1882,  Mr.  Donnelly  became  known  as 
an  author,  publishing  his  first  literary  work, 
"Atlantis,  the  Antediluvian  World,"  which 
passed  through  over  twenty-two  editions  in 
America,  several  in  England,  and  was  trans- 
lated into  French.      This  was   followed  by 


"  Ragnarok,  the  Age  of  Fire  and  Gravel," 
which  attained  nearly  as  much  celebrity  as 
the  first,  and  these  two,  in  the  opinion  of 
scientific  critics,  are  sufficient  to  stamp  the 
author  as  a  most  capable  and  painstaking 
student  of  the  facts  he  has  collated  in  them. 
The  work  by  which  he  gained  the  greatest 
notoriety,  however,  was  "The  Great  Cryp- 
togram, or  Francis  Bacon's  Cipher  in  the 
Shakespeare  Plays."  "Caesar's  Column," 
"  Dr.  Huguet,"  and  other  works  were  pub- 
lished subsequently. 


STEVEN  V.  WHITE,  a  speculator  of 
Wall  Street  of  national  reputation,  was 
born  in  Chatham  county,  North  Carolina, 
August  I,  1831,  and  soon  afterward  re- 
moved to  Illinois.  His  home  was  a  log 
cabin,  and  until  his  eighteenth  year  he 
worked  on  the  farm.  Then  after  several 
years  of  struggle  with  poverty  he  graduated 
from  Knox  College,  and  went  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  entered  a  wholesale  boot  and  shoe 
house  as  bookkeeper.  He  then  studied  law 
and  worked  as  a  reporter  for  the  "Missouri 
Democrat."  After  his  admission  to  the  bar 
he  went  to  New  York,  in  1865,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  banking  house  of  Marvin 
&  White.  Mr.  White  enjoyed  the  reputa- 
tion of  having  engineered  the  only  corner 
in  Wall  Street  since  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt's  time.  This  was  the  famous  Lacka- 
wanna deal  in  1883,  in  which  he  made  a 
profit  of  two  million  dollars.  He  was  some- 
times called  "  Deacon"  White,  and,  though 
a  member  for  many  years  of  the  Plymouth 
church,  he  never  held  that  office.  Mr. 
White  was  one  of  the  most  noted  characters 
of  the  street,  and  has  been  called  an  orator, 
poet,  philanthropist,  linguist,  abolitionist, 
astronomer,  schoolmaster,  plowboy,  and 
trapper.  He  was  a  lawyer,  e.x-congress- 
man,  expert  accountant,  art  critic  and  theo- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY 


163 


lOgian.  He  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
"Home  for  Colored  People,"  in  Chatham 
county,  North  Carolina,  where  the  greater 
part  of  his  father's  life  was  spent,  and  in 
whose  memory  the  work  was  undertaken. 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  the  twentieth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was  born 
November  19,  1831,  in  Cuyahoga  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  the  son  of  Abram  and  Eliza 
(Ballou)  Garfield.  In  1833  the  father,  an 
industrious  pioneer  farmer,  died,  and  the 
care  of  the  family  devolved  upon  Thomas, 
to  whom  James  became  deeply  indebted  for 
educational  and  other  advantages.  As  James 
grew  up  he  was  industrious  and  worked  on 
the  farm,  at  carpentering,  at  chopping  wood, 
or  anything  else  he  found  to  do,  and  in  the 
meantime  made  the  most  of  his  books. 

Until  he  was  about  si.xteen,  James'  high- 
est ambition  was  to  become  a  sea  captain. 
On  attaining  that  age  he  walked  to 
Cleveland,  and,  not  being  able  to  find  work, 
he  engaged  as  a  driver  on  the  Ohio  &  Penn- 
sylvania canal,  but  quit  this  after  a  short 
time.  He  attended  the  seminary  at  Ches- 
ter for  about  three  years,  after  which  he 
entered  Hiram  Institute,  a  school  started  by 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1850.  In  order 
to  pay  his  way  he  assumed  the  duties  of 
janitor  and  at  times  taught  school.  After 
completing  his  course  at  the  last  named  edu- 
cational institution  he  entered  Williams  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  graduated  in  1856.  He 
afterward  returned  to  Hiram  College  as  its 
president.  He  studied  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1859.  November  11,  1858, 
Mr.  Garfield  and  Lucretia  Rudolph  were 
married. 

In  1859  Mr.  Garfield  made  his  first  polit- 
ical speeches,  at  Hiram  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  same  year  he  was  elected  to  the 
state  senate. 


On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  in  1861, 
he  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Forty- 
second  Ohio  Infantry,  and,  while  but  a  new 
soldier,  was  given  command  of  four  regi- 
ments of  infantry  and  eight  companies  of 
cavalry,  with  which  he  drove  the  Confeder- 
ates under  Humphrey  Marshall  out  of  Ken- 
tucky. January  11,  1862,  he  was  commis- 
sioned brigadier-general.  He  participated 
with  General  Buell  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh 
and  the  operations  around  Corinth,  and  was 
then  detailed  as  a  member  of  the  Fitz  John 
Porter  court-martial.  Reporting  to  General 
Rosecrans,  he  was  assigned  to  the  position 
of  chief  of  staff,  and  resigned  his  position, 
with  the  rank  of  major-general,  when  his 
immediate  superior  was  superseded.  In 
the  fall  of  1862  Mr.  Garfield  was  elected  to 
congress  and  remained  in  that  body,  either 
in  the  house  or  senate,  until  1880. 

June  8,  1880,  at  the  national  Republican 
convention,  held  in  Chicago,  General  Gar- 
field was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  and 
was  elected.  He  was  inaugurated  March 
4,  1881,  but,  July  2,  following,  he  was  shot 
and  fatally  wounded  by  Charles  Guiteau  for 
some  fancied  political  slight,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 19,   1881. 


INCREASE  MATHER  was  one  of  the 
1  most  prominent  preachers,  educators  and 
authors  of  early  times  in  the  New  England 
states.  He  was  born  at  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, June  21,  1639,  and  was  given  an 
excellent  education,  graduating  at  Harvard 
in  1656,  and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
two  years  later.  H&?was  ordained  a  min- 
ister, and  preached  in  England  and  America, 
and  in  1664  became  pastor  of  the  North 
church,  in  Boston.  In  1685  he  became 
president  of  Harvard  University,  serving 
until  1 701.  Ill  1692  he  received  the  first 
doctorate  in    divinity    conferred   in  English 


164 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHl'. 


speaking  America.  The  same  year  he  pro- 
cured in  England  a  new  charter  for  Massa- 
chusetts, which  conferred  upon  himself  the 
power  of  naming  the  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor  and  council.  He  opposed  the 
severe  punishment  of  witchcraft,  and  took 
a  prominent  part  in  all  public  affairs  of  his 
day.  He  was  a  prolific  writer,  and  became 
the  author  of  nearly  one  hundred  publica- 
tions, large  and  small.  His  death  occurred 
August  23,  1723,  at  Boston. 


COTTON  MATHER,  a  celebrated  minis- 
ter in  the  "Puritan  times"  of  New 
England,  was  born  at  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, February  12,  1663,  being  a  son  of 
Rev.  Increase  Mather,  and  a  grandson  of 
John  Cotton.  A  biography  of  his  father 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
Cotton  Mather  received  his  early  education 
in  his  native  city,  was  trained  by  Ezekiel 
Cheever,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1678;  became  a  teacher,  and  in  1684 
was  ordained  as  associate  pastor  of  North 
church,  Boston,  with  his  father,  having  by 
persistent  effort  overcome  an  impediment  in 
his  speech.  He  labored  with  great  zeal  as 
a  pastor,  endeavoring  also,  to  establish  the 
ascendancy  of  the  church  and  ministry  in 
civil  affairs,  and  in  the  putting  down  of 
witchcraft  by  legal  sentences,  a  work  in 
which  he  took  an  active  part  and  through 
which  he  is  best  known  in  history.  He  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  D.  D.  in  17 10,  con- 
ferred by  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and 
F.  R.  S.  in  17 1 3.  His  death  occurred  at 
Boston,  February  13,  1728.  He  was  the 
author  of  many  publications,  among  which 
were  "  Memorable  Providences  Relating  to 
Witchcraft,"  "Wonders  of  the  Invisible 
World,"  "Essays  to  Do  Good,"  "  Mag- 
nalia  Christi  Americana,"  and  "  Illustra- 
tions of  the   Sacred   Scriptures."      Some  of 


these  works  are  quaint  and  curious,  full  of 
learning,  piety  and  prejudice.  A  well- 
known  wri-ter,  in  summing  up  the  life  and 
character  of  Cotton  Mather,  says:  "  Mather, 
with  all  the  faults  of  his  early  years,  was  a 
man  of  great  excellence  of  character.  He 
labored  zealously  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor,  for  mariners,  slaves,  criminals  and 
Indians.  His  cruelty  and  credulity  were 
the  faults  of  his  age,  while  his  philanthro- 
phy  was  far  more  rare  in  that  age  than  in 
the  present." 

WILLIAM  A.  PEFFEK,  who  won  a 
national  reputation  during  the  time 
he  was  in  the  United  States  senate,  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Cumberland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  September  10,  1831.  He 
drew  his  education  from  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  state  and  at  the  age  of  f  fteen 
taught  school  in  winter,  working  on  a  farm 
in  the  summer.  In  June,  1853,  while  yet  a 
young  man,  he  removed  to  Indiana,  and 
opened  up  a  farm  in  St.  Joseph  county. 
In  1859  he  made  his  way  to  Missouri  and 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Morgan  county,  but  on 
account  of  the  war  and  the  unsettled  state 
of  the  country,  he  moved  to  Illinois  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1862,  and  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  F,  Eighty-third  Illinois  Infantry, 
the  following  August.  He  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  second  lieutenant  in 
March,  1863,  and  served  successively  as 
quartermaster,  adjutant,  post  adjutant, 
judge  advocate  of  a  military  commission, 
and  depot  quartermaster  in  the  engineer 
department  at  Nashville.  He  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  June  26,  1865.  He  had, 
during  his  leisure  hours  while  in  the  army, 
studied  law,  and  in  August,  1S65,  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  that  profession  at 
Clarksville,  Tennessee.  He  removed  to 
ICansas  in    1870    and    practiced   there  until 


COMPENDIUM  OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


165 


1878,  in  the  meantime  establishing  and 
conducting  two  newspapers,  the  "  Fredonia 
Journal  "  and  "  Coffey ville  Journal." 

Mr.  Peffer  was  elected  to  the  state  senate 
in  1874  and  was  a  prominent  and  influential 
member  of  several  important  committees. 
He  served  as  a  presidential  elector  in  1880. 
The  year  following  he  became  editor  of  the 
"  Kansas  Farmer,"  which  he  made  a  promi- 
nent and  useful  paper.  In  1890  Mr.  Peffer 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate  as 
a  member  of  the  People's  party  and  took 
his  seat  March  4,  1891.  After  six  years  of 
service  Senator  Peffer  was  succeeded  in 
March,  1897,  by  William  A.  Harris. 


ROBERT  MORRIS.  —The  name  of  this 
financier,  statesman  and  patriot  is 
closely  connected  with  the  early  history  of 
the  United  States.  He  was  a  native  of 
England,  born  January  20,  1734,  and  came 
to  America  with  his  father  when  thirteen 
years  old.  Until  1754  he  served  in  the 
counting  house  of  Charles  Willing,  then 
formed  a  partnership  with  that  gentleman's 
son,  which  continued  with  great  success  until 
1793.  In  1776  Mr.  Morris  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  congress,  and,  although 
once  voting  against  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, signed  that  paper  on  its  adop- 
tion, and  was  several  times  thereafter  re- 
elected to  congress.  During  the  Revolu- 
tionary vi^ar  the  services  of  Robert  Morris 
in  aiding  the  government  during  its  finan- 
cial difficulties  were  of  incalculable  value;  he 
freely  pledged  his  personal  credit  for  sup- 
plies for  the  army,  atonctimeto  the  amount 
of  about  one  and  a  half  million  dollars,  with- 
out which  the  campaign  of  1781  would  have 
been  almost  impossible.  Mr.  Morris  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  finance  in  1781 
and  served  until  1784,  continuing  to  employ 
his  personal  credit  to  facilitate  the  needs  of 


his  department.  He  also  served  as  mem- 
ber of  the  Pennsylvania  legislature,  and 
from  1786  to  1795  was  United  States  sena- 
tor, declining  meanwhile  the  position  of  sec- 
retary of  the  treasury,  and  suggesting  the 
name  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  ap- 
pointed to  that  post.  During  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  Mr.  Morris  was  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  the  China  trade,  and  later  be- 
came involved  in  land  speculations,  which 
ruined  him,  so  that  the  remaining  days  of 
this  noble  man  and  patriot  were  passed 
in  confinement  for  debt.  His  death  occurred 
at  Philadelphia,  May  8,   1806. 


WILLIAM  SHARON,  a  senator  and 
capitalist,  and  mine  owner  of  na- 
tional reputation,  was  born  at  Smithiield, 
Ohio,  January  9,  1821.  He  was  reared 
upon  a  farm  and  in  his  boyhood  given  excel- 
lent educational  advantages  and  in  1842 
entered  Athens  College.  He  remained  in 
that  institution  about  two  years,  after  which 
he  studied  law  with  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  St.  Louis  and 
commenced  practice.  His  health  failing, 
however,  he  abandoned  his  profession  and 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Carrollton, 
Greene  county,  Illinois.  During  the  time 
of  the  gold  excitement  of  1849,  Mr.  Sharon 
went  to  California,  whither  so  many  went, 
and  engaged  in  business  at  Sacramento. 
The  next  year  he  removed  to  San  Francisco, 
where  he  operated  in  real  estate.  Being 
largely  interested  in  its  silver  mines,  he  re- 
moved to  Nevada,  locating  at  Virginia  City, 
and  acquired  an  immense  fortune.  He  be- 
came one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Bank  of 
California,  and  during  the  troubles  that 
arose  on  the  death  of  William  Ralston,  the 
president  of  that  institution,  was  largely  in- 
strumental in  bringing  its  affairs  into  a  satis- 
factory shape. 


166 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArilT. 


Mr.  Sharon  was  elected  to  represent  the 
state  of  Nevada  in  the  United  States  senate 
in  1875,  and  remained  a  member  of  that 
body  until  1881.  He  was  always  distin- 
guished for  close  application  to  business. 
Senator  Sharon  died  November  13,  1885. 


HENRY  W.  SHAW,  an  American  hu- 
morist who  became  celebrated  under 
the  non-dc-plnme  of  "  Josh  Billings,"  gained 
his  fame  from  the  witticism  of  his  writing, 
and  peculiar  eccentricity  of  style  and  spell- 
ing. He  was  born  at  Lanesborough,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  18 1 8.  For  twenty-five  years 
he  lived  in  different  parts  of  the  western 
states,  following  various  lines  of  business, 
including  farming  and  auctioneering,  and  in 
the  latter  capacity  settled  at  Poughkeepsie, 
New  York,  in  1858.  In  1863  he  began 
writing  humorous  sketches  for  the  news- 
papers over  the  signature  of  "Josh  Bill- 
ings," and  became  immediately  popular 
both  as  a  writer  and  lecturer.  He  pub- 
lished a  number  of  volumes  of  comic 
sketches  and  edited  an  "  Annual  Allminax  " 
for  a  number  of  years,  which  had  a  wide  cir- 
culation. His  death  occurred  October  14, 
1885,  at  Monterey,  California. 


JOHN  M.  THURSTON,  well  known 
kJ  throughout  this  country  as  a  senator 
and  political  leader,  was  born  at  Mont- 
pelier,  Vermont,  August  21,  1847,  °f  ''•" 
old  Puritan  family  which  dated  back  their 
ancestry  in  this  country  to  1636,  and  among 
whom  were  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  and 
of  the  war  of  18 12-15. 

Young  Thurston  was  brought  west  by 
the  family  in  1854,  they  settling  at  Madison, 
Wisconsin,  and  two  years  later  at  Beaver 
Dam,  where  John  M.  received  his  schooling 
in  the  public  schools  and  at  Wayland  Uni- 
versity.     His  father  enlisted  as  a  private  in 


the  First  Wisconsin  Cavalry  and  died  while 
in  the  service,  in  the  spring  of  1863. 

Young  Thurston,  thrown  on  his  own 
resources  while  attaining  an  education,  sup- 
ported himself  by  farm  work,  driving  team 
and  at  other  manual  labor.  He  studied  law 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  May  21,  1S69, 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  located  in 
Omaha,  Nebraska.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  city  council  in  1872,  city 
attorney  in  1874  and  a  member  of  the  Ne- 
braska legislature  in  1874.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Republican  national  convention 
of  1884  and  temporary  chairman  of  that  of 
1888.  Taking  quite  an  interest  in  the 
younger  members  of  his  party  he  was  instru- 
mental in  forming  the  Republican  League 
of  the  United  States,  of  which  he  was  presi- 
dent for  two  years.  He  was  then  elected  a 
member  of  the  United  States  senate,  in 
1895,  to  represent  the  state  of  Nebraska. 

As  an  attorney  John  M.  Thurston  occu- 
pied a  very  prominent  place,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  held  the  position  of  general 
solicitor  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  sys- 
tem. 


JOHN  JAMES  AUDUBON,  a  celebrated 
<J  American  naturalist,  was  born  in  Louis- 
iana, May  4,  1780,  and  was  the  son  of  an 
opulent  French  naval  officer  who  owned  a 
plantation  in  the  then  French  colony.  In 
his  childhood  he  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  study  of  birds  and  their  habits.  About 
1794  he  was  sent  to  Paris,  France,  where 
he  was  partially  educated,  and  studied  de- 
signing under  the  famous  painter,  Jacques 
Louis  David.  He  returned  to  the  Unit- 
ed States  about  1798,  and  settled  on  a 
farm  his  father  gave  him,  on  the  Perkiomen 
creek  in  eastern  Pennsylvania.  He  mar- 
ried Lucy  Bakewell  in  1808,  and,  disposing 
of  his  property,  removed  to  Louisville,  Ken- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


167 


tucky,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits. About  two  years  later  he  began  to 
make  extensive  excursions  through  the  pri- 
meval forests  of  the  southern  and  south- 
western states,  in  the  exploration  of  which 
he  passed  many  years.  lie  made  colored 
drawings  of  all  the  species  of  birds  that  he 
found.  For  several  years  he  made  his  home 
with  his  wife  and  children  at  Henderson,  on 
the  Ohio  river.  It  is  said  that  about  this 
time  he  had  failed  in  business  and  Vv'as  re- 
duced to  poverty,  but  kept  the  wolf  from  the 
door  by  giving  dancing  lessons  and  in  portrait 
painting.  In  1824,  at  Philadelphia,  he  met 
Charles  Lucien  Bonaparte,  who  encouraged 
him  to  publish  a  work  on  ornithology.  Two 
years  later  he  went  to  England  and  com- 
menced the  publication  of  his  great  work, 
"The  Birds  of  America."  He  obtained  a 
large  number  of  subscribers  at  one  thousand 
dollars  a  copy.  This  work,  embracing  five 
volumes  of  letterpress  and  five  volumes  of 
beautifully  colored  plates,  was  pronounced 
by  Cuvier  "  the  most  magnificent  monument 
that  art  ever  raised  to  ornithology." 

Audubon  returned  to  America  in  1829, 
and  explored  the  forests,  lakes  and  coast 
from  Canada  to  Florida,  collecting  material 
for  another  work.  This  was  his  "  Ornitho- 
logical Biography;  or,  An  Account  of  the 
Habits  of  the  Birds  of  the  United  States, 
Etc."  He  revisited  England  in  1831,  and 
returned  in  1839,  after  which  he  resiaed  on 
the  Hudson,  near  New  York  City,  in  which 
place  he  died  January  27,  1851.  During 
his  life  he  issued  a  cheaper  edition  of  his 
great  work,  and  was,  in  association  with 
Dr.  Bachman,  preparing  a  work  on  the 
quadrupeds  of  North  America. 


COMMODORE    THOMAS    McDON- 
OUGH  gained  his  principal  fame  from 
he  celebrated  victory  which  he  gained  over 


the  superior  British  squadron,  under  Com- 
modore Dovvnie,  September  1 1,  1814.  Com- 
modore McDonough  was  born  in  Newcastle 
county,  Delaware,  December  23,  1783,  and 
when  seventeen  years  old  entered  the 
United  States  navy  as  midshipman,  serving 
in  the  expedition  to  Tripoli,  under  Decatur, 
in  1803-4.  Ill  ^"^oj  he  was  promoted  to 
lieutenant,  and  in  July,  18 13,  was  made  a 
commander.  The  following  year,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  he  gained  the  celebrated  victory 
above  referred  to,  for  which  he  was  again 
promoted;  also  received  a  gold  medal  from 
congress,  and  from  the  state  of  Vermont  an 
estate  on  Cumberland  Head,  in  view  of  the 
scene  of  the  engagement.  His  death  oc- 
curred at  sea,  November  16,  1825,  while  he 
was  returning  from  the  command  of  the 
Mediterranean  squadron. 


CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL,  one  of 
America's  most  celebrated  arctic  ex- 
plorers, was  born  in  Rochester,  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  182 r.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and  located  in  Cincinnati,  where  later 
he  became  a  journalist.  For  several  years 
he  devoted  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  cal- 
orics. Becoming  interested  in  the  fate  of  the 
explorer,  Sir  John  Franklin,  he  joined  the 
expedition  fitted  out  by  Henry  Grinnell  and 
sailed  in  the  ship  "George  Henry,"  under 
Captain  Buddington,  which  left  New  Lon- 
don, Connecticut,  in  i860.  He  returned  in 
1862,  and  two  years  later  published  his 
"  Arctic  Researches."  He  again  joined  the 
expedition  fitted  out  by  Mr.  Grinnell,  and 
sailed  in  the  ship,  "  Monticello,"  under 
Captain  Buddington,  this  time  remaining  in 
the  arctic  region  over  four  years.  On  his 
return  he  brought  back  many  evidences  of 
having  found  trace  of  Franklin. 

In  1 87 1  the  "  Polaris  "  was  fitted  out  by 
the  United  States  government,  and  Captain 


jfAPifr. 


HjII  ^^aia  asSed  forthe  potsriegioes.     He 

£ed  ;::  Greeal.i3d  ci  Ocficfeer.  iSji.  isd  the 

■■Pcuins"'  wijs  inaEy  aKsm^in^^  b«-  the 
crei»r.  a.  poctica  ol  vhkli.  grnte^  Captain 
r5^5;c.  ir^te-J  w-I^  Efte  icebergs  K>r  oce 
b.-::i'irei  iizi  rinecj— d«^  days.  Stacil  pocked 
op  fcj  Efse  ■■  Tigress-"'  oq  t&e  joch  of  At' 
i3~3-  Tbe  ccaer  pcctioa  ol  ti^e  crew- ': 
bojitS-  2J1C,  iitsr  J.  peruocs  «v>vage.  «erc 
pocked  sp  ii  Jrzje,  ri";.  bjs.  wteEr^vessii 


OLIVER  ELLSWORTH.  thediErdcfcief 
fiisoce  at  tie  Unfted  Sc?r.-7S..  w^  bora 
i-  WbicSscr.  Cocaectio-t.  April  jjo.  1745- 
Afrer  grxj-^rfng  froci  Prracecoti,  he  tL3ok 
::3  tie  scucrr  o£  li«-.  aad  was  la-ensed 
r^  pt-jcra-e  ia  r  J71.  la  i J77  be  «as  ^'ect&i 
2s  2.  vieiegi^e  C3  ;  ■ 
Ee  was  f--.i:fe  ct   ■ 


5  pCSt-CT- 

oe  ot  toe  scpceaie 
--^:es  by  Wsst^gtca. 

cs  Secweea  rfi'y  cccii- 

becicse   vicZejirlj 

t  to  Piris  Si  esTCT  es- 


ceeoejl    ty 


:ed  *^. 


M 


fgffckfe-  ci  tfee  U~"r.-^.i  s<_it 


H"s 


it  tie  sse  ci  ^teeit  Le  sttersd  Bcwdacs 


di^ieitEQesc  of  HsrraEd  Un    ^  i   _      .^le  tiea 

eateEied  the  la.'^  oSce  of  his  cncle  s.c  Bic- 
goc,  iliine,  aitd  sooa  afBsr  opesed  aa  oace 
for  the  practice  erf  law  at  AngasCa.  He  was 
aa  i"  "   '  ::ini  hs  ward,  city  attaroey. 

aac  e  "Age."  a  rrrai  Eew^epia- 

^-. ""  wtiich.  w:^  coadacted  by 
r       Fie  *>?-!  decrde-d  to  re- 


Qoe  ot 
He 


C 


HE5TZ5.  . 


LN  ARTHUH-  r=rsiiy- 

:  tT"r-  Ucitea  stares,  wss 

,  in  F:  ;  it-ty.   Va-tioct.   Octo- 

c.  I ;  -  is  ecticateci  at   LsiCti 

iy.     Xe-w  Ticfc.    frota 

:   with  k'£iG.'ar.  and   ea- 

c:  in  te.-.: '.r..g  iciiooL     After  two  yeais 

-t—z  tie  law  o-=ce  of  Jtidge  E.  D. 

New-  Ycri,  as  a  sc^ceni.    He  was 


co.^fPExn/cjf  or  BioGJL.4r/n\ 


opoo  a.  prc^table  7  r  ^  sbottly 

aftervrards  -Cirried  tc  s.  vfiCjtiter  d  liea- 
tenant  Hessdon.  of  tb^  Usiied  SraEes  nsTy. 
Mrs-  Arthcr  d-ed  sbcrtly  beloie  hss  aarr^in^ 
non  {<H^  the  vice-presidency.  In  1S56  s. 
cokxed  wtHcan  in  New  York  was  ejected 
Stom  a  stree:  '  '  "      ■  -      - 

in  a.  sail  a^i. 


appointed   jcdge- 

Bncide  of  Vrv  ,.  _  , -..„.  ^  ,.. 

Deo-  of  Gc  -acs  staa.     At  the 

close  of  his  i^r. ...  _i  . ;ri-^a«ed  the  practice  of 
taw  in  New  Ycoi:.  In  1872  he  was  made 
collector  <rf  the  port  of  Xew  Yort:,  which 
position  he  hrfd  foot  v^sais.  At  the  Chi- 
cago ocnve.  .^<o  Mr.  Arthcr  was 
nominated  .  c¥-nre<5»5e?8cy  wt^h 
Garfield,  anu  ^.  ;  : 
was  elected.     F.                   - 

ani  Mr.  .\r:h::r  vras  c.i!,..'!  :,-  :  .Ve  :r.e  reiiss 
of     srovexr.r.:e-t.      H;<  -    ation     of 

aSairs  was  icersra.'y   <      -  .\t  its 

close  he  resua.ed  :he  practice  of  law  in  Xew 
York.     His  death  occulted  Xovunber   iS« 


1S.\.\C  HULL  was  one  of  tfte  most  c»a~ 
spicuons  and  prominent  naval  cftsoM^s  in 
the  early  hsf'orx  of  Anterk-J*.  He  was  Ivrti 
at  Derby,  C  '  -"5-  5>e~ 

IP**    t  ,    e    "^O^  '-.*»'        t<;^t  ^."■ 

t"  -.   iiie    o^evaui-e 

"  .AXTcarsof  ape 

of  a  merchant  ship  iri  the   ". 

In  i^oShebecante  al:eute:u-.-: 

States  navv.  and  three  veais  later  was  made 


served  widi  dnsaKsiiQ  ia  tS»e  Rsiisssy  e\pe- 
ditioiss.      Ja^y    1-2.    iSi^    fee  S££>ed  ira^ 
As^apcfiS^,  ia  csacostasd  of  tbe  '^CcinsrjDc- 
-     -       -----.-  ::^jee  days  w^s  7    "- :    "     ;  a 

-      -  ■  3  of  Svie  ^fp:f 

:--er?  a^d  fee  tis.  tbe  ■^r^t:  Txral 


Febrsrary  15,  tSiS-  at  F^iie 


M 

manager 

fcoc.  C-o". 


ARCCS  ALOXZO   H.\SXA,   feaoES 


Wc>  -  ,  ■ 

reoi  - 

p-oye  c^  tr^e  wboo.'esaJe  grccerr  hc^sse  cs 
HaEca.  GarTestsoCv  C!c  Cok..  his  father  beisst 
the  senkir  member  of  the  Sna.  Tine  latter 
died  ia  i5>6i,  and  m^  -  ^  _. -_.^.-;^  vi^ 
interest  nntil  i^S^.  :ss  w.£s 

dosed  up. 

0«r  sabject  then  becasse  a  memtwr  ol 
"\  -    x  Ccv.   ec^.;   .    "  : -e 

.>5iv    bet  v.. 


»v..F  v^  \r    ^ 


wfes  c~^;-.j..:o.  t^ 


Company,  of  CJeveJand.  possjdeet  of  tke 


170 


COMPEND/L'M   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


Union  National  Bank, of  Cleveland,  president 
of  the  Cleveland  City  Railway  Company, 
and  president  of  the  Chapin  Mining  Com- 
pany, of  Lake  Superior,  he  became  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  business  world. 
He  was  one  of  the  government  directors  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  being  appointed 
to  that  position  in  1S85  by  President  Cleve- 
land. 

Mr.  Hanna  was  a  delegate  to  the  na- 
tional Republican  convention  of  1884,  which 
was  his  first  appearance  in  the  political 
world.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  con- 
ventions of  1888  and  1896,  and  was  elect- 
ed chairman  of  the  Republican  national 
committee  the  latter  year,  and  practically 
managed  the  campaign  of  William  Mclvin- 
ley  for  the  presidency.  In  1897  Mr.  Hanna 
was  appointed  senator  by  Governor  Bush- 
nell,  of  Ohio,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  resignation  of  John  Sherman. 


GEORGE  PEABODY  was  one  of  the 
best  known  and  esteemed  of  ail  philan- 
thropists, whose  munificent  gifts  to  Ameri- 
can institutions  have  proven  of  so  much 
benefit  to  the  cause  of  humanity.  He  was 
born  February  iS,  1795,  at  South  Danvers, 
Massachusetts,  which  is  now  called  Pea- 
body  in  honor  of  him.  He  received  but  a 
meager  education,  and  during  his  earl}'  life 
he  was  a  mercantile  clerk  at  Thetford,  Ver- 
mont, and  Newburyport,  Massachusetts.  In 
1 8 14  he  became  a  partner  with  Elisha 
Riggs,  at  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia, 
and  in  18 1 5  rhey  moved  to  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land. The  business  grew  to  great  propor- 
tions, and  they  opened  branch  houses  at 
New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Peabody 
made  several  voyages  to  Europe  of  com- 
mercial importance,  and  in  1829  became  the 
head  of  the  firm,  which  was  then  called 
-Peabody,  Riggs  &  Co.,  and  in   1838    he  re- 


moved to  London,  England.  He  retired 
from  the  firm,  and  established  the  cele- 
brated banking  house,  in  which  he  accumu- 
lated a  large  fortune.  He  aided  Mr.  Grin- 
nell  in  fitting  out  Dr.  Kane's  Arctic  e.xpedi- 
tion,  in  1852,  and  founded  in  the  same  year 
the  Peabody  Institute,  in  his  native  town, 
which  he  afterwards  endowed  with  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Peabody  visited 
the  United  States  in  1857,  and  gave  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  establish- 
ment at  Baltimore  of  an  institute  of  science, 
literature  and  fine  arts.  In  1 862  he  gave 
two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  the  erecting  of  lodging  houses  for  the 
poor  in  London,  and  on  another  visit  to  the 
United  States  he  gave  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  establish  at  Harvard  a 
museum  and  professorship  of  American 
archaeology  and  ethnology,  an  equal  sum  for 
the  endowment  of  a  department  of  physical 
science  at  Yale,  and  gave  the  "Southern 
Educational  Fund  "  two  million  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  besides  devoting  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  to  various  objects  of 
public  utility.  Mr.  Peabody  made  a  final 
visit  to  the  United  States  in  1869,  and  on 
this  occasion  he  raised  the  endowment  of 
the  Baltimore  Institute  one  million  dollars, 
created  the  Peabody  Museum,  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  with  a  fund  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  gave  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars  to  Washington  College,  Vir- 
ginia; fifty  thousand  dollars  for  a  "Peabody 
Museum, "  at  North  Danvers,  thirty  thousand 
dollars  to  Phillips  .Academy,  Andover;  tVYfen- 
ty-five  thousand  dollars  to  Kenyon  College, 
Ohio,  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
Maryland  Historical  Society.  Mr.  Peabody 
also    endowed    an    art  school   at   Rome,    in 

1868.  He   died   in    London,  November  4, 

1869,  less  then  a  month  after  he  had  re- 
turned   from    the    United    States,    and    his 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BlOGRAPIir 


171 


remains  were  brought  to  the  United  States 
and  interred  in  his  native  town.  He  made 
several  other  bequests  in  his  will,  and  left 
his  fatnilv  about  five  million  dollars. 


!\/!.\TTHEW  S.  QUAY,  a  celebrated 
i  V  1  public  man  and  senator,  was  born  at 
Dillsburgh,  York  county,  Pennsylvania, 
September  30,  1833,  of  an  old  Scotch-Irish 
family,  some  of  whom  had  settled  in  the 
Keystone  state  in  1715.  Matthew  received 
a  good  education,  graduating  from  the  Jef- 
ferson College  at  Canonsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen.  He  then  traveled, 
taught  school,  lectured,  and  studied  law 
under  Judge  Sterrett.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1854,  was  appointed  a  prothon- 
otary  in  1855  and  elected  to  the  same 
office  in  1856  and  1859.  Later  he  was 
made  lieutenant  of  the  Pennsylvania  Re 
serves,  lieutenant-colonel  and  assistant  com- 
missary-general of  the  state,  private  secre- 
tary of  the  famous  war  governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Andrew  G.  Curtin,  colonel  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fourth  Pennsylva- 
nia Infantry  (nine  months  men),  military 
state  agent  and  held  other  offices  at  different 
times. 

Mr.  Quay  was  a  member  of  the  house  of 
representatives  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania 
from  1865  to  1 868.  He  filled  the  olTice  of 
secretary  of  the  commonwealth  from  1872 
to  1878,  and  the  position  of  delegate-at- 
large  to  the  Republican  national  conventions 
of  1872,  1876,  1880  and  1888.  Hewasthe 
editor  of  the  "Beaver  Radical"  and  the 
"  Philadelphia  Record  "  for  a  time,  and  held 
many  offices  in  the  state  conventions  and  on 
their  committees.  He  was  elected  secre- 
tary of  the  commonwealth-of  Pennsylvania, 
1869,  and  served  three  years,  and  in  1885 
was  chosen  state  treasurer.  In  1886  his 
great    abilities    pointed     him     out     as    the 


natural  candidate  for  United  States  senator, 
and  he  was  accordingly  elected  to  that  posi- 
tion and  re-elected  thereto  in  1892.  He 
was  always  noted  for  a  genius  for  organiza- 
tion, and  as  a  political  leader  had  but  few 
peers.  Cool,  serene,  far-seeing,  resourceful, 
holding  his  impulses  and  forces  in  hand,  he 
never  quailed  from  any  policy  he  adopted, 
and  carried  to  success  most,  if  not  all,  of 
the  political  campaigns  in  which  he  took 
part. 

JAMES  K.  JONES,  a  noted  senator  and 
political  leader,  attained  national  fame 
while  chairman  of  the  national  executive 
committee  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1896.  He  was  a 
native  of  Marshall  county,  Mississippi,  and 
was  born  September  29,  1839.  His  father, 
a  well-to-do  planter.setiled  in  Dallas  count}', 
Arkansas,  in  1848,  and  there  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  received  a  careful  education. 
During  the  Civil  war  he  served  as  a  private 
soldier  in  the  Confederate  army.  From 
1866  to  1873  he  passed  a  quiet  life  as  a 
planter,  but  in  the  latter  year  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  and  began  the  practice  of  law. 
About  the  same  time  he  was  elected  to  the 
.Arkansas  senate  and  re-elected  in  1874.  In 
1877  he  was  made  president  of  the  senate 
and  the  following  year  was  unsuccessful  in 
obtaining  a  nomination  as  member  of  con- 
gress. In  1880  he  was  elected  representa- 
tive and  his  ability  at  once  placed  him  in  a 
foremost  position.  He  was  re-elected  to 
congress  in  1882  and  in  1884,  and  served  as 
an  influential  member  on  the  committee  of 
ways  and  means.  March  4,  1885,  Mr.  Jones 
took  his  seat  in  the  United  States  senate  to 
succeed  James  D.  Walker,  and  was  after- 
ward re-elected  to  the  same  office.  In  this 
branch  of  the  national  legislature  his  capa- 
bilities had  a  wider  scope,  and   he  was  rec- 


172 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


ognized  as  one    of  the   ablest  leaders  of  his 
party. 

On  the  nomination  of  William  J.  Bryan 
as  its  candidate  for  the  presidency  by  the 
national  convention  of  the  Democratic 
party,  held  in  Chicago  in  1896,  Mr.  Jones 
was  made  chairman  of  the  national  com- 
mittee. 

THEODORE  THOMAS,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  musical  directors  America 
lias  known,  was  born  in  the  kingdom  of  Han- 
over in  1835,  and  received  his  musical  educa- 
tion from  his  father.  He  was  a  very  apt  scholar 
and  played  the  violin  at  public  concerts  at 
the  age  of  six  years.  He  came  with  his 
parents  to  America  in  1845,  and  joined  the 
orchestra  of  the  Italian  Opera  in  New  York 
City.  He  played  the  first  violin  in  the 
orchestra  which  accompanied  Jenny  Lind 
in  her  first  American  concert.  In  1861  Mr. 
Thomas  established  the  orchestra  that  be- 
came famous  under  his  management,  and 
gave  his  first  symphony  concerts  in  New 
York  in  1864.  He  began  his  first  "summer 
night  concerts"  in  the  same  city  in  1868, 
and  in  1869  he  started  on  his  first  tour  of 
the  principal  cities  in  the  United  States, 
which  he  made  every  year  for  many  years. 
He  was  director  of  the  College  of  Music  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  but  resigned  in  1880,  after 
having  held  the  position  for  three  years. 

Later  he  organized  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  successful  orchestras  ever  brought 
together  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  was 
very  prominent  in  musical  affairs  during  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  thereby  add- 
ing greatly  to  his  fame. 


CYRUS  HALL  McCORMICK,  the  fa- 
mous inventor  and  manufacturer,  was 
born  at  Walnut  Grove,  Virginia,  February 
15,1 809.      When  he  was  seven  years  old  his 


father  invented  a  reaping  machine.  It  was 
a  rude  contrivance  and  not  successful.  In 
1 83 1  Cyrus  made  his  invention  of  a  reaping 
machine,  and  had  it  patented  three  years 
later.  By  successive  improvements  he  was 
able  to  keep  his  machines  at  the  head  of 
its  class  during  his  life.  In  1 845  he  removed 
to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  two  years  later 
located  in  Chicago,  where  he  amassed  a 
great  fortune  in  manufacturing  reapers  and 
harvesting  machinery.  In  1859  he  estab- 
lished the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Northwest  at  Chicago,  an  institution  for  pre- 
paring young  men  for  the  ministry  in  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  he  afterward  en- 
dowed a  chair  in  the  Washington  and  Lee 
College  at  Lexington,  Virginia.  He  mani- 
fested great  interest  in  educational  and  re- 
ligious matters,  and  by  his  great  wealth  he 
was  able  to  extend  aid  and  encouragement 
to  many  charitable  causes.  His  death  oc- 
curred May  13,   1884. 


DAVID  ROSS  LOCKE.— Under  the 
pen  name  of  Petroleum  V.  Nasby,  this 
well-known  humorist  and  writer  made  for 
himself  a  household  reputation,  and  estab- 
lished a  school  that  has  many  imitators. 

The  subject  of  this  article  was  born  at 
Vestal,  Broome  county.  New  York,  Sep- 
tember 30,  1833.  After  receiving  his  edu- 
cation in  the  county  of  his  birth  he  en- 
tered the  office  of  the  ' '  Democrat, "  at  Cort- 
land, New  York,  where  he  learned  the 
printer's  trade.  He  was  successively  editor 
and  publisher  of  the  '  'Plymouth  Advertiser, " 
the  "Mansfield  Herald,"  the  "  Bucyrus 
Journal,"  and  the  "Findlay  Jeffersonian." 
Later  he  became  editor  of  the  "Toledo 
Blade."  In  i860  he  commenced  his 
"  Nasby"  articles,  several  series  of  which 
have  been  given  the  world  in  book  form. 
Under  a  mask  of  misspelling,  and  ins  auaiu*; 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


173 


?,nd  humorous  style,  a  keen  political  satire 
i.^  couched — a  most  effective  weapon. 
Ilr.  Locke  was  the  author  of  a  num- 
ber of  serious  political  pamphlets,  and 
later  on  a  more  pretentious  work,  "  The 
Morals  of  Abou  Ben  Adhem."  As  a  news- 
paper writer  he  gained  many  laurels  and  his 
works  are  widely  read.  Abraham  Lincoln 
is  said  to  have  been  a  warm  admirer  of  P. 
V.  Nasby,  of  "  Confedrit  X  Roads"  fame. 
Mr.  Locke  died  at  Toledo,  Ohio.  February 
15,  1S88.  

RUSSELL  A.  ALGER,  noted  as  a  sol- 
dier, governor  and  secretary  of  war, 
was  born  in  Medina  county,  Ohio,  February 
27,  1836,  and  was  the  son  of  Russell  and 
Caroline  (Moulton)  Alger.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  years  he  was  left  an  orphan  and  pen- 
niless. For  about  a  year  he  worked  for 
his  board  and  clothing,  and  attended  school 
part  of  the  time.  In  1850  he  found  a  place 
which  paid  small  wages,  and  out  of  his 
scanty  earnings  helped  his  brother  and  sister. 
While  there  working  on  a  farm  he  found 
time  to  attend  the  Richfield  Academy,  and 
by  hard  work  between  times  managed  to  get 
a  fair  education  for  that  time.  The  last 
two  years  of  his  attendance  at  this  institu- 
tion of  learning  he  taught  school  during  the 
winter  months.  In  1857  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1859.  For  a  while  he  found  employ- 
ment in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  but  impaired 
health  induced  him  to  remove  to  Grand 
Rapids,  where  he  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business.  He  was  thus  engaged  when  the 
Civil  war  broke  out,  and,  his  business  suf- 
fering and  his  savings  swept  away,  he  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  the  Second  Michigan 
Cavalry.  He  was  promoted  to  be  captain 
the  following  month,  and  major  for  gallant 
conduct  at  Boonesville,  Mississippi,  July  i. 


1862.  October  16,  1862,  he  was  made 
lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Sixth  Michigan 
Cavalry,  and  in  February,  1863,  colonel  of 
the  Fifth  Michigan  Cavalry.  He  rendered 
excellent  service  in  the  Gettysburg  cam- 
paign. He  was  wounded  at  Boonesboro, 
Maryland,  and  on  returning  to  his  command 
took  part  with  Sherman  in  the  campaign  in 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  For  services  ren- 
dered, that  famous  soldier  recommended 
him  for  promotion,  and  he  was  brevetted 
major-general  of  volunteers.  In  1866  Gen- 
eral Alger  took  up  his  residence  at  Detroit, 
and  prospered  exceedingly  in  his  business, 
which  was  that  of  lumbering,  and  grew 
quite  wealthy.  In  1884  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Republican  national  convention,  and 
the  same  year  was  elected  governor  of 
Michigan.  He  declined  a  nomination  for 
re-election  to  the  latter  office,  in  1887,  and 
was  the  following  year  a  candidate  for  the 
nomination  for  president.  In  1889  he  was 
elected  commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  and  at  different 
times  occupied  many  offices  in  other  or- 
ganizations. 

In    March,     1897,    President     Mcl\inley 
appointed  General  Alger  secretary  of  war. 


CYRUS  WEST  FIELD,  the  father  of 
submarine  telegraphy,  was  the  son  of 
the  Rev.  David  D.  Field,  D.D.,  a  Congre- 
gational minister,  and  was  born  at  Stock- 
bridge,  Massachusetts,  November  30,  1819. 
He  was  educated  in  his  native  town,  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  years  became  a  clerk  in  a 
store  in  New  York  City.  Being  gifted  with 
excellent  business  ability  Mr.  Field  pros- 
pered and  became  the  head  of  a  large  mer- 
cantile house.  In  1853  he  spent  about  six 
months  in  travel  in  South  America.  On  his 
return  he  became  interested  in  ocean  teleg- 
raphy.     Being  solicited  to  aid  in  the   con- 


174 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


struction  of  a  land  telegraph  across  New 
Foundland  to  receive  the  news  from  a  line 
of  fast  steamers  it  was  proposed  to  run  from 
from  Ireland  to  St.  Johns,  the  idea  struck 
him  to  carr}'  the  line  across  the  broad  At- 
lantic. In  1850  Mr.  Field  obtained  aeon- 
cession  from  the  legislature  of  Newfound- 
land, giving  him  the  sole  right  for  fifty  years 
to  land  submarine  cables  on  the  shores  of 
that  island.  In  company  with  Peter  Cooper, 
Moses  Taylor,  Marshall  O.  Roberts  and 
Chandler  White,  he  organized  a  company 
under  the  name  of  the  New  York,  New- 
foundland &  London  Telegraph  Compan}". 
In  two  years  the  line  from  New  York  across 
Newfoundland  was  built.  The  first  cable 
connecting  Cape  Breton  Island  with  New- 
foundland having  been  lost  in  a  storm  while 
being  laid  in  1855,  another  was  put  down  in 
1856.  In  the  latter  year  Mr.  Field  went  to 
London  and  organized  the  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph Company,  furnishing  one-fourth  of  the 
capital  himself.  Both  governments  loaned 
ships  to  carry  out  the  enterprise.  Mr.  Field 
accompanied  the  expeditions  of  1857  and 
two  in  1858.  The  first  and  second  cables 
were  failures,  and  the  third  worked  but  a 
short  time  and  then  ceased.  The  people  of 
both  continents  became  incredulous  of  the 
feasibility  of  laying  a  successful  cable  under 
so  wide  an  expanse  of  sea,  and  the  war 
breaking  out  shortly  after,  nothing  was  done 
until  1865-66.  Mr.  Field,  in  the  former 
year,  again  made  the  attempt,  and  the  Great 
Eastern  laid  some  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred miles  when  the  cable  parted  and  was 
lost.  The  following  year  the  same  vessel 
succeeded  in  laying  the  entire  cable,  and 
picked  up  the  one  lost  the  year  before,  and 
both  were  carried  to  America's  shore.  After 
thirteen  years  of  care  and  toil  Mr.  Field  had 
his  reward.  He  was  the  recipient  of  many 
medals   and   honors  from    both    home    and 


abroad.  He  gave  his  attention  after  this 
to  establishing  telegraphic  communication 
throughout  the  world  and  many  other  large 
enterprises,  notably  the  construction  of  ele- 
vated railroads  in  New  York.  Mr.  Field 
died  July  1 1,   1S92. 


G ROVER  CLEVELAND,  the  twenty- 
second  president  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Caldwell,  Essex  county,  New 
Jersey,  March  18,  1837,  and  was  the  son 
of  Rev.  Richard  and  Annie  (Neale)  Cleve- 
land. The  father,  of  distinguished  New 
England  ancestry,  was  a  Presbj'terian  min- 
ister in  charge  of  the  church  at  Caldwell  at 
the  time. 

When  Grover  was  about  three  years  of 
age  the  family  removed  to  Fa\'etteville, 
Onondaga  county,  New  York,  where  he 
attended  the  district  school,  and  was  in  the 
academy  for  a  short  time.  His  father  be- 
lieving that  boys  should  early  learn  to  labor, 
Grover  entered  a  village  store  and  worked 
for  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  for  the  first  year. 
While  he  was  thus  engaged  the  family  re- 
moved to  Clinton,  New  York,  and  there 
young  Cleveland  took  up  h's  studies  at  the 
academ}'.  The  death  of  his  father  dashed 
all  his  hopes  of  a  collegiate  education,  the 
family  being  left  in  straightened  circum- 
stances, and  Grover  started  out  to  battle 
for  himself.  After  acting  for  a  year  (1S53- 
54)  as  assistant  teacher  and  bookkeeper  in 
the  Institution  for  the  Blind  at  New  York 
City,  he  went  to  Buffalo.  A  short  time 
after  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Rogers, 
Bowen  &  Rogers,  of  that  city,  and  after  a 
hard  struggle  with  adverse  circumstances, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1859.  He  be- 
came confidential  and  managing  clerk  (or 
the  firm  under  whom  he  had  studied,  and 
remained  with  them  until  1863.  In  the  lat- 
ter year  he  was  appointed  district  attorney 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


175 


of  Erie  county.  It  was  during  his  incum- 
bency of  this  office  that,  on  being  nominated 
by  the  Democrats  for  supervisor,  he  came 
within  thirteen  votes  of  election,  although 
the  district  was  usuallj'  Republican  by  two 
hundred  and  fifty  majority.  In  i866Grover 
Cleveland  formed  a  partnership  with  Isaac 
V.  Vanderpoel.  The  most  of  the  work  here 
fell  upon  the  shoulders  of  our  subject,  and 
he  soon  won  a  good  standing  at  the  bar  of 
the  state.  In  1869  Mr.  Cleveland  associated 
himself  in  business  with  A.  P.  Laning  and 
Oscar  Folsom,  and  under  the  firm  name  of 
Laning,  Cleveland  &  Folsom  soon  built  up  a 
fair  practice.  In  the  fall  of  1870  Mr.  Cleve- 
land was  elected  sheriff  of  Erie  county,  an 
office  which  he  tilled  for  four  years,  after 
which  he  resumed  his  profession,  with  L.  K. 
Bass  and  Wilson  S.  Bissell  as  partners. 
This  firm  was  strong  and  popular  and 
shortly  vvas  in  possession  of  a  lucrative 
practice.  Mr.  Bass  retired  from  the  firm 
in  1879,  and  George  J.  Secard  was  admit- 
ted a  member  in  188 1.  In  the  latter  year 
Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  mayor  of  Buffalo, 
and  in  1882  he  was  chosen  governor  by 
the  enormous  majority  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two' thousand  votes.  July  11,  1884, 
he  was  nominated  for  the  presidency  by  the 
Democratic  national  convention,  and  in 
November  following  was  elected. 

Mr.  Cleveland,  after  serving  one  term  as 
president  of  the  United  States,  in  1888  was 
nominated  by  his  party  to  succeed  himself, 
but  he  failed  of  the  election,  being  beaten 
by  Benjamin  Harrison.  In  1892,  however, 
being  nominated  again  in  opposition  to  the 
then  incumbent  of  the  presidency,  Mr.  Har- 
rison, Grover  Cleveland  was  elected  pres- 
ident for  the  second  time  and  served  for  the 
usual  term  of  four  years.  In  1897  Mr. 
Cleveland  retired  from  the  chair  of  the  first 
magistrate  of  the  nation,  and  in  New  York 


City  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  in  which 
city  he  had  established  himself  in  1889. 

June  2.  1886,  Grover  Cleveland  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Frances  Fol- 
som, the  daughter  of  his  former  partner. 


ALEXANDER  WINCHELL,  for  many 
years  one  of  the  greatest  of  American 
scientists,  and  one  of  the  most  noted  and 
prolific  writers  on  scientific  subjects,  was 
born  in  Duchess  county,  New  York,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1 824.  He  received  a  thorough  col- 
legiate education,  and  graduated  at  the 
Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Connect- 
icut, in  1847.  His  mind  took  a  scientific 
turn,  which  manifested  itself  while  he  was 
yet  a  boy,  and  in  1848  he  became  teacher 
of  natural  sciences  at  the  Armenian  Semi- 
nary, in  his  native  state,  a  position  which 
he  filled  for  three  years.  In  1851-3  he  oc- 
cupied the  same  position  in  the  Mesopo- 
tamia Female  Seminary,  in  Alabama,  after 
which  he  was  president  of  the  Masonic  Fe- 
male Seminary,  in  Alabama.  In  1853  he 
became  connected  with  the  University  of 
Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  at  which  institu- 
tion he  performed  the  most  important  work 
of  his  life,  and  gained  a  wide  reputation  as. 
a  scientist.  He  held  many  important  posi- 
tions, among  which  were  the  following: 
Professor  of  physics  and  civil  engineering  at 
the  University  of  Michigan,  also  of  geology, 
zoology  and  botany,  and  later  professor  of 
geology  and  palseontology  at  the  same  insti- 
tution. He  also,  for  a  time,  was  president 
of  the  Michigan  Teachers'  Association,  and 
state  geologist  of  Michigan.  Professor 
Winchell  was  a  very  prolific  writer  on  scien- 
tific subjects,  and  published  many  standard 
works,  his  most  important  and  widely  known 
being  those  devoted  to  geology.  He  also 
contributed  a  large  number  of  articles  to 
scientific  and  popular  journals. 


176 


COMPENDIUM   OF    JJIOGRAPHT. 


ANDREW  HULL  FOOTE,  of  the 
United  States  navy,  was  a  native  of 
New  England,  born  at  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, May.  4,  1808.  He  entered  the 
navy,  as  a  midshipman,  December  4,  1822. 
He  slowly  rose  in  his  chosen  profession,  at- 
taining the  rank  of  lieutenant  in  1830,  com- 
mander in  1852  and  captain  in  1861. 
Among  the  distinguished  men  in  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war,  but  few  stood  higher 
in  the  estimation  of  his  brother  officers  than 
Foote,  and  when,  in  the  fall  of  i86"r.  he 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  flotilla 
then  building  on  the  Mississippi,  the  act 
gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  service. 
Although  embarrassed  by  want  of  navy 
yards  and  supplies,  Foote  threw  himself  into 
his  new  work  with  unusual  energy.  He 
overcame  all  obstacles  and  in  the  new,  and, 
until  that  time,  untried  experiment,  of  creat- 
ing and  maintaining  a  navy  on  a  river, 
achieved  a  success  beyond  the  expectations 
of  the  country.  Great  incredulity  existed  as 
to  the  possibility  of  carrying  on  hostilities 
on  a  river  where  batteries  from  the  shore 
might  bar  the  passage.  But  in  spite  of  all, 
Foote  soon  had  a  navy  on  the  great  river, 
and  by  the  heroic  qualities  of  the  crews  en- 
trusted to  him,  demonstrated  the  utility  of 
this  new  departure  in  naval  architecture. 
All  being  prepared,  February  6,  1862,  Foote 
took  Fort  Henry  after  a  hotly-contested 
action.  On  the  14th  of  the  same  month, 
for  an  hour  and  a  half  engaged  the  batteries 
of  Fort  Donelson,  with  four  ironclads  apd 
two  wooden  gunboats,  thereby  dishearten- 
ing the  garrison  and  assisting  in  its  capture. 
April  7th  of  the  same  year,  after  several 
hotly-contested  actions.  Commodore  Foote 
received  the  surrender  of  Island  No.  10,  one 
of  the  great  strongholds  of  the  Confederacy 
on  the  Mississippi  river.  Foote  having  been 
wounded  at  Fort  Donelson,  and  by  neglect 


it  having  become  so  serious  as  to  endanger 
his  life,  he  was  forced  to  resign  his  command 
and  return  home.  June  16,  1862,  he  re- 
ceived the  thanks  of  congress  and  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  rear  admiral.  He  was 
appointed  chief  of  the  bureau  of  equipment 
and  recruiting.  June  4,  1863,  he  was 
ordered  to  the  fleet  off  Charleston,  to  super- 
cede Rear  Admiral  Dupont,  but  on  his  way 
to  that  destination  was  taken  sick  at  New 
York,  and  died  June  26,   1863. 


NELSON  A. MILES,  the  well-known  sol- 
dier, was  born  at  Westminster,  Massa- 
chusetts, August  8,1839.  His  ancestors  set- 
tled in  that  state  in  1643  among  the  early 
pioneers,  and  their  descendants  were,  many 
of  them,  to  be  found  among  those  battling 
against  Great  Britain  during  Revolutionary 
times  and  during  the  war  of  18 12.  Nelson 
was  reared  on  a  farm,  received  an  academic 
education,  and  in  early  manhood  engaged  in 
mercantile   pursuits    in    Boston.      Early    in 

1 86 1  he  raised  a  company  and  offered  his 
services  to  the  government,  and  although 
commissioned  as  captain,  on  account  of  his 
youth  went  out  as  first  lieutenant  in  the 
Twenty-second  Massachusetts  Infantry.     In 

1 862  he  was  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel 
and  colonel  of  the  Sixty-first  New  York  In- 
fantry. At  the  request  of  Generals  Grant 
and  Meade  he  was  made  a  brigadier  by 
President  Lincoln.  He  participated  in  all 
but  one  of  the  battles  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  until  the  close  of  the  war.  During 
the  latter  part  of  the  time,  he  commanded 
the  first  division  of  the  Second  Corps. 
General  Miles  was  wounded  at  the  battles 
of  Fair  Oaks,  Fredericksburg  and  Chan- 
cellorsville,  and  received  four  brevets  for 
distinguished  service.  During  the  recon- 
struction period  he  commanded  in  North 
Carolina,  and  on   the   reorganization  of  the 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


177 


regular  army  he  was  made  colonel  of  in- 
fantry. In  1880  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  in  1890  to 
that  of  major-general.  He  successfully  con- 
ducted several  campaigns  among  the  In- 
dians, and  his  name  is  known  among  the 
tribes  as  a  friend  when  they  are  peacefully 
inclined.  He  many  times  averted  war 
with  the  red  men  by  judicious  and  humane 
settlement  of  difficulties  without  the  military 
power.  In  1892  General  Miles  was  given 
command  of  the  proceedings  in  dedicating 
the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1894,  during  the  great  railroad 
strike  at  the  same  city,  General  Miles,  then 
in  command  of  the  department,  had  the 
disposal  of  the  troops  sent  to  protect  the 
United  States  mails.  On  the  retirement  of 
General  J.  M.  Schofield,  in  1895,  General 
Miles  became  the  ranking  major-general  of 
the  United  States  army  and  the  head  of  its 
forces. 

JUNIUS  BRUTUS  BOOTH,  the  great 
actor,  though  born  in  London  (1796),  is 
more  intimately  connected  with  the  Amer- 
ican than  with  the  English  stage,  and  his 
popularity  in  America  was  almost  un- 
bounded, while  in  England  he  was  not  a 
prime  favorite.  He  presented  "  Richard  III. " 
in  Richmond  on  his  first  appearance  on  the 
American  stage  in  1821.  This  was  his 
greatest  role,  and  in  it  he  has  never  had  an 
equal.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he 
appeared  in  New  York.  After  a  long  and 
successful  career  he  gave  his  final  perform- 
ance at  New  Orleans  in  1852.  He  con- 
tracted a  severe  cold,  and  for  lack  of  proper 
medical  attention,  it  resulted  in  his  death 
on  November  30th  of  that  year.  He  was, 
without  question,  one  of  the  greatest  tra- 
gedians that  ever  lived.  In  addition  to  his 
professional    art   and   genius,  he  was  skilled 


in  languages,  drawing,  painting  and  sculp- 
ture. In  his  private  life  he  was  reserved, 
and  even  eccentric.  Strange  stories  are 
related  of  his  peculiarities,  and  on  his  farm 
near  Baltimore  he  forbade  the  use  of  animal 
food,  the  taking  of  animal  life,  and  even  the 
felling  of  trees,  and  brought  his  butter  and 
eggs  to  the  Baltimore  markets  in  person. 

Junius  Brutus  Booth,  known  as  the  elder 
Booth,  gave  to  the  world  three  sons  of  note: 
Junius  Brutus  Booth,  Jr.,  the  husband  of 
Agnes  Booth,  the  actress;  John  Wilkes 
Booth,  the  author  of  the  greatest  tragedy 
in  the  life  of  our  nation;  Edwin  Booth,  in 
his  day  the  greatest  actor  of  America,  if  not 
of  the  world. 

TAMES  MONTGOMERY  BAILEY,  fa- 
<j  mous  as  the  "Danbury  News  Man," 
was  one  of  the  best  known  American  humor- 
ists, and  was  born  September  25,  1841,  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.  He  adopted  journalism  as  a 
profession  and  started  in  his  chosen  work  on 
the  "Danbury  Times,"  which  paper  he  pur- 
chased on  his  return  from  the  war.  Mr. 
Bailey  also  purchased  the  "Jeffersonian," 
another  paper  of  Danbury,  and  consolidated 
them,  forming  the  "Danbury  News,"  which 
paper  soon  acquired  a  celebrity  throughout 
the  United  States,  from  an  incessant  flow  of 
rich,  healthy,  and  original  humor,  which  the 
pen  of  the  editor  imparted  to  its  columns, 
and  he  succeeded  in  raising  the  circulation 
of  the  paper  from  a  few  hundred  copies  a. 
week  to  over  forty  thousand.  The  facilities 
of  a  country  printing  office  were  not  so  com- 
plete in  those  days  as  they  are  now,  but  Mr. 
Bailey  was  resourceful,  and  he  put  on  re- 
lays of  help  and  ran  his  presses  night  and 
day,  and  always  prepared  his  matter  a  week 
ahead  of  time.  The  "Danbury  News  Man" 
was  a  new  figure  in  literature,  as  his  humor 
was  so  different  from  that  of  the  newspaper 


178 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPIir 


wits — who  had  preceded  him,  and  he  maybe 
called  the  pioneer  of  that  school  now  so 
familiar.  Mr.  Bailey  published  in  book 
form  "Life  in  Danbury"  and  "The  Danbury 
News  Man's  Almanac. "  One  of  his  most 
admirable  traits  was  philanthrophy,  as  he 
gave  with  unstinted  generosity  to  all  comers, 
and  died  comparatively  poor,  notwithstand- 
ing his  ownership  of  a  very  profitable  busi- 
ness which  netted  him  an  income  of  $40,000 
a  year.      He  died  March  4,   1894. 


MATTHEW  HALE  CARPENTER,  a 
famous  lawyer,  orator  and  senator, 
was  born  in  Moretown,  Vermont,  December 
22,  1824.  After  receiving  a  common-school 
education  he  entered  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  but  only 
remained  two  years.  On  returning  to  his 
home  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  with 
Paul  Dillingham,  afterwards  governor  of 
Vermont,  and  whose  daughter  he  married. 
In  1847  he  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the 
bar  in  Vermont,  but  he  went  to  Boston  and 
for  a  time  studied  with  Ruf  us  Choate.  In  1 848 
he  moved  wet-t,  settling  at  Beloit,  Wisconsin, 
and  commencing  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion soon  obtained  a  wide  reputation  for 
ability.  In  1856  Mr.  Carpenter  removed  to 
Milwaukee,  where  he  found  a  wider  field  for 
his  now  increasing  powers.  During  the 
Civil  war,  although  a  strong  Democrat,  he 
was  loyal  to  the  government  and  aided  the 
Union  cause  to  his  utmost.  In  1868  he 
was  counsel  for  the  government  in  a  test 
case  to  settle  the  legality  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion act  before  the  United  States  supreme 
court,  and  won  his  case  against  Jeremiah  S. 
Black.  This  gave  him  the  election  for  sen- 
ator from  Wisconsin  in  1869,  and  he  served 
until  1875,  during  part  of  which  time  he  was 
president /;-tf /(TW/f?;-^  of  the  senate.  Failing 
of  a  re-election  Mr.  Carpenter  resumed  the 


practice  of  law,  and  when  William  W. 
Belknap,  late  secretary  of  war,  was  im- 
peached, entered  the  case  for  General 
Belknap,  and  secured  an  acquittal.  During 
the  sitting  of  the  electoral  commission  of 
1877,  Mr.  Carpenter  appeared  for  Samuel 
J.  Tilden,  although  the  Republican  man- 
agers had  intended  to  have  him  represent 
R.  B.  Hayes.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  elected 
to  the  United  States  senate  again  in  1879, 
and  remained  a  member  of  that  body  until 
the  day  of  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  Feb- 
ruary 24,   iSof . 

Senator  Carpenter's  real  name  was  De- 
catur Merritt  Hammond  Carpenter  but  about 
1852  he  changed  it  to  the  one  by  which  he 
was  universally  known. 


THOMAS  E.  WATSON,  lawyer  and 
congressman,  the  well-known  Geor- 
gian, whose  name  appears  at  tlie  head  of 
this  sketch,  made  himself  a  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  country  by  his  ability,  energy 
and  fervid  oratory.  He  was  born  in  Col- 
umbia (now  McDuffie)  county,  Georgia, 
September  5,  1856.  He  had  a  common- 
school  education,  and  in  1872  entered  Mer- 
cer University,  at  Macon,  Georgia,  as  fresh- 
man, but  for  want  of  money  left  the  college 
at  the  end  of  his  sophomore  year.  He 
taught  school,  studying  law  at  the  same 
time,  until  1875,  when  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  He  opened  an  office  and  com- 
menced practice  in  Thomson,  Georgia,  in 
November,  1876.  He  carried  on  a  success- 
ful business,  and  bought  land  and  farmed  on 
an  extensive  scale. 

Mr.  Watson  was  a  delegate  to  the  Demo- 
cratic state  convention  of  1880,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  house  of  representatives  of 
the  legislature  of  his  native  state  in  1882, 
In  1888  he  was   an  elector-at-large  on  W\t 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


179 


Cleveland  ticket,  and  in  1890  was  elected 
to  represent  his  district  in  the  fifty-second 
congress.  This  latter  election  is  said  to  have 
been  due  entirely  to  Mr.  Watson's  "dash- 
ing display  of  ability,  eloquence  and  popular 
power."  In  his  later  years  he  championed 
the  alliance  principles  and  policies  until  he 
became  a  leader  in  the  movement.  In  the 
heated  campaign  of  1896,  Mr.  Watson  was 
nominated  as  the  candidate  for  vice-presi- 
dent on  the  Bryan  ticket  by  that  part  of  the 
People's  party  that  would  not  endorse  the 
nominee  for  the  same  position  made  by  the 
Democratic  party. 


FREDERICK  A.  P.  BARNARD,  mathe- 
matician, physicist  and  educator,  was 
born  in  Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  May  5, 1809. 
He  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  i82S,and 
in  1830  became  a  tutor  in  the  same.  From 
1837  to  1848  he  was  professor  of  mathe- 
matics and  natural  philosophy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Alabama,  and  from  1848  to  1850, 
professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  history 
in  the  same  educational  institution.  In 
1854  he  became  connected  with  the  Univer- 
sity of  Mississippi,  of  which  he  became 
president  in  1856,  and  chancellor  in  1858. 
In  1854  he  took  orders  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church.  In  1861  Professor  Barnard 
resigned  his  chancellorship  and  chair  in  the 
university,  and  in  1863  and  1 864  was  con- 
nected with  the  United  States  coast  survey 
in  charge  of  chart  printing  and  lithography. 
In  May,  1864,  he  was  elected  president  of 
Columbia  College,  New  York  City,  which 
he  served  for  a  number  of  years. 

Professor  Barnard  received  the  honorary 
degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Jefferson  College, 
Mississippi,  in  1S55,  and  from  Yale  College 
in  1859;  also  the  degree  of  S.  T.  D.  from 
the  University  of  Mississippi  in  1861,  and 
that  of  L.  H.  D.  from    the   regents    of    the 


University  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1 872. 
In  i860  he  was  a  member  of  the  eclipse 
party  sent  by  the  United  States  coast  sur- 
vey to  Labrador,  and  during  his  absence 
was  elected  president  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  lu 
the  act  of  congress  establishing  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  in  1863,  he  was  named 
as  one  of  the  original  corporators.  In  1867 
he  was  one  of  the  United  States  commis- 
sioners to  the  Paris  Exposition.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  associate  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and 
many  other  philosophical  and  scientific 
societies  at  home  and  abroad.  Dr.  Barnard 
was  thoroughly  identified  with  the  progress 
of  the  age  in  those  branches.  His  published 
works  relate  wholly  to  scientific  or  educa- 
tional subjects,  chief  among  which  are  the 
following:  Report  on  Collegiate  Education; 
Art  Culture;  History  of  the  American  Coast 
Survey;  University  Education;  Undulatory 
Theory  of  Light;  Machinery  and  Processes 
of  the  Industrial  Arts,  and  Apparatus  of  the 
Exact  Sciences,  Metric  System  of  Weights 
and  Measures,  etc. 


EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON,  the 
secretary  of  war  during  the  great  Civil 
war,  was  recognized  as  one  of  America's 
foremost  public  men.  He  was  born  Decem- 
ber 19,  18 14,  at  Steuben ville,  Ohio,  where 
he  received  his  education  and  studied  law. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1836,  and 
was  reporter  of  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio 
from  1842  until  1845.  He  removed  to 
Washington  in  1856  to  attend  to  his  prac- 
tice before  the  United  States  supreme 
court,  and  in  1S58  he  went  to  California  as 
counsel  for  the  government  in  certain  land 
cases,  which  he  carried  to  a  successful 
conclusion.      Mr.    Stanton     was    appointed 


180 


':^VMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRA. 


attorney-general  of  the  United  States  in 
December,  i860,  by  President  Buchanan. 
On  March  4,  1861,  Mr.  Stanton  went  with 
the  outgoing  administration  and  returned  to 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  was 
appointed  secretary  of  war  by  President 
Lincoln  January  20,  1862,  to  succeed  Simon 
Cameron.  After  the  assassination  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  and  the  accession  of  Johnson 
to  the  presidency,  Mr.  Stanton  was  still  in 
the  same  office.  He  held  it  for  three  years, 
and  by  his  strict  adherence  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  antagonized  President  John- 
son, who  endeavored  to  remove  him.  On 
August  5,  1867,  the  president  requested  him 
to  resign,  and  appointed  General  Grant  to 
succeed  him,  but  when  congress  convened 
in  December  the  senate  refused  to  concur  in 
the  suspension.  Mr.  Stanton  returned  to 
his  post  until  the  president  again  removed 
him  from  office,  but  was  again  foiled  by 
congress.  Soon  after,  however,  he  retired 
voluntarily  from  office  and  took  up  the 
practice  of  law,  in  which  he  engaged  until 
his  death,  on  December  24,  1869. 


ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL,  the  eminent 
theologian  and  founder  of  the  church 
known  as  Disciples  of  Christ,  was  born  in 
the  country  of  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  June, 
1788,  and  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Campbell,  a  Scoth-Irish  "Seceder. "  After 
studying  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  he, 
in  company  with  his  father,  came  to  America 
in  1808,  and  both  began  labor  in  western 
Pennsylvania  to  restore  Christianity  to 
apostolic  simplicity.  They  organized  a 
church  at  Brush  Run,  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  in  181 1,  which,  however,  the 
year  following,  adopted  Baptist  views,  and 
in  1 81 3,  with  other  congregations  joined  a 
Baptist  association.  Some  of  the  under- 
lying principles  and   many   practices    of  the 


Campbells  and  their  disciples  were  repug- 
nant to  the  Baptist  church  and  considerable 
friction  was  the  result,  and  1827  saw  the 
separation  of  that  church  from  the  Church 
of  Christ,  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  The 
latter  then  reorganized  themselves  anew. 
They  reject  all  creeds,  professing  to  receive 
the  Bible  as  their  only  guide.  In  most  mat- 
ters of  faith  they  are  essentially  in  accord  with 
the  other  Evangelical  Christian  churches, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ,  the  resurrection  and  judgment. 
They  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  weekly, 
hold  that  repentance  and  faith  should  precede 
baptism,  attaching  much  importance  to  the 
latter  ordinance.  On  all  other  points  they 
encourage  individual  liberty  of  thought.  In 
1 841,  Alexander  Campbell  founded  Bethany 
College,  West  Virginia,  of  which  he  was 
president  for  many  years,  and  died  March  4, 
1866. 

The  denomination  which  they  founded 
is  quite  a  large  and  important  church  body 
in  the  United  States.  They  support  quite 
a  number  of  institutions  of  learning,  among 
which  are:  Bethany  College,  West  Virginia; 
Hiram  College,  Hiram,  Ohio;  Northwestern 
Christian  University,  Indianapolis,  Indiana; 
Eureka  College,  Illinois;  Kentucky  Univer- 
sity, Lexington,  Kentucky;  Oskaloosa 
College,  Iowa;  and  a  number  of  seminaries 
and  schools.  They  also  support  several 
monthly  and  quarterly  religious  periodicals 
and  many  papers,  both  in  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies. 


WILLIAM  L.WILSON,  the  noted  West 
Virginian,  who  was  postmaster-gener- 
al under  President  Cleveland's  second  ad- 
ministration, won  distinction  as  the  father 
of  the  famous  "  Wilson  bill,"  which  became 
a  law  under  the  same  administration.  Mr. 
Vv'iiaon  was  born    May   3,    1843,    in   Jeffer- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


181 


son  county,  West  Virginia,  and  received 
a  good  education  at  the  Charlestown 
Academ}',  where  he  prepared  himself  for 
college.  He  attended  the  Columbian  Col- 
lege in  the  District  of  Columbia,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  i860,  and  then 
attended  the  University  of  Virginia.  Mr. 
Wilson  served  in  the  Confederate  army  dur- 
ing the  war,  after  which  he  was  a  professor 
in  Columbian  College.  Later  he  entered 
into  the  practice  of  law  at  Charlestown. 
He  attended  the  Democratic  convention 
held  at  Cincinnati  in  1880,  as  a  delegate, 
and  later  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  electors 
for  the  state-at-large  on  the  Hancock 
ticket.  In  the  Democratic  convention  at 
Chicago  in  1892,  Mr.  Wilson  was  its  per- 
manent president.  He  was  elected  pres- 
ident of  the  West  Virginia  University  in 
1882,  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office 
on  September  6,  but  having  received  the 
nomination  for  the  forty-seventh  congress 
on  the  Democratic  ticket,  he  resigned  the 
presidency  of  the  university  in  June,  1883, 
to  take  his  seat  in  congress.  Mr.  Wil- 
son was  honored  by  the  Columbian  Uni- 
versity and  the  Hampden-Sidney  College, 
both  of  which  conferred  upon  him  the  de- 
gree of  LL.  D.  In  1S84  he  was  appointed 
regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at 
Washington  for  two  years,  and  at  the  end 
of  his  term  was  re-appointed.  He  was 
elected  to  the  forty-seventh,  forty-ninth, 
fiftieth,  fifty-first,  fifty-second  and  fifty- 
third  congresses,  but  was  defeated  for  re- 
election to  the  fifty- fourth  congress.  Upon 
the  resignation  of  Mr.  Bissell  from  the  office 
of  postmaster- general,  Mr.  Wilson  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  vacancy  by  President 
Cleveland.  His  many  years  of  public  serv- 
ice and  the  prominent  part  he  took  in  the 
discussion  of  public  questions  gave  him  a 
national  reputation. 


CALVIN  S.  BRICE,  a  successful  and 
noted  financier  and  politician,  was 
born  at  Denmark,  Ohio,  September  17, 
1845,  of  an  old  Maryland  family,  who  trace 
their  lineage  from  the  Bryces,  or  Bruces,  of 
Airth,  Scotland.  The  father  of  our  subject 
was  a  prominent  Presbyterian  clergyman, 
who  removed  to  Ohio  in  1812.  Calvin  S. 
Brice  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen entered  the  preparatory  department  of 
Miami  University  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  the 
following  year  entered  the  freshman  class. 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war, 
although  but  fifteen  years  old,  he  enlisted  in 
a  company  of  three-months  men.  He  re- 
turned to  complete  his  college  course,  but 
re-enlisted  in  Company  A,  Eighty-sixth 
Ohio  Infantry,  and  served  in  the  Virginia 
campaign.  He  then  returned  to  college, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1863.  In  1864 
he  organized  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Eightieth  Ohio  Infantry,  and  served 
until  the  close  of  hostilities,  in  the  western 
armies. 

On  his  return  home  Mr.  Brice  entered 
the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,  and  in  1866  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  Cincinnati.  In  the  winter  of  1870- 
71  he  went  to  Europe  in  the  interests  of  the 
Lake  Erie  &  Louisville  Railroad  and  pro- 
cured a  foreign  loan.  This  road  became 
the  Lake  Erie  &  Western,  of  which,  in 
1887,  Mr.  Brice  became  president.  This 
was  the  first  railroad  in  which  he  had  a 
personal  interest.  The  conception,  build- 
ing and  sale  of  the  New  York,  Chicago  & 
St.  Louis  Railroad,  known  as  the  "Nickel 
Plate,"  was  largely  due  to  him.  He  was 
connected  with  many  other  railroads,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 
Chicago  &  Atlantic;  Ohio  Central;  Rich- 
mond &  Danville;  Richmond  &  West  Point 


182 


COMTENDIL'^r   OF    BIOGRAPlir. 


Terminal;  East  Tennessee,  Virginia  & 
Georgia;  Memphis  &  Charleston;  Mobile  & 
Birmingham;  Kentucky  Central;  Duluth, 
South  Shore  &  Atlantic,  and  the  Marquette, 
Houghton  &  Ontonagon.  In  1890  he  was 
elected  United  States  senator  from  Ohio. 
Notwithstanding  his  extensive  business  inter- 
ests, Senator  Brice  gave  a  considerable 
time  to  political  matters,  becoming  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  and  one 
of  the  most  widely  known  men  in  the 
country. 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  twenty-third 
president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  August  20,  1833,  at  North  Bend, 
Hamilton  county,  Ohio,  in  the  house  of  his 
grandfather,  General  William  Henry  Har- 
rison, afterwards  president  of  the  United 
States.  His  great-grandfather,  Benjamin 
Harrison,  was  a  member  of  the  Continental 
congress,  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, and  was  three  times  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  entered  Farm- 
ers College  at  an  early  age,  and  two  years 
later  entered  Miami  University,  at  Oxford, 
Ohio.  Upon  graduation  he  entered  the 
office  of  Stover  &  Gwyne,  of  Cincinnati,  as  a 
law  student.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
two  years  later,  and  having  inherited  about 
eight  hundred  dollars  vvorth  of  property,  he 
married  the  daughter  of  Doctor  Scott,  pres- 
ident of  a  female  school  at  Oxford,  Ohio, 
and  selected  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  to  begin 
practice.  In  i860  he  was  nominated  by 
the  Republicans  as  candidate  for  state 
supreme  court  reporter,  and  did  his  first 
political  speaking  in  that  campaign.  He 
•was  elected,  and  after  two  years  in  that 
position  he  organized  the  Se^-entieth  Indi- 
ana Infantry,  of  which  he  was  made  colonel, 
and  with  his  regiment  joined   General  Sher- 


man's army.  For  bravery  displayed  at  Re- 
saca  and  Peach  Tree  Creek  he  was  made  a 
brigadier-general.  In  the  meantime  the 
office  of  supreme  court  reporter  had  been 
declared  vacant,  and  another  party  elected 
to  fill  it.  In  the  fall  of  1864,  having  been 
nominated  for  that  office.  General  Harrison 
obtained  a  thirty-day  leave  of  absence,  went 
to  Indiana,  canvassed  the  state  and  was 
elected.  As  he  was  about  to  rejoin  his 
command  he  was  stricken  down  by  an  attack 
of  fever.  After  his  recovery  he  joined 
General  Sherman's  army  and  participated  in 
the  closing  events  of  the  war. 

In  1868  General  Harrison  declined  to 
be  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  supreme 
court  reporter,  and  returned  to  the  practice 
of  the  law.  His  brilliant  campaign  for  the 
office  of  governor  of  Indiana  in  1876, 
brought  him  into  public  notice,  although  he 
was  defeated.  He  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  presidential  canvass  of  1880,  and  was 
chosen  United  States  senator  from  Indiana, 
serving  six  years.  He  then  returned  to  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  In  1888  he  was 
selected  by  the  Republican  convention  at 
Chicago  as  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and 
after  a  heated  campaign  was  elected  over. 
Cleveland.  He  was  inaugurated  March  4, 
1889,  and  signed  the  McKinley  bill  October 
I,  1890,  perhaps  the  most  distinctive  feature 
of  his  administration.  In  1892  he  was 
again  the  nominee  of  the  Republican  party 
for  president,  but  was  defeated  by  Grover 
Cleveland,  the  Democratic  candidate,  and 
again  resumed  the  practice  of  law  in  Indian- 
apolis. 

JOHN  CRAIG  HAVEMEYER,  the 
celebrated  merchant  and  sugar  refiner, 
was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1833.  His 
father,  William  F.  Havemeyer,  and  grand- 
father, William  Havemeyer,  were  both  sugar 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


183 


refiners.  The  latter  named  came  from 
Buckeburg,  Germany,  in  1799,  and  settled 
in  New  York,  establishing  one  of  the  first 
refineries  in  that  city.  William  F.  succeeded 
his  father,  and  at  an  early  age  retired  from 
business  with  a  competency.  He  was  three 
times  mayor  of  his  native  city,  New  York. 
John  C.  Havemeyer  was  educated  in 
private  schools,  and  was  prepared  for  college 
at  Columbia  College  grammar  school. 
Owing  to  failing  eyesight  he  was  unable  to 
finish  his  college  course,  and  began  his 
business  career  in  a  wholesale  grocery  store, 
where  he  remained  two  years.  In  1854, 
after  a  year's  travel  abroad,  he  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  the  office  work  in  the  sugar 
refinery  of  Havemeyer  &  Molter,  but  two 
years  later  etablished  a  refinery  of  his  own 
in  Brooklyn.  This  afterwards  developed  into 
the  immense  business  of  Havemeyer  &  Elder. 
The  capital  was  furnished  by  his  father, 
and,  chafing  under  the  anxiety  caused  by  the 
use  of  borrowed  money,  he  sold  out  his 
interest  and  returned  to  Havemeyer  & 
Molter.  This  firm  dissolving  the  next  year, 
John  C.  declined  an  offer  of  partnership 
from  the  successors,  not  wishing  to  use 
borrowed  money.  For  two  years  he  remain- 
ed with  the  house,  receiving  a  share  of  the 
profits  as  compensation.  For  some  years 
thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  the  commission 
business,  until  failing  health  caused  his 
retirement.  In  1871,  he  again  engaged  in 
the  sugar  refining  business  at  Greenport, 
Long  Island,  with  his  brother  and  another 
partner,  under  the  firm  name  of  Havemeyer 
Brothers  &  Co.  Here  he  remained  until 
1880,  when  his  health  again  declined. 
During  the  greater  part  of  his  life  Mr. 
Havepieyer  was  identified  with  many  benev- 
olent societies,  including  the  New  York 
Port  Society,  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  American  Bible  Society, 


New  York  Sabbath  School  Society  and 
others.  He  was  active  in  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  work  in  New  York, 
and  organized  and  was  the  first  president  of 
an  affiliated  society  of  the  same  at  Yonkers. 
He  was  director  of  several  railroad  corpo- 
rations and  a  trustee  of  the  Continental  Trust 
Company  of  New  York. 


WALTER  QUINTIN  GRESHAM,  an 
eminent  American  statesman  and 
jurist,  was  born  March  17,  1833,  near  Cory- 
don,  Harrison  county,  Indiana.  He  ac- 
quired his  education  m  the  local  schools  of 
the  county  and  at  Bloomington  Academy, 
although  he  did  not  graduate.  After  leav- 
ing college  he  read  law  with  Judge  Porter 
at  Corydon,  and  just  before  the  war  he  be- 
gan to  take  an  interest  in  politics.  Mr. 
Gresham  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from 
Harrison  county  as  a  Republican;  previous 
to  this  the  district  had  been  represented  by 
a  Democrat.  At  the  commencement  of 
hostilities  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  Thirty-eighth  Indiana  Infantry,  but 
served  in  that  regiment  only  a  short  time, 
when  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Fifty- 
third  Indiana,  and  served  under  General 
Grant  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  as  brigadier- 
general.  Later  he  was  under  Sherman  in 
the  famous  ''March  to  the  Sea,"  and  com- 
manded a  division  of  Blair's  corps  at  the 
siege  of  Atlanta  where  he  was  so  badly 
wounded  in  the  leg  that  he  was  compelled 
to  return  home.  On  his  way  home  he  was 
forced  to  stop  at  New  Albany,  where  he  re- 
mained a  year  before  he  was  able  to  leave. 
He  was  brevetted  major-general  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  While  at  New  Albany,  Mr. 
Gresham  was  appointed  state  agent,  his 
duty  being  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  state 
debt  in  New  York,  and  he  ran  twice  for 
congress    against  ex-Speaker  Kerr,  but  was 


184 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


defeated  in  both  cases,  although  he  greatly 
reduced  the  Democratic  majority.  He  was 
held  in  high  esteem  by  President  Grant, 
who  offered  him  the  portfolio  of  the  interior 
but  Mr.  Gresham  declined,  but  accepted 
the  appointment  of  United  States  judge  for 
Indiana  to  succeed  David  McDonald. 
Judge  Gresham  served  on  the  United  States 
district  court  bench  until  1883,  when  he 
was  appointed  postmaster-general  by  Presi- 
dent Arthur,  but  held  that  office  only  a  few 
months  when  he  was  made  secretary  of  the 
treasury.  Near  the  end  of  President 
Arthur's  term.  Judge  Gresham  was  ap- 
pointed judge  of  the  United  States  circuit 
court  of  the  district  composed  of  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  contiguous  states,  which  he  held 
until  1893.  Judge  Gresham  was  one  of  the 
presidential  possibilities  in  the  National  Re- 
publican convention  in  1888,  when  General 
Harrison  was  nominated,  and  was  also  men- 
tioned for  president  in  1892.  Later  the 
People's  party  made  a  strenuous  effort  to 
induce  him  to  become  their  candidate  for 
president,  he  refusing  the  offer,  however, 
and  a  few  weeks  before  the  election  he  an- 
nounced that  he  would  support  Mr.  Cleve- 
land, the  Democratic  nominee  for  president. 
Upon  the  election  of  Mr.  Cleveland  in  the 
fall  of  1892,  Judge  Gresham  was  made  the 
secretary  of  state,  and  filled  that  position 
until  his  death  on  May  28,  1895,  at  Wash- 
intrton,  District  of  Columbia. 


ELISHA  B.  ANDREWS,  noted  as  an  ed- 
ucator and  college  president,  was  born 
at  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire,  January  10, 
1844,  his  father  and  mother  being  Erastus 
and  Elmira  (Bartlett)  Andrews.  In  1S61, 
he  entered  the  service  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment as  private  and  non-commissioned 
officer  in  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Ar- 
tillery,   and  in    1S63    was  promoted   to   the 


rank  of  second  lieutenant.  Returning  home 
he  was  prepared  for  college  at  Powers  In- 
stitute and  at  the  Wesleyan  Academy,  and 
entered  Brown  University.  From  here  he 
was  graduated  in  1870.  For  the  succeeding 
two  years  he  was  principal  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Literary  Institute  at  Suffield,  Connecticut. 
Completing  a  course  at  the  Newton  Theo- 
logical Institute,  he  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  church  at  Beverly,  Massa- 
chusetts, July  2,  1874.  The  following 
year  he  became  president  of  the  Denison 
University,  at  Granville,  Ohio.  In  1879 
he  accepted  the  professorship  of  homiletics, 
pastoral  duties  and  church  polity  at  Newton 
Theological  Institute.  In  1882  he  was 
elected  to  the  chair  of  history  and  political 
economy  at  Brown  University.  The  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska  honored  him  with  an 
LL.  D.  in  1884,  and  the  same  year  Colby 
University  conferred  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
In  1888  he  became  professor  of  political 
economy  and  public  economy  at  Cornell 
University,  hut  the  next  year  returned  to 
Brown  University  as  its  president.  From 
the  time  of  his  inauguration  the  college  work 
broadened  in  many  ways.  Many  timely 
and  generous  donations  from  friends  and 
alumni  of  the  college  were  influenced  by 
him,  and  large  additions  made  -to  the  same. 
Professor  Andrews  published,  in  1887, 
"Institutes  of  General  History,"  and  in 
1888,   •' Institutes  of  Economics." 


JOHN  WILLIAM  DRAPER,  the  subject 
of  the  present  biography,  was,  during  his 
life,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  chemists 
and  scientific  writers  in  America.  He  was 
an  Englishman  by  birth,  born  at  Liverpool, 
May  5,  181 1,  and  was  reared  in  his  native 
land,  receiving  an  excellent  .education, 
graduating  at  the  University  of  London.  In 
1833   he   came   to   the  United    States,  and 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAniT. 


187" 


settled  first  in  Pennsylvania.  He  graduated 
in  medicine  at  the  University  of  Philadel- 
phia, in  1836,  and  for  three  years  following 
was  professor  of  chemistry  and  physiology 
at  Hampden-Sidney  College.  He  then  be- 
came professor  of  chemistry  in  the  New  York 
University,  with  which  institution  he  was 
prominently  connected  for  many  years.  It 
is  stated  on  excellent  authority  that  Pro- 
fessor Draper,  in  1S39,  took  the  first  photo- 
graphic picture  ever  taken  from  life.  He 
was  a  great  student,  and  carried  on  many 
important  and  intricate  experiments  along 
scientific  lines.  He  discovered  many  of  the 
fundamental  facts  of  spectrum  analysis, 
which  he  published.  He  published  a  number 
of  works  of  great  merit,  many  of  which  are 
recognized  as  authority  upon  the  subjects  of 
which  they  treat.  Among  his  work  were: 
"Human  Physiology,  Statistical  and  Dyna- 
mical of  the  Conditions  and  Cause  of  Life 
in  Man,"  "History  of  Intellectual  Develop- 
ment of  Europe,"  "History  of  the  Ameri- 
can Civil  War,"  besides  a  number  of  works 
on  chemistry,  optics  and  mathematics.  Pro- 
fessor Draper  continued  to  hold  a  high  place 
among  the  scientific  scholars  of  America 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  January, 
1882.  

GEORGE  W.  PECK,  ex-governor  of 
the  -state  of  Wisconsin  and  a  famous 
journalist  and  humorist,  was  born  in  Jeffer- 
son county.  New  York,  September  28,  1840. 
When  he  was  about  three  years  of  age  his 
parents  removed  to  Wisconsin,  settling  near 
Whitewater,  where  young  Peck  received  his 
education  at  the  public  schools.  At  fifteen 
he  entered  the  office  of  the  "Whitewater 
Register,"  where  he  learned  the  printer's 
art.  He  helped  start  the  "Jefferson  County 
Republican"  later  on,  but  sold  out  his 
interest  therein  and  set  type  in  the  office  of 


the  "State  Journal,"  at  Madison.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  he  enlisted  in  the 
Fourth  Wisconsin  Cavalry  as  a  private,  and 
after  serving  four  years  returned  a  second 
lieutenant.  He  then  started  the  "  Ripon 
Representative,"  which  he  sold  not  long 
after,  and  removing  to  New  York,  was  on 
the  staff  of  Mark  Pomeroy's  "Democrat." 
Going  to  La  Crosse,  later,  he  conducted  the 
La  Crosse  branch  paper,  a  half  interest  in 
which  he  bought  in  1874.  He  next  started 
"Peck's  Sun,"  which  four  years  later  he 
removed  to  Milwaukee.  While  in  La 
Crosse  he  was  chief  of  police  one  year,  and 
also  chief  clerk  of  the  Democratic  assembly 
in  1874.  It  was  in  1878  that  Mr.  Peck 
took  his  paper  to  Milwaukee,  and  achieved 
his  first  permanent  success,  the  circulation 
increasing  to  80,000.  For  ten  years  he  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  original,  versa- 
tile and  entertaining  writers  in  the  country, 
and  he  has  dehneated  every  phase  of 
country  newspaper  life,  army  life,  domestic 
experience,  travel  and  city  adventure.  Up 
to  1890  Mr.  Peck  took  but  little  part  in 
politics,  but  in  that  year  was  elected  mayor 
of  Milwaukee  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 
The  following  August  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Wisconsin  by  a  large  majority, 
the  "Bennett  School  Bill"  figuring  to  a 
large  extent  in  his  favor. 

Mr.  Peck,  besides  many  newspaper  arti- 
cles in  his  peculiar  vein  and  numerous  lect- 
ures, bubbling  over  with  fun,  is  known  to 
fame  by  the  following  books:  "Peck's  Bad 
Boy  and  his  Pa,"  and  "The  Grocery  Man 
and  Peck's  Bad  Boy." 


CHARLES  O'CONOR,  who  was  for 
many  years  the  acknowledged  leader 
of  the  legal  profession  of  New  York  City, 
was  also  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
lawyers    America   has   produced.       He  was 


188 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPlir. 


born  in  New  York  City  in  1804,  his  fatlier 
being  an  educated  Irish  gentleman.  Charles 
received  a  common-school  education,  and 
early  took  up  the  study  of  law,  being  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  1824.  His  close  ap- 
plication and  untiring  energy  and  industry 
soon  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
profession,  and  within  a  few  years  he  was 
handling  many  of  the  most  important  cases. 
One  of  the  first  great  cases  he  had  and  which 
gained  him  a  wide  reputation,  was  that  of 
"Jack,  the  Fugitive  Slave,"  in  1835,  in  which 
his  masterful  argument  before  the  supreme 
court  attracted  wide  attention  and  com- 
ment. Charles  O'Conor  was  a  Democrat 
all  his  life.  He  did  not  aspire  to  office- 
holding,  however,  and  never  held  any  office 
except  that  of  district  attorney  under  Presi- 
dent Pierce's  administration,  which  he  only 
retained  a  short  time.  He  took  an  active 
interest,  however,  in  public  questions,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  state  (New  York)  con- 
stitutional convention  in  1864.  In  1868  he 
was  nominated  for  the  presidency  by  the 
"  Extreme  Democrats."  His  death  occurred 
in  May,   18S4. 

SIMON  BOLIVAR  BUCKNER,  a  noted 
American  officer  and  major-general  in 
the  Confederate  army,  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1823.  He  graduated  from  West 
Point  Military  Academy  in  1844,  served  in 
the  United  States  infantry  and  was  later  as- 
signed to  commissary  duty  with  the  rank  of 
captain.  He  served  several  years  at  fron- 
tier posts,  and  was  assistant  professor  in  the 
military  academy  in  1846.  He  was  with 
General  Scott  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  en- 
gaged in  all  the  battles  from  Vera  Cruz  to 
the  capture  of  the  Mexican  capital.  He 
was  wounded  at  Cherubusco  and  brevetted 
first  lieutenant,  and  at  Molino  del  Rey  was 
brevetted  captain.      After  the   close    of  the 


Mexican  war  he  returned  to  West  Point  as 
assistant  instructor,  and  was  then  assigned 
to  commissary  duty  at  New  York.  He  re- 
signed in  1855  and  became  superintendent 
of  construction  of  the  Chicago  custom  house. 
He  was  made  adjutaut-genenal,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel,  of  Illinois  militia,  and  was 
colonel  of  Illinois  volunteers  raised  for  the 
Utah  expedition,  but  was  not  mustered  into 
service.  In  i860  he  removed  to  Kentucky, 
where  he  settled  on  a  farm  near  Louisville 
and  became  inspector-general  in  command 
of  the  Kentucky  Home  Guards.  At  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  war  he  joined  the  Con- 
federate army,  and  was  given  command  at 
Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  which  he  was 
compelled  to  abandon  after  the  capture  of 
Fort  Henry.  He  then  retired  to  Fort  Don- 
elson,  and  was  there  captured  with  sixteen 
thousand  men,  and  an  immense  store  of  pro- 
visions, by  General  Grant,  in  February, 
1862.  He  was  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war 
at  Fort  Warren  until  August  of  that  year. 
He  commanded  a  division  of  Hardee's  corps 
in  Bragg's  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  was 
afterward  assigned  to  the  third  division  and 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickamauga, 
and  Murfreesboro.  He  was  with  Kirby 
Smith  when  that  general  surrendered  his 
army  to  General  Canby  in  May,  1865.  He 
was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency  on  the  Gold  Democratic  ticket 
with  Senator  John  M.  Palmer  in  1896. 


SIMON  KENTON,  one  of  the  famous  pio- 
neers and  scouts  whose  names  fill  the 
pages  of  the  early  history  of  our  country, 
was  born  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia, 
April  3,  1755.  In  consequence  of  an  affray, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  young  Kenton  went 
to  Kentucky,  then  the  "Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground,"  and  became  associated  with  Dan- 
iel Boone  and  other  pioneers  of  that  region. 


COHIPRNDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


18» 


For  a  short  time  he  acted  as  a  scout  and 
spy  for  Lord  Dunmore,  the  British  governor 
of  Virginia,  but  afterward  taking  the  side 
of  the  struggling  colonists,  participated  in 
the  war  for  independence  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  In  1784  he  returned  to  Virginia, 
but  did  not  remain  there  long,  going  back 
with  his  family  to  Kentucky.  From 
that  time  until  1793  he  participated  in  all 
the  combats  and  battles  of  that  time,  and 
until  "Mad  Anthony"  Wayne  swept  the 
Valley  of  the  Ohio,  and  settled  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  whites  in  that  region.  Iventon 
laid  claim  to  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  new 
country  he  had  helped  to  open  up,  but 
through  ignorance  of  law,  and  the  growing 
value  of  the  land,  lost  it  all  and  was  reduced 
to  poverty.  During  the  war  with  England 
in  1812-15,  Kenton  took  part  in  the  inva- 
sion of  Canada  with  the  K^entucky  troops 
and  participated  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 
He  finally  had  land  granted  him  by  the 
legislature  of -Kentucky,  and  received  a  pen- 
sion from  the  United  States  government. 
He  died   in    Logan  county,    Ohio,  April  29, 

ELIHU  BENJAMIN  WASHBURNE,  an 
American  statesman  of  eminence,  was 
born  in  Livermore,  Maine,  September  23, 
I  8 16.  He  learned  the  trade  of  printer,  but 
abandoned  that  calling  at  the  age  of  eight- 
een and  entered  the  Kent's  Hill  Academy  at 
Reading,  Maine,  and  then  took  up  the  study 
of  law,  reading  in  Hallowell,  Boston,  and  at 
the  Harvard  Law  School.  He  began  prac- 
tice at  Galena,  Illinois,  in  1840.  He  was 
elected  to  congress  in  1852,  and  represented 
his  district  in  that  body  continuously  until 
March,  1869,  and  at  the  time  of  his  retire- 
ment he  had  served  a  greater  number  of 
consecutive  terms  than  any  other  member 
of  the  house.      In  1873  President  Grant  ap- 


pointed him  secretary  of  state,  which  posi- 
tion he  resigned  to  accept  that  of  minister 
to  France.  During  the  Franco- Prussian 
war,  including  the  siege  of  Paris  and  the 
reign  of  the  Commune,  Mr.  Washburne  re- 
mained at  his  post,  protecting  the  lives  and 
property  of  his  countrymen,  as  well  as  that 
of  other  foreign  residents  in  Paris,  while  the 
ministers  of  all  other  powers  abandoned 
their  posts  at  a  time  when  they  were  most 
needed.  As  far  as  possible  he  extended 
protection  to  unfortunate  German  residents, 
who  were  the  particular  objects  of  hatred  of 
the  populace,  and  his  firmness  and  the  suc- 
cess which  attended  his  efforts  won  the  ad- 
miration of  all  Europe.  Mr.  Washburne 
died  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  October  22,   1887. 


"\  1  7ILLIAM  CRAMP,  one  of  the  most 
V  V  extensive  shipbuilders  of  this  coun- 
try, was  born  in  Kensington,  then  a  suburb, 
now  a  part  of  Philadelphia,  in  1806.  He 
received  a  thorough  English  education,  and 
when  he  left  school  was  associated  with 
Samuel  Grice,  one  of  the  most  eminent 
naval  architects  of  his  day.  In  1830,  hav- 
ing mastered  all  the  details  of  shipbuilding, 
Mr.  Cramp  engaged  in  business  on  his  own 
account.  By  reason  of  ability  and  excel- 
lent work  he  prospered  from  the  start,  until 
now,  in  the  hands  of  his  sons,  under  the 
name  of  William  Cramp  &  Sons'  Ship  and 
EngineBuilding  Company,  it  has  become  the 
most  complete  shipbuilding  plant  and  naval 
arsenal  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  fully 
equal  to  any  in  the  world.  As  Mr.  Cramp's 
sons  attained  manhood  they  learned  their 
father's  profession,  and  were  admitted  to  a 
partnership.  In  1872  the  firm  was  incor- 
porated under  the  title  given  above.  Until 
i860  wood  was  used  in  building  vessels,  al- 
though pace  was  kept  with  all  advances  in 
the  art  of  shipbuilding.      At   the  opening  of 


190 


COMTENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


the  war  came  an  unexpected  demand  for 
war  vessels,  which  they  promptly  met.  The 
sea-going  ironclad  "New  Ironsides"  was 
built  by  them  in  1862,  followed  by  a  num- 
ber of  formidable  ironclads  and  the  cruiser 
"Chattanooga."  They  subsequently  built 
several  war  vessels  for  the  Russian  and 
other  governments  which  added  to  their 
reputation.  When  the  American  steamship 
line  was  established  in  1S70,  the  Cramps 
were  commissioned  to  build  for  it  four  first- 
class  iron  steamships,  the  "Pennsylvania," 
"Ohio,"  "Indiana"  and  "Illinois,"  which 
they  turned  out  in  rapid  order,  some  of  the 
finest  specimens  of  the  naval  architecture  of 
their  day.  '^Villiam  Cramp  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  great  company  he  had  founded 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  January  6, 
1879. 

Charles  H.  Cramp,  the  successor  of  his 
father  as  head  of  the  William  Cramp  & 
Sons'  Ship  and  Engine  Building  Company, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia  May  9,  1829,  and 
received  an  excellent  education  in  his  native 
city,  which  he  sedulously  sought  to  sup- 
plement by  close  study  until  he  became 
an  authority  on  general  subjects  and  the 
best  naval  architect  on  the  western  hemis- 
phere. Many  of  the  best  vessels  of  our 
new  navy  were  built  by  this  immense  con- 
cern. 

WASHINGTON  ALLSTON,  probably 
the  greatest  American  painter,  was 
born  in  South  Carolina  in  1779.  He  was 
sent  to  school  at  the  age  of  seven  years  at 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  where  he  met  Ed- 
ward Malbone,  two  years  his  senior,  and 
who  later  became  a  pamter  of  note.  The 
friendship  that  sprang  up  between  them  un- 
doubtedly influenced  young  Allston  in  the 
choice  of  a  profession.  He  graduated  from 
Harvard   in    1800,  and  went  to  England  the 


following  year,  after  pursuing  his  studies  for 
a  year  under  his  friend  Malbone  at  his  home 
in  South  Carolina.  He  became  a  student 
at  the  Royal  Academy  where  the  great 
American,  Benjamin  West,  presided,  and 
who  became  his  intimate  friend.  Allston 
later  went  to  Paris,  and  then  to  Italy,  where 
four  years  were  spent,  mostly  at  Rome.  In 
1809  he  returned  to  America,  but  soon  after 
returned  to  London,  having  married  in  the 
meantime  a  sister  of  Dr.  Channing.  In 
a  short  time  his  first  great  work  appeared, 
"The  Dead  Man  Restored  to  Life  by  the 
Bones  of  Elisha,"  which  took  the  British 
Association  prize  and  firmly  established  his 
reputation.  Other  paintings  followed  in 
quick  succession,  the  greatest  among  which 
were  "Uriel  in  the  Center  of  the  Sun," 
"Saint  Peter  Liberated  by  the  Angel,"  and 
"Jacob's  Dream,"  supplemented  by  many 
smaller  pieces.  Hard  work,  and  grief  at  the 
death  of  his  wife  began  to  tell  upon  his  health, 
and  he  left  London  in  1818  for  America. 
The  same  year  he  was  elected  an  associate 
of  the  Royal  Academy.  During  the  next 
few  years  he  painted  "Jeremiah,"  "Witch 
ofEndor,"  and  "Beatrice."  In  1830  Alls- 
ton  married  a  daughter  of  Judge  Dana,  and 
went  to  Cambridge,  which  was  his  home 
until  his  death.  Here  he  produced  the 
"Vision  of  the  Bloody  Hand,"  "Rosalie," 
and  many  less  noted  pieces,  and  had  given 
one  week  of  labor  to  his  unfinished  master- 
piece, "Belshazzar's  Feast,"  when  death 
ended  his  career  July  9,  1843. 


JOHN  ROACH,  ship  builder  and  manu- 
facturer, whose  career  was  a  marvel  of. 
industrial  labor,  and  who  impressed  his  in- 
dividuality and  genius  upon  the  times  in 
which  he  lived  more,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  manufacturer  in  America.  He  was 
born    at    Mitchelstown,    County  Cork,   Ire- 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


191 


land,  December  25,  181 5,  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  merchant.  He  attended  school 
ui.til  he  was  thirteen,  when  his  father  be- 
came financially  embarrassed  and  failed 
and  shortly  after  died;  John  determined  to 
come  to  America  and  carve  out  a  fortune 
for  himself.  He  landed  in  New  York  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  and  soon  obtained  employ- 
ment at  the  Howell  Iron  Works  in  New  Jer- 
sey, at  twenty-five  cents  a  day.  He  soon 
made  himself  a  place  in  the  world,  and  at 
the  end  of  three  years  had  saved  some 
twelve  hundred  dollars,  which  he  lost  by 
the  failure  of  his  employer,  in  whose  hands 
it  was  left.  Returning  to  New  York  he 
began  to  learn  how  to  make  castings  for 
marine  engines  and  ship  work.  Having 
again  accumulated  one  thousand  dollars,  in 
company  with  three  fellow  workmen,  he 
purchased  a  small  foundry  in  New  York, 
but  soon  became  sole  proprietor.  At  the 
end  of  four  years  he  had  saved  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars,  besides  enlarging  his  works. 
In  1856  his  works  were  destroyed  by  a 
boiler  explosion,  and  being  unable  to  collect 
the  insurance,  was  left,  after  paying  his 
debts,  without  a  dollar.  However,  his 
credit  and  reputation  for  integrity  was  good, 
and  he  built  the  Etna  Iron  Works,  giving  it 
capacity  to  construct  larger  marine  engines 
than  any  previously  built  in  this  country. 
Here  he  turned  out  immense  engines  for 
the  steam  ram  Dunderberg,  for  the  war  ves- 
sels Winooski  and  Neshaning,  and  other 
large  vessels.  To  accommodate  his  increas- 
ing business,  Mr.  Roach,  in  1869,  pur- 
chased the  Morgan  Iron  Works,  one  of  the 
largest  in  New  York,  and  shortly  after  sev- 
eral others.  In  1871  he  bought  the  Ches- 
ter ship  yards,  which  he  added  to  largely, 
erecting  a  rolling  mill  and  blast  furnace,  and 
providing  every  facility  for  building  a  ship 
out  of  the  ore  and   timber.     This  immense 


plant  covered  a  large  area,  was  valued  at 
several  millions  of  dollars,  and  was  known 
as  the  Delaware  River  Iron  Shipbuilding 
and  Engine  Works,  of  which  Mr.  Roach 
was  the  principal  owner.  He  built  a  large 
percentage  of  the  iron  vessels  now  flying 
the  American  flag,  the  bulk  of  his  business 
being  for  private  parties.  In  1875  he  built 
the  sectional  dry  docks  at  Pensacola.  He, 
about  this  time,  drew  the  attention  of  the 
government  to  the  use  of  compound  marine 
engines,  and  thus  was  the  means  of  im- 
proving the  speed  and  economy  of  the  ves- 
sels of  our  new  navy.  In  1883  Mr.  Roach 
commenced  work  on  the  three  cruisers  for 
the  government,  the  "Chicago,"  "Boston" 
and  "Atlanta,"  and  the  dispatch  boat 
"  Dolphin."  For  some  cause  the  secretary 
of  the  navy  refused  to  receive  the  latter  and 
decided  that  Mr.  Roach's  contract  would 
not  hold.  This  embarrassed  Mr.  Roach, 
as  a  large  amount  of  his  capital  was  in- 
volved in  these  contracts,  and  for  the  pro- 
tection of  bondsmen  and  creditors,  July  18, 
1885,  he  made  an  assignment,  but  the 
financial  trouble  broke  down  his  strong  con- 
stitution, and  January  10,  18S7,  he  died. 
His  son,  John  B.  Roach,  succeeded  to  the 
shipbuilding  interests,  while  Stephen  W. 
Roach  inherited  the  Morgan  Iron  Works  at 
New  York. 

JOHN  SINGLETON  COPLEY,  one  of 
the  two  great  painters  who  laid  the 
foundation  of  true  American  art,  was  born 
in  Boston  in  1737,  one  year  earlier  than  his 
great  contemporary,  Benjamin  West.  His 
education  was  limited  to  the  common  schools 
of  that  time,  and  his  training  in  art  he  ob- 
tained by  his  own  observation  and  experi- 
ments solely.  When  he  was  about  seven- 
teen years  old  he  had  mapped  out  his  future, 
however,  by  choosing  painting  as  his  pro- 


192 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BJOGRAPHT. 


fession.  If  he  ever  studied  under  any 
teacher  in  his  early  efforts,  we  have  no  au- 
thentic account  of  it,  and  tradition  credits 
the  young  artist's  wonderful  success  en- 
tirely to  his  own  talent  and  untiring  effort. 
It  is  almost  incredible  that  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years  his  income  from  his 
works  aggregated  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
per  annuin,  a  very  great  sum  in  those  days. 
In  1774  he  went  to  Europe  in  search  of  ma- 
terial for  study,  which  was  so  rare  in  his 
native  land.  After  some  time  spent  in  Italy 
he  finally  took  up  his  permanent  residence 
in  England.  In  1783  he  was  made  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  later  his 
son  had  the  high  honor  of  becoming  lord 
chancellor  of  England  and  Lord  Lyndhurst. 
Many  specimens  of  Copley's  work  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Memorial  Hall  at  Harvard 
and  in  the  Boston  Museum,  as  well  as  a  few 
of  the  works  upon  which  he  modeled  his 
style.  Copley  was  essentially  a  portrait 
painter,  though  his  historical  paintings  at- 
tained great  celebrity,  his  masterpiece 
being  his  "  Death  of  Major  Pierson, "  though 
that  distinction  has  by  some  been  given  to 
his  "Death  of  Chatham."  It  is  said  that 
he  never  saw  a  good  picture  until  he  was 
thirty-five  years  old,  yet  his  portraits  prior 
to  that  period  are  regarded  as  rare  speci- 
mens.     He  died  in  1815. 


HENRY  B.  PLANT,  one  of  the  greatest 
railroad  men  of  the  country,  became 
famous  as  president  of  the  Plant  system  of 
railway  and  steamer  lines,  and  also  the 
Southern  &  Texas  Express  Co.  He  was 
born  in  October,  18 19,  at  Branford, 
Connecticut,  and  entered  the  railroad  serv- 
ice in  1844,  serving  as  express  messenger 
on  the  Hartford  &  New  Haven  Railroad  until 
1853,  during  which  time  he  had  entire 
charge  of  the  exor^.-?  lousiness  of  that  road. 


He  went  south  in  1853  and  established  ex- 
press lines  on  various  southern  railways,  and 
in  1 86 1  organized  the  Southern  Express 
Co.,  and  became  its  president.  In  1879  he 
purchased,  with  others,  the  Atlantic  &  Gulf 
Railroad  of  Georgia,  and  later  reorganized 
the  Savannah,  Florida  &  W^estern  Railroad, 
of  which  he  became  president.  He  pur- 
chased and  rebuilt,  in  1880,  the  Savannah 
&  Charleston  Railroad,  now  Charleston  & 
Savannah.  Not  long  after  this  he  organ- 
ized the  Plant  Investment  Co.,  to  control 
these  railroads  and  advance  their  interests 
generally,  and  later  established  a  steamboat 
line  on  the  St.  John's  river,  in  Florida. 
From  1853  until  i860  he  was  general 
superintendent  of  the  southern  division  of 
the  Adams  Express  Co.,  and  in  1867  be- 
came president  of  the  Texas  Express  Co. 
The  "Plant  system"  of  railway,  steamer 
and  steamship  lines  is  one  of  the  greatest 
business  corporations  of  the  southern  states. 


WADE  HAMPTON,  a  noted  Confeder- 
ate officer,  was  born  at  Columbia, 
South  Carolina,  in  18 18.  He  graduated 
from  the  South  Carolina  College,  took  an 
active  part  in  politics,  and  was  twice  elected 
to  the  legislature  of  his  state.  In  1861  he 
joined  the  Confederate  army,  and  command- 
ed the  "  Hampton  Legion  "  at  the  first  bat- 
tle of  Bull  Run,  in  July,  1861.  He  did 
meritorious  service,  was  wounded,  and  pro- 
moted to  brigadier-general.  He  command- 
ed a  brigade  at  Seven  Pines,  in  1862,  and 
was  again  wounded.  He  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  of  Antietam  in  September  of  the 
same  year,  and  participated  in  the  raid  into 
Pennsylvania  in  October.  In  1863  he  was 
with  Lee  at  Gettysburg,  where  he  was 
wounded  for  the  third  time.  He  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  and 
commanded    a    troop    of    cavalry   in    Lee's 


COMPENDIUM  OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


193 


army  during  1864,  and  was  in  numerous  en- 
gagements. In  1865  he  was  in  South  Car- 
ohna,  and  commanded  the  cavahy  rear 
guard  of  the  Confederate  army  in  its  stub- 
born retreat  before  General  Sherman  on  his 
advance  toward  Riclimond. 

After  the  war  Hampton  took  an  active 
part  in  politics,  and  was  a  prominent  figure 
at  the  Democratic  national  convention  in 
1868,  which  nominated  Seymour  and  Blair 
for  president  and  vice-president.  He  was 
governor  of  South  Carolina,  and  took  his 
seat  in  the  United  States  senate  in  1879, 
where  he  became  a  conspicuous  figure  in 
national  affairs. 


IKOLA  TESLA,  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated electricians  America  has  known, 
was  born  in  1857,  at  Smiljau,  Lika,  Servia. 
He  descended  from  an  old  and  representative 
family  of  that  country.  His  father  was  a 
a  minister  of  the  Greek  church,  of  high  rank, 
while  his  mother  was  a  woman  of  remarka- 
ble skill  in  the  construction  of  looms,  churns 
and  the  machinery  required  in  a  rural  home. 
Nikola  received  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Gospich,  when  he  was 
sent  to  the  higher  "Real  Schule"  at  Karl- 
stadt,  where,  after  a  three  years'  course, 
he  graduated  in  1873.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  experiments  in  electricity  and 
magnetism,  to  the  chagrin  of  his  father, 
who  had  destined  him  for  the  ministry, 
but  giving  way  to  the  boy's  evident  genius 
he  was  allowed  to  continue  his  studies  in 
the  polytechnic  school  at  Gratz.  He  in- 
herited a  wonderful  intuition  which  enabled 
him  to  see  through  the  intricacies  of  ma- 
chinery, and  despite  his  instructor's  demon- 
stration that  a  dynamo  could  not  be  oper- 
ated without  commutators  or  brushes, 
began  experiments  which  finally  resulted  in 
his  rotating  field   motors.      After   the  study 


of  languages  at  Prague  and  Buda-Pesth,  he 
became  associated  with  M.  Puskas,  who 
had  introduced  the  telephone  into  Hungary. 
He  invented  several  improvements,  but 
being  unable  to  reap  the  necessary  benefit 
from  them,  he,  in  search  of  a  wider  field, 
went  to  Paris,  where  he  found  employment 
with  one  of  the  electric  lighting  companies 
as  electrical  engineer.  Soon  he  set  his  face 
westward,  and  coming  to  the  United  States 
for  a  time  found  congenial  employment  whh 
Thomas  A.  Edisoh.  Finding  it  impossible, 
overshadowed  as  he  was,  to  carry  out  his 
own  ideas  he  left  the  Edison  works  to  join 
a  company  formed  to  place  his  own  inven- 
tions on  the  market.  He  perfected  his 
rotary  field  principle,  adapting  it  to  circuits 
then  in  operation.  It  is  said  of  him  that 
some  of  his  proved  theories  will  change  the 
entire  electrical  science.  It  would,  in  an 
article  of  this  length,  be  impossible  to  ex- 
plain all  that  Tesla  accomplished  for  the 
practical  side  of  electrical  engineering. 
His  discoveries  formed  the  basis  of  the  at- 
tempt to  utilize  the  water  power  of  Niagara 
Falls.  His  work  ranges  far  beyond  the 
vast  department  of  polyphase  currents  and 
high  potential  lighting  and  includes  many 
inventions  in  arc  lighting,  transformers, 
pyro  and  thermo-magnetic  motors,  new 
forms  of  incandescent  lamps,  unipolar  dyna- 
mos and  many  others. 


CHARLES  B.  LEWIS  won  fame  as  an 
American  humorist  under  the  name  of 
"M.  Quad."  It  is  said  he  owes  his 
celebrity  originally  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
once  mixed  up  in  a  boiler  explosion  on  the 
Ohio  river,  and  the  impressions  he  received 
from  the  event  he  set  up  from  his  case  when 
he  was  in  the  composing  room  of  an  ob- 
scure Michigan  paper.  His  style  jjossesses  a 
peculiar  qaaintness,  and  there  runs  through 


194 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRATHr 


it  a  vein  of  philosophy.  Mr.  Lewis  was 
born  in  1844,  near  a  town  called  Liverpool, 
Ohio.  He  was,  however,  raised  in  Lansing, 
Michigan,  where  he  spent  a  year  in  an  agri- 
cultural college,  going  from  there  to  the 
composing  room  of  the  "Lansing  Demo- 
crat." At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  en- 
listed in  the  service,  remained  during,  the 
^entire  war,  and  then  returned  to  Lansing. 
The  explosion  of  the  boiler  that  "blew  him 
into  fame, "  took  place  two  years  later,  while 
he  was  on  his  way  south.  When  he  re- 
covered physically,  he  brought  suit  for  dam- 
ages against  the  steamboat  company,  which 
he  gained,  and  was  awarded  a  verdict  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars  for  injuries  re- 
ceived. It  was  while  he  was  employed  by 
the  "  Jacksonian  "  of  Pontiac,  Mich.,  that  he 
set  up  his  account  of  how  he  felt  while  being 
blown  up.  He  says  that  he  signed  it  "M 
Quad,"  because  "abourgeoise  em  quad  is 
useless  except  in  its  own  line — it  won't 
justify  with  any  other  type."  Soon  after, 
because  of  the  celebrity  he  attained  by  this 
screed,  Mr.  Lewis  secured  a  place  on  the 
staff  of  the  "  Detroit  Free  Press,"  and  made 
for  that  paper  a  wide  reputation.  His 
sketches  of  the  "Lime  Kiln  Club"  and 
"  Brudder  Gardner "  are  perhaps  the  best 
known  of  his  humorous  writings. 


HIRAM  S.  MAXIM,  the  famous  inventor, 
was  born  in  Sangersville,  Maine, 
February  5,  1840,  the  son  of  Isaac  W. 
and  Harriet  B.  Maxim.  The  town  of  his 
:birth  was  but  a  small  place,  in  the 
woods,  on  the  confines  of  civilization, 
and  the  family  endured  many  hardships. 
They  were  without  means  and  entirely 
dependent  on  themselves  to  make  out  of 
raw  materials  all  they  needed.  The  mother 
■was  an  expert  spinner,  weaver,  dyer  and 
seamstress  and  the  father  a  trapper,  tanner, 


miller,  blacksmith,  carpenter,  mason  and 
farmer.  Amid  such  surroundings  young 
Maxim  gave  early  promise  of  remarkable 
aptitude.  With  the  universal  Yankee  jack- 
knife  the  products  of  his  skill  excited  the 
wonder  and  interest  of  the  locality.  His 
parents  did  not  encourage  his  latent  genius 
but  apprenticed  him  to  a  coach  builder. 
Four  years  he  labored  at  this  uncongenial 
trade  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  forsook 
it  and  entered  a  machine  shop  at  Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts.  Soon  mastering  the  details 
of  that  business  and  that  of  mechanical 
drawing,  he  went  to  Boston  as  the  foreman 
of  the  philosophical  instrument  manufactory. 
From  thence  he  went  to  New  York  and  wiih 
the  Novelty  Iron  Works  Shipbuilding  Co. 
he  gained  experience  in  those  trades.  His 
inventions  up  to  this  time  consisted  of 
improvements  in  steam  engines,  and  an 
automatic  gas  machine,  which  came  into 
general  use.  In  1877  he  turned  his  attention 
to  electricity,  and  in  1878  produced  an 
incandescent  lamp,  that  would  burn  1,000 
hours.  He  was  the  first  to  design  a  process 
for  flashing  electric  carbons,  and  the  first 
to  "standardize"  carbons  for  electric  light- 
ing. In  1880  he  visited  Europe  and  exhibit- 
ing, at  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1881,  a  self- 
regulating  machine,  was  decorated  with  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  In  1883  he  returned  to 
London  as  the  European  representative  of  the 
United  States  Electric  Light  Co.  An  incident 
of  his  boyhood,  in  which  the  recoil  of  a  rifle 
was  noticed  by  him,  and  the  apparent  loss 
of  power  shown,  in  188 1-2  prompted  the 
invention  of  a  gun  which  utilizes  the  recoil  to 
automatically  load  and  fire  seven  hundred 
and  seventy  shots  per  minute.  The  Maxim- 
Nordenfelt  Gun  Co.,  with  a  capital  of  nine 
million  dollars,  grew  from  this.  In  1883  he 
patented  his  electric  training  gear  for  large 
guns.     And  later  turned  his  attention  to  fly- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHi'. 


195 


ing  machines,  which  he  claimed  were  not  an 
impossibility.  He  took  out  over  one  hundred 
patents  for  smokeless  gunpowder,  and  for  pe- 
troleum and  other  motors  and  autocycles. 


JOHN  DAVISON  ROCKEFELLER, 
one  of  America's  very  greatest  financiers 
and  philanthropists,  was  born  in  Richford, 
Tioga  county.  New  York,  July  8,  1839.  He 
received  a  common-school  education  in  his 
native  place,  and  in  1853,  when  his  parents 
removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  he  entered  the 
high  school  of  that  city.  After  a  two-years' 
course  of  diligent  work,  he  entered  the  com- 
mission and  forwarding  house  of  Hewitt  & 
Tuttle,  of  Cleveland,  remaining  with  the 
firm  some  years,  and  then  began  business 
for  himself,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Morris  B.  Clark.  Mr.  Rockefeller  was  then 
but  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  during  the 
year  i860,  in  connection  with  others,  they 
started  the  oil  refining  business,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Andrews,  Clark  &  Co.  Mr. 
Rockefeller  and  Mr.  Andrews  purchased  the 
interest  of  their  associates,  and,  after  taking 
William  Rockefeller  into  the  firm, established 
offices  in  Cleveland  under  the  name  of 
William  Rockefeller  &  Co.  Shortly  after 
this  the  house  of  Rockefeller  &  Co.  was  es- 
tablished in  New  York  for  the  purpose  of 
finding  a  market  for  their  products, -and  two 
years  later  all  the  refining  companies  were 
consolidated  under  the  firm  name  of  Rocke- 
feller, Andrews  &  Flagler.  This  firm  was 
succeeded  in  1870  by  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  of  Ohio,  said  to  be  the  most 
gigantic  business  corporation  of  modern 
times.  John  D.  Rockefeller's  fortune  has 
been  variously  estimated  at  from  one  hun- 
dred million  to  two  hundred  million  dollars. 
Mr.  Rockefeller's  philanthropy  mani- 
fested itself  principally  through  the  American 
Baptist   Educational  Society.      He  donated 


the  building  for  the  Spelman  Institute  at 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  a  school  for  the  instruction 
of  negroes.  His  other  gifts  were  to  the 
University  of  Rochester,  Cook  Academy, 
Peddie  Institute,  and  Vassar  College,  be- 
sides smaller  gifts  to  many  institutions 
throughout  the  country.  His  princely  do- 
nations, however,  were  to  the  University  of 
Chicago.  His  first  gift  to  this  institution 
was  a  conditional  offer  of  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  1889,  and  when  this  amount 
was  paid  he  added  one  million  more.  Dur- 
ing 1892  he  made  it  two  gifts  of  one  million 
each,  and  all  told,  his  donations  to  this  one 
institution  aggregated  between  seven  and 
eight  millions  of  dollars. 


JOHN  M.  PALMER.— For  over  a  third 
of  a  century  this  gentleman  occupied  a 
prominent  place  in  the  political  world,  both 
in  the  state  of  Illinois  and  on  the  broader 
platform  of  national  issues. 

Mr.  Palmer  was  born  at  Eagle  Creek, 
Scott  county,  Kentucky,  September  13, 
1817.  The  family  subsequently  removed 
to  Christian  county,  in  the  same  state,  where 
he  acquired  a  common-school  education,  and 
made  his  home  until  1831.  His  father  was 
opposed  to  slavery,  and  in  the  latter  year 
removed  to  Illinois  and  settled  near  Alton. 
In  1834  John  entered  Alton  College,  or- 
ganized on  the  manual-labor  plan,  but  his 
funds  failing,  abandoned  it  and  entered  a 
cooper  shop.  He  subsequently  was  en- 
gaged in  peddling,  and  teaching  a  district 
school  near  Canton.  In  1838  he  began  the 
study  of  law,  and  the  following  year  re- 
moved to  Carlinville,  where,  in  December  of 
that  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He 
was  shortly  after  defeated  for  county  clerk. 
In  1843  he  was  elected  probate  judge.  In 
the  constitutional  convention  of  1847,  Mr. 
Palmer  was  a   delegate,  and   from  1849  to 


196 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT 


1851  he  was  county  judge.  In  1852  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  state  senate,  but  not 
being  with  his  party  on  the  slavery  question 
he  resigned  that  office  in  1854.  In  1856 
Mr.  Palmer  was  chairman  of  the  first  Re- 
publican state  convention  held  in  Illinois, 
and  the  same  year  was  a  delegate  to  the 
national  convention.  In  i860  he  was  an 
elector  on  the  Lincoln  ticket,  and  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  entered  the  service 
as  colonel  of  the  Fourteenth  Illinois  Infan- 
try, but  was  shortly  after  brevetted  brigadier- 
general.  In  August,  1862,  he  organized 
the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  but  in  September  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  first  division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  afterward  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general.  In 
1865  he  was  assigned  to  the  military  ad- 
ministration in  Kentucky.  In  1867  General 
Pfllmer  was  elected  governor  of  Illinois  and 
s°rved  four  years.  In  1872  he  went  with 
the  Liberal  Republicans,  who  supported 
Horace  Greeley,  after  which  time  he  was 
identified  with  the  Democratic  party.  In 
1890  he  was  elected  United  States  senator 
from  Illinois,  and  served  as  such  for  si.x 
years.  In  1896,  on  the  adoption  of  the  sil- 
ver plank  in  the  platform  of  the  Democratic 
party,  General  Palmer  consented  to  lead, 
as  presidential  candidate,  the  National  Dem- 
oc'-ats,  or  Gold  Democracy. 


WILLIAM  H.  BEARD,  the  humorist 
among  American  painters,  was  born 
at  Painesville,  Ohio,  in  1821.  His  father, 
James  H.  Beard,  was  also  a  painter  of  na- 
tional reputation.  William  H.  Beard  be- 
gan his  career  as  a  traveling  portrait 
painter.  He  pursued  his  studies  in  New 
York,  and  later  removed  to  Buffalo,  where 
he  achieved  reputation.      He   then    vvfent  to 


Italy  and  after  a  short  stay  returned  to  New 
York  and  opened  a  studio.  One  of  his 
earliest  paintings  was  a  small  picture  called 
"Cat  and  Kittens,"  which  was  placed  in 
the  National  Academy  on  exhibition.  Among 
his  best  productions  are  "Raining  Cats  and 
Dogs,"  "The  Dance  of  Silenus,"  "Bears 
on  a  Bender,"  "Bulls  and  Bears,"  "  Whoo!" 
"  Grimalkin's  Dream,"  "  Little  Red  Riding 
Hood,"  "The  Guardian  of  the  Flag."  His 
animal  pictures  convey  the  most  ludicrous 
and  satirical  ideas,  and  the  intelligent, 
human  ejipression  in  their  faces  is  most 
comical.  Some  artists  and  critics  have  re- 
fused to  give  Mr.  Beard  a  place  among  the 
first  circles  in  art,  solelj'  on  account  of  the 
class  of  subjects  he  has  chosen. 


WW.  CORCORAN,  the  noted  philan- 
throphist,  was  born  at  Georgetown, 
District  of  Columbia^  December  27,  1798. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  entered  the 
banking  business  in  Washington,  and  in 
time  became  very  wealthy.  He  was 
noted  for  his  magnificent  donations  to  char- 
ity. Oak  Hill  cemetery  was  donated  to 
Georgetown  in  1847,  and  ten  years  later  the 
Corcoran  Art  Gallery,  Temple  of  Art,  was 
presented  to  the  city  of  Washington.  The 
uncompleted  building  was  utilized  by  the 
government  as  quartermaster's  headquar- 
ters during  the  war.  The  building  was 
completed  after  the  war  at  a  cost  of  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  dollars,  all  the  gift  of  Mr. 
Corcoran.  The  Louise  Home  for  Women 
is  another  noble  charity  to  his  credit.  Its 
object  is  the  care  of  women  of  gentle  breed- 
ing who  in  declining  years  are  without 
means  of  support.  In  addition  to  this  he 
gave  liberally  to  many  worthy  institutions 
of  learning  and  charity.  He  died  at  Wash- 
ington February  24,  1888. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


197 


ALBERT  BIERSTADT,  the  noted  paint- 
er of  American  landscape,  was  born  in 
Dusseldorf,  Germany,  in  1829,  and  was 
brought  to  America  by  his  parents  at  the 
age  of  two  3ears.  He  received  his  early 
education  here,  but  returned  to  Dusseldorf 
to  study  painting,  and  also  went  to  Rome. 
On  his  return  to  America  he  accompanied 
Lander's  expedition  across  the  continent,  in 
185S,  and  soon  after  produced  his  most 
popular  work,  "The  Rocky  Mountains — 
Lander's  Peak. "  Its  boldness  and  grandeur 
were  so  unusual  that  it  made  him  famous. 
The  picture  sold  for  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  In  1867  Mr.  Bierstadt  went  to 
Europe,  with  a  government  commission, 
and  gathered  materials  for  his  great  historic- 
al work,  "Discovery  of  the  North  River 
by  Hendrik  Hudson."  Others  of  his  great 
works  were  "Storm  in  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains," "  Valley  of  the  Yoscmite,"  "North 
Fork  of  the  Platte,"  "Diamond  Pool," 
"Mount  Hood,"  "Mount  Rosalie,"  and 
"The  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains."  His 
"Estes  Park"  sold  for  fifteen  thousand 
dollars,  and  "Mount  Rosalie"  brought 
thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  His  smaller 
Rocky  mountain  scenes,  however,  are  vast- 
ly superior  to  his  larger  works  in  execution 
and  coloring. 

ADDISON  CAMMACK,  a  famous  mill- 
ionaire Wall  street  speculator,  was 
born  in  Kentucky.  When  sixteen  years  old 
he  ran  away  from  home  and  went  to  New 
Orleans,  where  he  went  to  work  in  a  ship- 
ping house.  He  outlived  and  outworked 
all  the  partners,  and  became  the  head  of  the 
firm  before  the  opening  of  the  war.  At 
that  time  he  fitted  out  small  vessels  and  en- 
gaged in  running  the  blockade  of  southern 
ports  and  carrying  ammunition,  merchan- 
dise,   etc.,    to   the    southern    people.      This 


made  him  a  fortune.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  quit  business  and  went  to  New 
York.  For  two  years  he  did  not  enter  any 
active  business,  but  seemed  to  be  simply  an 
on-looker  in  the  great  speculative  center  of 
America.  He  was  observing  keenly  the 
methods  and  financial  machinery,  however, 
and  when,  in  1867,  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  the  popular  Charles  J.  Osborne,  the 
firm  began  to  prosper.  He  never  had  an 
office  on  the  street,  but  wandered  into  the 
various  brokers'  offices  and  placed  his  orders 
as  he  saw  fit.  In  1873  he  dissolved  his 
partnership  with  Osborne  and  operated 
alone.  He  joined  a  band  of  speculative 
conspirators  known  as  the  "Twenty-third 
party,"  and  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  that  or- 
ganization for  the  control  of  the  stock  mar- 
ket. He  was  always  on  the  ' '  bear  "  side  and 
the  only  serious  obstacle  he  ever  encoun- 
tered was  the  persistent  boom  in  industrial 
stocks,  particularly  sugar,  engineered  by 
James  R.  Keane.  Mr.  Cammack  fought 
Keane  for  two  years,  and  during  the  time  is 
said  to  have  lost  no  less  than  two  million 
dollars  before  he  abandoned  the  fight. 


WALT.  WHITMAN.— Foremost  among 
the  lesserpoets  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  gentleman  whose 
name  adorns  the  head  of  this  article  takes 
a  conspicuous  place. 

W^hitman  was  born  at  West  Hills,  Long 
Island,  New  York,  May  13,  1809.  In  the 
schools  of  Brooklyn  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  education,  and  early  in  life  learned  the 
printer's  trade.  For  a  time  he  taught  coun- 
try schools  in  his  native  state.  In  1846-7 
he  was  editor  of  the  "  Brooklyn  Eagle,  " 
but  in  1848-9  was  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  "Crescent,"  of  New  Orleans.  He 
made  an  extended  tour  throughout  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  and  returned  to 


198 


COMPEiVDILLM   OF    BIOGRAPIir 


Brooklyn,  where,  in  1850,  he  published  the 
"Freeman.  "  For  some  years  succeeding 
this  he  was  engaged  as  carpenter  and  builder. 
During  the  Civil  war,  Whitman  acted  as 
a  volunteer  nurse  in  the  hospitals  at 
Washington  and  vicinity  and  from  the  close 
of  hostilities  until  1873  he  was  employed 
in  various  clerkships  in  the  government 
offices  in  the  nation's  capital.  In  the  latter 
year  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis  as  a 
result  of  his  labors  in  the  hospital,  it  is 
said,  and  being  partially  disabled  lived  for 
many  years  at  Camden,    Nevv  Jersey. 

The  first  edition  of  the  work  which  was 
to  bring  him  fame,  "Leaves  of  Grass,"  was 
published  in  1855  and  was  but  a  small 
volume  of  about  ninety-four  pages.  Seven 
or  eight  editions  of  "Leaves  of  Grass"  have 
been  issued,  each  enlarged  and  enriched  with 
new  poems.  "Drum  Taps,"  at  first  a 
separate  publication,  has  been  incorporated 
with  the  others.  This  volume  and  one 
prose  writing  entitled  "Specimen  Days  and 
Collect,"  constituted  his  whole  work. 

Walt.  Whitman  died  at  Camden,  New 
Jersey,  March  26,   1892. 


HENRY  DUPONT,  who  became  cele- 
brated as  America's  greatest  manufact- 
urer of  gunpowder,  was  a  native  of  Dela- 
ware, born  August  8,  18 12.  He  received 
his  education  in  its  higher  branches  at  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  from  which  he  graduated  and  entered 
the  army  as  second  lieutenant  of  artillery  in 
1833.  In  1834  he  resigned  and  became 
proprietor  of  the  extensive  gunpowder 
manufacturing  plant  that  bears  his  name, 
near  Wilmington,  Delaware.  His  large 
business  interests  interfered  with  his  tak- 
ing any  active  participation  in  political 
life,  although  for  many  years  he  served 
as  adjutant-general  of  his   native  state,  and 


during  the  war  as  major-general  command- 
ing the  Home  Guards.  He  died  August  8, 
1889.  His  son,  Henry  A.  Dupont,  also  was 
a  native  of  Delaware,  and  was  born  July  30, 
1838.  After  graduating  from  West  Point 
in  1 86 1,  he  entered  the  army  as  second 
lieutenant  of  engineers.  Shortly  after  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Fifth  Artillery  as  first 
lieutenant.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  captain  in  1864,  serving  in  camp  and 
garrison  most  of  the  time.  He  was  in  com- 
mand of  a  battery  in  the  campaign  of 
1863-4.  Aschief  of  artillery  of  the  army  of 
West  Virginia,  he  figured  until  the  close  of 
the  war,  being  in  the  battles  of  Opequan, 
Fisher's  Hill  and  Cedar  Creek,  besides 
many  minor  engagements.  He  afterward 
acted  as  instructor  in  the  artillery  school  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  and  on  special  duty  at 
West  Point.  He  resigned  from  the  army 
March  i,  1875. 


WILLIAM  DEERING,  one  of  the  fa- 
mous manufacturers  of  America,  and 
also  a  philanthropist  and  patron  of  educa- 
tion, was  born  in  Maine  in  1826.  His  an- 
cestors were  English,  having  settled  in  New 
England  in  1634.  Early  in  life  it  w  as  Will- 
iam's intention  to  become  a  physician,  and 
after  completing  his  common-school  educa- 
tion, when  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  he 
began  an  apprenticeship  with  a  physician. 
A  short  time  later,  however,  at  the  request 
of  his  father,  he  took  charge  of  his  father's 
business  interests,  which  included  a  woolen 
mill,  retail  store  and  grist  mill,  after  which 
he  became  agent  for  a  dry  goods  commission 
house  in  Portland,  where  he  was  married. 
Later  he  became  partner  in  the  firm,  and 
removed  to  Nevv  York.  The  business  pros- 
pered, and  after  a  number  of  years,  on  ac- 
count of  fpiling  health,  Mr.  Deering  sold  his 
interest  to  his  partner,  a  Mr.  Milner.      The 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRAPHT. 


19& 


business  has  since  made  Mr.  Milner  a  mill- 
ionaire many  times  over.  A  few  years 
later  Mr.  Deering  located  in  Chicago.  His 
beginning  in  the  manufacture  of  reapers, 
which  has  since  made  his  name  famous, 
was  somewhat  of  an  accident.  He  had 
loaned  money  to  a  man  in  that  business, 
and  in  1878  was  compelled  to  buy  out  the 
business  to  protect  his  interests.  The  busi- 
ness developed  rapidly  and  grew  to  immense 
ptopori  ions.  The  factories  now  cover  sixty- 
two  acres  fif  ground  and  employ  many  thou- 
sands of  men. 


I 


OHN  McAllister  schofield,  an 

kJ  American  general,  was  born  in  Chautau- 
qua couni:\',  New  York,  September  29,  1831. 
Hegrad'iated  at  West  Point  in  1853,  and 
was  for  five  years  assistant  professor  of  nat- 
ural philosophy  in  that  institution.  In  1861 
he  entered  the  volunteer  service  as  major  of 
the  First  Missouri  Volunteers,  and  was  ap- 
pointed chief  of  staff  by  General  Lyon,  under 
whom  he  fought  at  the  battle  of  Wilson's 
Creek.  In  November,  1861,  he  was  ap- 
pointed brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  Missouri 
militia  until  November,  1862,  and  of  the 
army  of  the  frontier  from  that  time  until 
1863.  In  1862  he  was  made  major-general 
of  volunteers,  and  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  and  in  1864 
of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio.  During  the 
campaign  through  Georgia  General  Scho- 
field was  in  command  of  the  Twenty-third 
Army  Corps,  and  was  engaged  in  most  of  the 
fighting  of  that  famous  campaign.  Novem- 
ber 30,  1864,  he  defeated  Hood's  army  at 
Franklin,  Tennessee,  and  then  joined  Gen- 
eral Thomas  at  Nashville.  He  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Nashville,  where  Hood's  army 
was  destroyed.  In  January,  1865,  he  led 
his    corps    into    North    Carolina,    captured 


Wilmington,  fought  the  battle  of  Kingston, 
and  joined  General  Sherman  at  Goldsboro 
March  22,  1865.  He  executed  the  details 
of  the  capitulation  of  General  Johnston  to 
Sherman,  which  practically  closed  the  war. 
In  June,  1868,  General  Schofield  suc- 
ceeded Edwin  M.  Stanton  as  secretary  of 
war,  but  was  the  next  year  appointed  major- 
general  of  the  United  States  army,  and  order- 
ed to  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  From 
1870  to  1876  he  was  in  command  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  Pacific;  from  1S76  to  1881 
supermtendent  of  the  West  Point  Military 
Academy;  in  18S3  he  was  in  charge  of  the 
Department  of  the  Missouri,  and  in  1886  of 
the  division  of  the  Atlantic.  In  1888  he 
became  general-in-chief  of  the  United  States 
army,  and  in  February,  1895,  was  appoint- 
ed lieutenant-general  by  President  Cleve- 
land, that  rank  having  been  revived  by  con- 
gress. In  September,  1895,  he  was  retired 
from  active  service. 


LEWIS  WALLACE,  an  American  gen- 
eral and  famous  author,  was  born  in 
Brookville,  Indiana,  April  10,  1827.  He 
served  in  the  Mexican  war  as  first  lieutenant 
of  a  company  of  Indiana  Volunteers.  After 
his  return  from  Mexico  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  practiced  law  in  Covington  and 
Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  until  1861.  At  the 
opening  of  the  war  he  was  appointed  ad- 
jutant-general of  Indiana,  and  soon  after  be- 
came colonel  of  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Vol- 
unteers. He  defeated  a  force  of  Confeder- 
ates at  Romney,  West  Virginia,  and  was 
made  brigadier-general  in  September,  1861. 
At  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  in  1862  he 
commanded  a  division,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  second  day's  fight  at  Shiloh.  In  1863 
his  defenses  about  Cincinnati  saved  that  city 
from  capture  by  Kirby  Smith.  At  Monoc- 
acy   in   July,     1S64,    he    was   defeated,    but 


200 


COMPENDlU.^[   OF    BIOGRAniT. 


his  resistance  delayed  the  advance  of  Gen- 
eral Early  and  thus  saved  Washington  from 
capture. 

General  Wallace  was  a  member  of  the 
court  that  tried  the  assassins  of  President 
Lincoln,  and  also  of  that  before  whom  Cap- 
tain Henry  Wirtz,  who  had  charge  of  the 
Andersonville  prison,  was  tried.  In  1881 
General  Wallace  was  sent  as  minister  to 
Turkey.  When  not  in  official  service  he 
devoted  much  of  his  time  to  literature. 
Among  his  better  known  works  are  his 
"Fair  God,"  "Ben  Hur,"  "Prince  of 
India,"  and  a  "  Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison." 


THOMAS  FRANCIS  BAYARD,  an  Ameri- 
can statesman  and  diplomat,  was  born 
at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  October  29,  1828. 
He  obtained  his  education  at  an  Episcopal 
academy  at  Flushing,  Long  Island,  and 
after  a  short  service  in  a  mercantile  house  in 
New  York,  he  returned  to  Wilmington  and 
entered  his  father's  law  office  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  practice  of  that  profession. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  185 1.  He 
was  appointed  to  the  office  of  United  States 
district  attorney  for  the  state  of  Delaware, 
serving  one  year.  In  1869  he  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  senate,  and  continuously 
represented  his  state  in  that  body  until  1885, 
and  in  1881,  when  Chester  A.  Arthurentered 
the  presidential  chair,  Mr.  Bayard  was 
chosen  president  pro  tempore  of  the  senate. 
He  had  also  served  on  the  famous  electoral 
commission  that  decided  the  Hayes-Tilden 
contest  in  1876-7.  In  1885  President  Cleve- 
land appointed  Mr.  Bayard  secretary  of 
state.  At  the  beginning  of  Cleveland's  sec- 
ond term,  in  1893,  Mr.  Bayard  was  selected 
for  the  post  of  ambassador  at  the  court  of 
St.  James,  London,  and  was  the  first  to  hold 
that  rank  in  American  diplomacy,  serving 
.until  the  beginning  of  the  McKinley  admin- 


istration. The  questions  for  adjustment  at 
that  time  between  the  two  governments 
were  the  Behring  Sea  controversy  and  the 
Venezuelan  boundary  question.  He  was 
very  popular  in  England  because  of  his 
tariff  views,  and  because  of  his  criticism  of 
the  protective  policy  of  the  United  States 
in  his  public  speeches  delivered  in  London, 
Edinburgh  and  other  places,  he  received,  in 
March,  1896,  a  vote  of  censure  in  the  lower 
house  of  congress. 


TOHN  WORK  GARRETT,  for  so  many 
<J  years  at  the  head  of  the  great  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  railroad  system,  was  born  in  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  July  31,  1820.  His  father, 
Robert  Garrett,  an  enterprising  merchant, 
had  amassed  a  large  fortune  from  a  small 
beginning.  The  son  entered  Lafayette  Col- 
lege in  1834,  but  left  the  following  year  and 
entered  his  father's  counting  room,  and  in 
1839  became  a  partner.  John  W.  Gar- 
rett took  a  great  interest  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad.  He 
was  elected  one  of  the  directors  in  1857, 
and  was  its  president  from  1858  until  his 
death.  When  he  took  charge  of  the  road 
it  was  in  an  embarrassed  condition,  but 
within  a  year,  for  the  first  time  in  its  exist- 
ence, it  paid  a  dividend,  the  increase  in  its 
net  gains  being  $725,385.  After  the  war, 
during  which  the  road  suffered  much  damage 
from  the  Confederates,  numerous  branches 
and  connecting  roads  were  built  or  acquired, 
until  it  reached  colossal  proportions.  Mr. 
Garrett  was  also  active  in  securing  a  regular 
line  of  steamers  between  Baltimore  and 
Bremen,  and  between  the  same  port  and 
Liverpool.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active 
trustees -of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  a 
liberal  contributor  to  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  of  Baltimore.  He 
died  September  26,  1884. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


201 


Robert  Garrett,  the  son  of  John  W. 
■Garrett,  was'  born  in  Baltimore  April  9, 
1847,  and  graduated  from  Princeton  in  1867. 
He  received  a  business  education  in  the 
banking  house  of  his  father,  and  in  1871 
became  president  of  the  Valley  Railroad  of 
Virginia.  He  was  made  third  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  in 
1879,  and  first  vice-president  in  1881.  He 
succeeded  his  father  as  president  in  1884. 
Robert  Garrett  died  July  29,   1896. 


CARL  SCHURZ,  a  noted  German-Ameri- 
can statesman,  was  born  in  Liblar,  Prus- 
sia, March  2,  1829.  He  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Bonn,  and  in  1849  was  engaged  in 
an  attempt  to  excite' an  insurrection  at  that 
place.  After  the  surrender  of  Rastadt  by 
the  revolutionists,  in  the  defense  of  which 
Schurz  took  part,  he  decided  to  emigrate  to 
America.  He  resided  in  Philadelphia  three 
years,  and  then  settled  in  Watertown,  Wis- 
consin, and  in  1859  removed  to  Milwaukee, 
where  he  practiced  law.  On  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  he  became  a 
leader  of  the  German  element  and  entered 
the  campaign  for  Lincoln  in  i860.  He  was 
appointed  minister  to  Spain  in  1861,  but  re- 
signed in  December  of  that  year  to  enter 
the  army.  He  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  in  1862,  and  participated  in  the 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  also  at 
Chancellorsville.  At  Gettysburg  he  had 
temporary  command  of  the  Eleventh  Army 
Corps,  and  also  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Chattanooga. 

After  the  war  he  located  at  St.  Louis, 
and  in  1869  was  elected  United  States  sena- 
tor from  Missouri.  He  supported  Horace 
Greeley  for  the  presidency  in  1872,  and  in 
the  campaign  of  1876,  having  removed  to 
New  York,  he  supported  Hayes  and  the  Re- 
publican  ticket,  and    was   appointed  secre- 


tary of  the  interior  in  1877.  In  1881  he 
became  editor  of  the  "New  York  Evening 
Post,"  and  in  1884  was  prominent  in  his 
opposition  to  James  G.  Blaine,  and  became 
a  leader  of  the  "Mugwumps,"  thus  assist- 
ing in  the  election  of  Cleveland.  In  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1896  his  forcible 
speeches  in  the  interest  of  sound  money 
wielded  an  immense  influence.  Mr.  Schurz 
wrote  a  "  Life  of  Henry  Clay,"  said  to  be 
the  best  biography  ever  published  of  that 
eminent  statesman. 


GEORGE  F.  EDMUNDS,  an  American 
statesman  of  national  reputation,  was 
born  in  Richmond,  Vermont,  February  i, 
1828.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
public  schools  and  from  the  instructions  of 
a  private  tutor.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  practiced  law,  and  served  in  the  state 
legislature  from  1854  to  1859,  during  three 
years  of  that  time  being  speaker  of  the  lower 
house.  He  was  elected  to  the  state  senate 
and  acted  as  president  pro  tempore  of  that 
body  in  1861  and  1862.  He  became  promi- 
nent for  his  activity  in  the  impeachment 
proceedings  against  President  Johnson,  and 
was  appointed  to  the  United  States  senate 
to  fill  out  the  une.xpired  term  of  Solomon 
Foot,  entering  that  body  in  1866.  He  was 
re-elected  to  the  senate  four  times,  and 
served  on  the  electoral  commission  in  1S77. 
He  became  president  pro  tempore  of  the 
senate  after  the  death  of  President  Garfield, 
and  was  the  author  of  the  bill  which  put  an 
end  to  the  practice  of  polygamy  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  Utah.  In  November,  1891,  owing 
to  impaired  health,  he  retired  from  the  sen- 
ate and  again  resumed  the  practice  of  law. 


LUCIUS   Q.    C.    LAMAR,    a    prominent 
political  leader,    statesman    and  jurist, 
was  born  in  Putnam  county,  Georgia,  Sep- 


202 


COMPEXDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


temberi7,  1S25.  He  graduated  from  Emory 
College  in  1845,  studied  law  at  Macon  under 
Hon.  A.  H.  Chappell,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1847.  He  moved  to  Oxford, 
Mississippi,  in  1849,  and  was  elected  to  a 
professorship  in  the  State  University.  He 
resigned  the  next  year  and  returned  to  Cov- 
ington, Georgia,  and  resumed  the  practice 
of  law.  In  1853  he  was  elected  to  the 
Georgia  Legislature,  and  in  1 854  he  removed 
to  his  plantation  in  Lafayette  county,  Mis- 
sissippi, and  was  elected  to  represent  his 
district  in  the  thirty-fifth  and  thirty-sixth 
congresses.  He  resigned  in  i860,  and  was 
sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  secession  conven- 
tion of  the  state.  He  entered  the  Confed- 
erate service  in  1861  as  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  Nineteenth  Regiment,  and  was  soon 
after  made  colonel.  Li  1863  President 
Davis  appointed  him  to  an  important  diplo- 
matic mission  to  Russia.  In  1866  he  was 
elected  professor  of  political  economy  and 
social  science  in  the  State  University,  and 
was  soon  afterward  transferred  to  the  pro- 
fessorship of  the  law  department.  He  rep- 
resented his  district  in  the  forty-third  and 
forty-fourth  congresses,  and  was  elected 
United  States  senator  from  Mississippi  in 
1877,  and  re-elected  in  18S2.  In  18S5,  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  his  term,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Cleveland  as  secre- 
tary of  the  interior,  which  position  he  held 
until  his  appointment  as  associate  justice  of 
the  United  States  supreme  court,  in  1888, 
in  which  capacity  he  served  until  his  death, 
January  23,   1894. 


BENJAMIN  PENHALLOW  SHILLA- 
BER  won  fame  in  the  world  of 
humorists  under  the  name  of  "Mrs.  Parting- 
ton." He  was  born  in  1841  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  and  started  out  in  life  as  a 
printer.      Mr.     Shillaber    went    to    Dover, 


where  he  secured  employment  in  a  printing 
office,  and  from  there  he  went  to  Demerara, 
Guiana,  where  he  was  employed  as  a  com- 
positor in  1835-37.  In  1840  he  became 
connected  with  the  "Boston  Post,"  and 
acquired  quite  a  reputation  as  a  humorist 
by  his  "Sayings  of  Mrs.  Partington."  He 
remained  as  editor  of  the  paper  until  1850, 
when  he  printed  and  edited  a  paper  of  his 
own  called  the  "Pathfinder,"  which  he  con- 
tinued until  1852.  Mr.  Shillaber  be- 
came editor  and  proprietor  of  the  "Carpet 
Bag,"  which  he  conducted  during  1850-52, 
and  then  returned  to  the  "Boston  Post," 
with  which  he  was  connected  until  1856. 
During  the  same  time  he  was  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  "Saturday  Evening  Gazette," 
and  continued  in  this  line  after  he  severed 
his  connection  with  the  "Post,"  for  ten 
years.  After  1866  Mr.  Shillaber  wrote  for 
various  newspapers  and  periodicals,  and 
during  his  life  published  the  following 
books:  "Rhymes  with  Reason  and  Without," 
"Poems,"  "Life  and  Sayings  of  Mrs.  Part- 
ington," "Knitting  Work,"  and  others. 
His  death  occurred  at  Chelsea,  Massachu- 
setts, November  25,  1890. 


EASTMAN  JOHNSON  stands  first  among 
painters  of  American  country  life.  He- 
was  born  in  Lovell,  Maine,  in  1824,  and  be- 
gan his  work  in  drawing  at  the  age  of  eight- 
een years.  His  first  works  were  portraits, 
and,  as  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Wash- 
ington, the  most  famous  men  of  the  nation 
were  his  subjects.  In  1 846  he  went  to  Bos- 
ton, and  there  made  crayon  portraits  of 
Longfellow,  Emerson,  Sumner,  Hawthorne 
and  other  noted  men.  In  1849  he  went  to 
Europe.  He  studied  at  Dusseldorf,  Ger- 
many; spent  a  year  at  the  Royal  Academy, 
and  thence  to  The  Hague,  where  he  spent 
four  years,  producing  there  his  first  pictures^ 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArHT. 


208 


of  consequence,  "The  Card-Players  "  and 
"The  Savoyard."  He  then  went  to  Paris, 
but  was  called  home,  after  an  absence  from 
America  of  six  years.  He  lived  some  time 
in  Washington,  and  then  spent  two  years 
among  the  Indians  of  Lake  Superior.  In 
1858  he  produced  his  famous  picture,  "The 
Old  Kentucky  Home."  He  took  up  his 
permanent  residence  at  New  York  at  that 
time.  His  "  Sunday  Morning  in  Virginia  " 
is  a  work  of  equal  merit.  He  was  espe- 
cially successful  in  coloring,  a  master  of 
drawing,  and  the  expression  conveys  with 
precision  the  thought  of  the  artist.  His 
portrayal  of  family  life  and  child  life  is  un- 
equalled. Among  his  other  great  works  are 
"The  Confab,"  "Crossing  a  Stream,' 
"Chimney  Sweep,"  "Old  Stage  Coach," 
"  The  New  Bonnet,"  "  The  Drummer  Boy," 
"  Childhood  of  Lincoln,"  and  a  great  vari- 
ety of  equally  familiar  subjects. 


PIERCE  GUSTAVE  TOUTANT  BEAU- 
REGARD, one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished generals  in  the  Confederate  army, 
was  born  near  New  Orleans,  Louisiana, 
May  28,  1 8 18.  He  graduated  from  West 
Point  Military  Academy  in  1838,  and  v/as 
made  second  lieutenant  of  engineers.  He 
was  with  General  Scott  in  Mexico,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  Vera  Cruz,  Cerro 
Gordo,  and  the  battles  near  the  City  of 
Mexico,  for  which  he  was  twice  brevetted. 
After  the  Mexican  war  closed  he  was  placed 
in  charge  of  defenses  about  New  Orleans, 
and  in  i860  was  appointed  superintendent 
of  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point.  He  held  this  positi(jn  but  a 
few  months,  when  he  resigned  February  20, 
1 861,  and  accepted  a  commission  of  briga- 
dier-general in  the  Confederate  army.  He 
directed  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  the 
first  engagement  of  the  Civil  war.      He  was 


in  command  of  the  Confederates  at  the  first 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  for  this  victory  was 
made  general.  In  1S62  he  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  planned  the  attack  upon  General  Grant 
at  Shiloh,  and  upon  the  death  of  General 
Johnston  he  took  cominand  of  the  army 
and  was  only  defeated  by  the  timely  arrival 
of  General  Buell  with  reinforcements.  He 
commanded  at  Charleston  and  successfully 
defended  that  city  against  the  combined  at- 
tack by  land  and  sea  in  1863.  In  1864  he 
was  in  command  in  Virginia,  defeating  Gen- 
eral Butler,  and  resisting  Grant's  attack 
upon  Petersburg  until  reinforced  from  Rich- 
mond. During  the  long  siege  which  fol- 
lowed he  was  sent  to  check  General  Sher- 
man's march  to  the  sea,  and  was  with  Gen- 
eral Joseph  E.  Johnston  when  that  general 
surrendered  in  1865.  After  the  close  of  the 
war  he  was  largely  interested  in  railroad 
management.  In  1866  he  was  offered  chief 
command  of  the  Army  of  Roumania,  and  in 
1869,  that  of  the  Army  of  Egypt.  He  de- 
clined these  offers.  His  death  occurred 
February  20,   1893. 


HENRY  GEORGE,  one  of  America's, 
most  celebrated  political  economists, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
September  2,  1839.  He  received  acommon- 
school  education  and  entered  the  high, 
school  in  1853,  and  then  went  into  a  mer- 
cantile office.  He  made  several  voyages  on 
the  sea,  and  settled  in  California  in  1858. 
He  tlien  worked  at  the  printer's  trade  for  a 
number  of  years,  which  he  left  to  follow  the 
editorial  profession.  He  edited  in  succession 
several  daily  newspapers,  and  attracted  at- 
tention by  a  number  of  strong  essays  and 
speeches  on  political  and  social  questions. 
In  1 87 1  he  edited  a  pamphlet,  entitled  ' '  Our 
Land  and  Policy,"  in   which   he   outlined   a 


:204 


COMPENDIUM   OF    B lOGRAP III'. 


theory,  which  has  since  made  him  so  widely 
known.  This  was  developed  iti  "  Progress 
and  Poverty,"  a  book  which  soon  attained  a 
large  circulation  on  both  sides  of  tlie  Atlan- 
tic, which  has  been  extensively  translated. 
In  1880  Mr.  George  located  in  New  York, 
where  he  made  his  home,  though  he  fre- 
quently addressed  audiences  in  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  Australia,  and  throughout  the 
United  States.  In  1886  he  was  nominated 
by  the  labor  organizations  for  nia3'or  of  New 
York,  and  made  a  campaign  notable  for  its 
development  of  unexpectedpower.  In  1887  he 
was  candidate  of  the  Union  Labor  party  for 
secretary  of  state  of  New  York.  These  cam- 
paigns served  to  formulate  the  idea  of  a  single 
tax  and  popularize  the  Australian  ballot  sys- 
tem. Mr.  George  became  a  free  trader  in 
1 888,  and  in  1892  supported  the  election  of 
Grover  Cleveland.  His  political  and  eco- 
nomic ideas,  known  as  the  "single  tax," 
have  a  large  and  growing  support,  but  are 
not  confined  to  this  country  alone.  He 
wrote  numerous  miscellaneous  articles  in 
support  of  his  principles,  and  also  published: 
"The  Land  Question,"  "  Social  Problems," 
"Protection  or  Free  Trade,"  "The  Condi- 
tion of  Labor,  an  Open  Letter  to  Pope  Leo 
XIII.,"  and  "  Perplexed  Philosopher." 


THOMAS  ALEXANDER  SCOTT.  —This 
name  is  indissolubly  connected  with 
the  history  and  development  of  the  railway 
systems  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Scott 
-was  born  December  28,  1823,  at  London, 
Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  first 
regularly  employed  by  Major  James  Patton, 
the  collector  of  tolls  on  the  state  road  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Columbia,  Penn- 
sylvania. He  entered  into  the  employ  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  in  1850, 
and  went  through  all  the  different  branches 
of  work  until  he  had  mastered  all  the  details 


of  the  office  work,  and  in  1858  he  was  ap- 
pointed general  superintendent.  Mr.  Scott 
was  the  next  year  chosen  vice-president  of 
the  road.  This  position  at  once  brought 
liim  before  the  public,  and  the  enterprise 
and  ability  displayed  by  him  in  its  manage- 
m.ent  marked  him  as  a  leader  among  the 
railroad  men  of  the  country.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  rebellion  in  1S61,  Mr.  Scott 
was  selected  by  Governor  Curtin  as  a  mem- 
ber of  his  staff,  and  placed  in  charge  of  the 
equipment  and  forwarding  of  the  state  troops 
to  the  seat  of  war.  On  April  27,  1861,  the 
secretary  of  war  desired  to  establish  a  new 
line  of  road  between  the  national  capital 
and  Philadelphia,  for  the  more  expeditious 
transportation  of  troops.  He  called  upon 
Mr.  Scott  to  direct  this  work,  and  the  road 
by  the  way  of  Annapolis  and  Perry ville  was 
completed  in  a  marvelously  short  space  of 
time.  On  May  3,  1861,  he  was  commis- 
sioned colonel  of  volunteers,  and  on  the  23d 
of  the  same  month  the  government  railroads 
and  telegrapli  lines  were  placed  in  his  charge. 
Mr.  Scott  was  the  first  assistant  secretary 
of  war  ever  appointed,  and  he  took  charge 
of  this  new  post  August  i,  1861.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1S62,  he  was  directed  to  organize 
transportation  in  the  northwest,  and  in 
March  he  performed  the  same  ser\  ice  on 
the  western  rivers.  He  resigned  June  i, 
1862,  and  resumed  his  direction  of  affairs  on 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  Colonel  Scott 
directed  the  policy  that  secured  to  his  road 
the  control  of  the  western  roads,  and  be- 
came the  president  of  the  new  company  to 
operate  these  lines  in  1871.  For  one  year, 
from  March,  1871,  he  was  president  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  m  1874  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  presidency  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Company.  He  projected  the  Texas 
Pacific  Railroad  and  was  for  many  years  its 
president.     Colonel    Scott's    health    failed 


COMPEXDIL-M   OF    JlIOGRArHT. 


205. 


him  and  he  resigned  the  presidenc}-  of  the 
road  June  I,  1880,  and  died  at  hLs  home  in 
D.rby,  Pennsylvania,  May  2  i,   1881. 


ROBERT  TOOMBS,  an  American  states- 
man of  note,  was  born  in  Wilkes  coun- 
ty. Georgia,  July  2,  18  io.  He  attended 
the  University  of  Georgia,  and  graduated 
from  Union  College,  Schenectady,  New 
York,  and  then  took  a  law^  course  at  the 
University  of  Virginia.  In  1830,  before  he 
Lad  attained  his  majority,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  by  special  act  of  the  legislature, 
and  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession,  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  leading  statesmen  and 
judges  of  that  time.  He  raised  a  volunteer 
company  for  the  Creek  war,  and  served  as 
captain  to  the  close.  He  was  elected  to  the 
state  legislature  in  1837,  re-elected  in  1842, 
and  in  1S44  was  elected  to  congress.  He 
had  been  brought  up  as  a  Jeffersonian 
Democrat,  but  voted  for  Harrison  in  1840 
and  for  Clay  in  1844.  He  made  his  first 
speerh  in  congress  on  the  Oregon  question, 
and  immediately  took  rank  with  the  greatest 
debaters  of  that  body.  In  1853  he  was 
ekcted  to  the  United  States  senate,  and 
again  in  1859,  but  when  his  native  state 
seceded  he  resigntd  his  seat  in  the  senate 
and  was  elected  to  the  Confederate  con- 
gress. It  is  ."itatcd  on  the  best  authority 
that  had  it  i;ot  been  for  a  misunderstanding 
v/hich  could  not  be  explained  till  too  late  he 
would  have  been  elected  president  of  the 
Confederacy.  He  was  appointed  secretary 
of  state  by  President  Davis,  but  resigned 
after  a  few  months  and  was  commissioned 
brigadier-general  in  the  Confederate  army. 
He  won  distinction  at  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run  and  at  Sharpsburg,  but  resigned 
liis  commission  soon  after  and  returned  to 
Georgia.  He  organized  the  militia  of 
Georgia  to  resist  Sherman,    and  was  made 


brigadier-general  of  the  state  troops.  He 
left  the  country  at  the  close  of  the  war  and 
did  not  return  until  1S67.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 15,   1885. 

AUSTIN  CORBIN,  one  of  the  greatest 
railway  magnates  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  July  11,  1827,  at  Newport,  New 
Hampshire.  He  studied  law  with  Chief 
Justice  Gushing  and  Governor  Ralph  Met- 
calf,  and  later  took  a  course  in  the  Harvurd 
Law  School,  where  he  graduated  in  1849. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  practiced 
law,  with  Governor  Mctcalf  as  his  partner, 
until  October  12,  1851.  Mr.  Corbin  then 
removed  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1865.  In  1854  he  was  a  part- 
ner in  the  banking  firm  of  Macklot  &  Cor- 
bin, and  later  he  prganized  the  First  Na- 
tional bank  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  which 
commenced  business  June  29,  1863,  and 
which  was  the  first  national  bank  op  n  for 
business  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  Corbin 
sold  out  his  business  in  the  Davenport  bank, 
and  removed  to  New  York  in  1 865  and  com- 
menced business  with  partners  under  the 
style  of  Corbin  Banking  Company.  Soon 
after  his  removal  to  New  York  h^;  became 
interested  in  railroads,  and  became  one  of 
the  leading  railroad  men  of  the  country. 
The  development  of  the  west  half  of  Coney 
Islanel  as  a  summer  resort  first  brought  him 
into  general  prominence.  He  built  a  rail- 
road from  New  York  to  the  island,  ai;d 
built  great  hotels  on  its  ocean  front.  He 
next  turned  his  attention  to  Long  Island, 
and  secured  all  the  railroads  and  consoli- 
dated them  under  one  management,  became 
president  of  the  system,  and  under  his  con- 
trol Long  Island  became  the  great  ocean 
suburb  of  New  York.  His  latest  public 
achievement  was  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
Reading    Railroad,    of     Pennsylvania,     and 


20G 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHl'. 


during  the  same  time  he  and  his  friends 
purchased  the  controlling  interest  of  the 
New  Jersey  Central  Railroad.  He  took  it 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  receiver,  and  in 
three  years  had  it  on  a  dividend-pa3'ing 
basis.  Mr.  Corbin's  death  occurred  June 
4,   1896. 

JAMES  GORDON  BENNETT,  Sr.  , 
was  one  of  the  greatest  journalists  of 
America  in  his  day.  He  was  born  Septem- 
ber I,  1795,  at  New  Mill,  near  Iveith,  Scot- 
land. At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  sent 
to  Aberdeen  to  study  for  the  priesthood, 
but,  convinced  that  he  was  mistaken  in  his 
vocation,  he  determined  to  emigrate.  He 
landed  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1S19, 
where  he  attempted  to  earn  a  living  by 
teaching  bookkeeping.  .Failing  in  this  he 
went  to  Boston  and  found  employment  as  a 
proof  reader.  Mr.  Bennett  went  to  New 
York  about  1822  and  wrote  for  the  news- 
papers. Later  on  he  became  assistant 
editor  in  the  office  of  the  "Charleston 
Courier, "but  returned  to  New  York  in  1824 
and  endeavored  to  start  a  commercial 
school,  but  was  unsuccessful  in  this,  and 
again  returned  to  newspaper  work.  He 
continued  in  newspaper  work  with  varying 
success  until,  at  his  suggestion,  the  "En- 
quirer" was  consolidated  with  another 
paper,  and  became  the  "Courier  and  En- 
quirer," with  James  Watson  Webb  as 
editor  and  Mr.  Bennett  for  assistant.  At 
this  time  this  was  the  leading  American 
newspaper.  He,  however,  severed  his  con- 
nection with  this  newspaper  and  tried, 
without  success,  other  ventures  in  the  line 
of  journalism  until  May  6,  1835,  when  he 
issued  the  first  number  of  the  "New  York 
Herald."  Mr.  Bennett  wrote  the  entire 
paper,  and  made  up  for  lack  of  news  by  his 
own  imagination.      The  paper  became  popu- 


lar, and  in  1838  he  engaged  European  jour- 
nalists as  regular  correspondents.  In  1841 
the  income  derived  from  his  paper  was  at 
least  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  war  the  "  Herald  "  had  on  its 
staff  sixty-three  war  correspondents  and  the 
circulation  was  doubled.  Mr.  Bennett  was 
interested  with  John  W.  Mackay  in  that  great 
enterprise  which  is  now  known  as  the  Mac- 
kay-Bennett  Cable.  He  had  collected  for  use 
in  his  paper  over  fifty  thousand  biographies, 
sketches  and  all  manner  of  information  re- 
garding every  well-known  man,  which  are 
still  kept  in  the  archives  of  the  "Herald" 
office.  He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
1872,  and  left  to  his  son,  James  Gordon, 
Jr.,  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  profitable 
journals  in  the  United  States,  or  even  in  the 
world. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES,  a 
noted  American,  won  distinction  in  the 
field  of  literature,  in  which  he  attained  a 
world-wide  reputation.  He  was  born  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  August  29,  1809. 
He  received  a  collegiate  education  and  grad- 
uated from  Harvard  in  1829,  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  and  took  up  the  study  of  law  and 
later  studied  medicine.  Dr.  Holmes  at- 
tended several  years  in  the  hospitals  of 
Europe  and  received  his  degree  in  1836. 
He  became  professor  of  anatomy  and  phys- 
iology in  Dartmouth  in  1838,  and  re- 
mained there  until  1847,  when  he  was 
called  to  the  Massachusetts  Medical  School 
at  Boston  to  occupy  the  same  chair,  which 
position  he  resigned  in  1882.  The  first 
collected  edition  of  his  poems  appeared  in 
1836,  and  his  "Phi  Beta  Kappa  Poems," 
"Poetry,"  in  1836;  "Terpsichore,"  in  1843; 
"Urania,"  in  1846,  and  "Astraea,"  won  for 
him  many  fresh  laurels.  His  series  of 
papers    in  the    "Atlantic    Moi:thly,"     were: 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BTOGRAPHT. 


207 


"Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,"  "Pro- 
fessor at  the  Breakfast  Table,  "  "Poet  at 
the  Breakfast  Table,"  and  are  a  series  of 
masterly  wit,  humor  and  pathos.  Among 
his  medical  papers  and  addresses,  are:  "Cur- 
rents and  Counter-currents  in  the  Medical 
Science,"  and  "Borderland  in  Some  Prov- 
inces of  Medical  Science."  Mr.  Holmes 
edited  quite  a  number  of  works,  of  which 
we  quote  the  following:  "Else  Venner," 
"Songs  in  Many  Keys,"  "Soundings  from 
the  Atlantic,"  "Humorous  Poems,"  "The 
Guardian  Angel,"  "Mechanism  in  Thoughts 
ar.d  Morals,"  "Songs  of  Many  Seasons," 
"John  L.  Motley" — a  memoir,  "The  Iron 
Gate  and  Other  Poems,"  "Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,"  "A  Moral  Antipathy."  Dr. 
Holmes  visited  England  for  the  second  time, 
and  while  there  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  University 
of  Edinburgh.  His  death  occurred  October 
7.  1894.  

RUFUS  CHOATE,  one  of  the  most  em- 
inent of  America's  great  lawyers,  was 
born  October  i,  1799,  at  Essex,  Massachu- 
setts. He  entered  Dartmouth  in  iSf5, 
and  after  taking  his  degree  he  remained  as 
a  teacher  in  the  college  for  one  year.  He 
took  up  the  study  of  lav/  in  Cambridge,  and 
subsequently  studied  under  the  distinguished 
lavvjer,  Mr.  Wirt,  who  was  then  United 
States  attorney-general  at  Washington.  Mr. 
Choatcbegan  the  practice  of  lav/  in  Danvers, 
Massachusetts,  and  from  there  he  went  to 
Salem,  and  afterwards  to  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts. While  living  at  Salem  he  was 
elected  to  congress  in  1832,  and  later,  in 
1 841,  he  was  chosen  United  States  senator 
to  succeed  Daniel  Webster,  Mr.  Webster 
having  been  appointed  secretary  of  state 
under  William  Henry  Harrison. 

After  the  death  of  Webster,  Mr.  Choate 


was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts bar,  and  was  looked  upon  by  the 
younger  members  of  the  profession  with  an 
affection  that  almost  amounted  to  a  rever- 
ence. Mr.  Choate's  powers  as  an  orator 
were  of  the  rarest  order,  and  his  genius 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  enchant  and  in- 
terest his  listeners,  even  while  discussing  the 
most  ordinary  theme.  He  was  not  merely 
eloquent  on  the  subjects  that  were  calculated 
to  touch  the  feelings  and  stir  the  passions 
of  his  audience  in  themselves,  but  could  at 
all  times  command  their  attention.  He  re- 
tired from  active  life  in  1858,  and  was  on 
his  way  to  Europe,  his  physician  having 
ordered  a  sea  voyage  for  his  health,  but  had 
only  reached  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  when 
he  died,  July    13,   1858. 


D WIGHT  L.  MOODY,  one  of  the  most 
noted  and  effective  pulpit  orators  and 
evangelists  America  has  produced,  was  born 
in  Northfield,  Franklin  county,  Massachu- 
setts, February  5,  1837.  He  received  but 
a  meager  education  and  worked  on  a  farm 
until  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he  be- 
came clerk  in  a  boot  and  shoe  store  in 
Boston.  Soon  after  this  he  joined  the  Con- 
gregational church  and  went  to  Chicago, 
where  he  zealously  engaged  in  missionary 
work  among  the  poor  classes.  He  met 
with  great  success,  and  in  less  than  a  year 
he  built  up  a  Sunday-school  which  numbered 
over  one  thousand  children.  When  the 
war  broke  out  he  became  connected  with 
what  was  known  as  the  "Christian  Com- 
mission," and  later  became  city  missionary 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at 
Chicago.  A  church  was  built  there  for  his 
converts  and  he  became  its  unordainad  pas- 
tor. In  the  Chicago  fire  of  1871  the  church 
and  iilr.  Moody's  house  and  furniture,  which 
had  been  given  him,  were   destroyed.      The 


208 


COMI'EXniL'M   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


church  edifice  was  afterward  replaced  by  a 
new  church  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old 
one.  In  1873,  accompanied  by  Ira  D. 
Sankey,  Mr.  Moody  went  to  Europe  and 
excited  great  religious  awakenings  through- 
out England,  Ireland  and  Scotland.  In 
1875  they  returned  to  America  and  held 
large  meetings  in  various  cities.  They 
afterward  made  another  visit  to  Great 
Britain  for  the  same  purpose,  meeting  with 
great  success,  returning  to  the  United  States 
in  1884.  Mr.  Moody  afterward  continued 
his  evangelistic  work,  meeting  everywhere 
with  a  warm  reception  and  success.  Mr. 
Moody  produced  a  number  of  works,  some 
of   which   had  a  wide  circulation. 


JOHN  PIERPONT  MORGAN,  a  financier 
of  world-wide  reputation,  and  famous 
as  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  banking 
houses  in  the  world,  was  born  April  17, 
1837,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  He  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  English 
high  school,  in  Boston,  and  later  supple- 
mented this  with  a  course  in  the  University 
of  Gsttingen,  Germany.  He  returned  to 
the  United  States,  in  1857,  and  entered  the 
banking  firm  of  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co., 
of  New  York,  and,  in  i860,  he  became 
agent  and  attorney,  in  the  United  States,  for 
George  Peabody  &  Co.,  of  London.  He 
became  the  junior  partner  in  the  banking 
firm  of  Dabney,  Morgan  &  Co.,  in  1864, 
and  that  of  Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  in  1871. 
This  house  was  among  the  chief  negotiators 
of  railroad  bonds,  and  was  active  in  the  re- 
organization of  the  West  Shore  Railroad, 
and  its  absorption  by  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad.  It  was  conspicuous  in  the  re- 
organization of  the  Philadelphia  &  Read- 
ing Railroad,  in  1887,  which  a  syndicate  of 
capitalists,  formed  by  Mr.  Morgan,  placed 
on  a  sound  financial  basis.      After  that  time 


many  other  lines  of  railroad  and  gigantic 
financial  enterprises  were  brought  under  Mr. 
Morgan's  control,  and  in  some  respects  it 
maybe  said  he  became  the  foremost  financier 
of  the  century. 


THOMAS  BRACIvETT  REED,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  of  American  states- 
men, was  born  October  18,  1839,  at  Port- 
land, Maine,  where  he  received  his  early 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  the 
city,  and  prepared  himself  for  college.  Mr. 
Reed  graduated  from  Bowdoin  College  in 
i860,  and  won  one  of  the  highest  honors  of 
the  college,  the  prize  for  excellence  in  Eng- 
lish com.position.  The  following  four  years 
were  spent  by  him  in  teacliing  and  in  the 
study  of  law.  Before  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  however,  he  was  acting  assistant  pay- 
master in  the  United  States  navy,  and 
served  on  the  "tin-clad"  Sybil,  which  pa- 
trolled the  Tennessee,  Cumberland  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  After  his  discharge  in 
1865,  he  returned  to  Portland,  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  and  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  entered  into  political  life, 
and  in  1 863  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
of  Maine  as  a  Republican,  and  in  1869  he 
was  re-elected  to  the  house,  and  in  1870 
was  made  state  senator,  from  which  he 
passed  to  attorney-general  of  the  state. 
He  retired  from  this  oi'fice  in  1873,  and 
until  1877  he  was  solicitor  for  the  city 
of  Portland.  In  1876  he  was  elected  to 
the  forty-fifth  congress,  which  assembled 
in  1877.  Mr.  Reed  sprung  into  prominence 
in  that  body  by  one  of  the  first  speeches 
which  he  delivered,  and  his  long  service  in 
congress,  coupled  with  his  ability,  gave  liiin 
a  national  reputation.  His  influence  each 
year  became  more  strongly  marked,  and  the 
leadership  of  \\\.i  party  was  finally  conceded 
to  him,  and  in   the   foity-ninth    and  fiftietli 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BlOGRAriir. 


209 


congresses  the  complimentary  nomination 
for  the  speakership  was  tendered  him  by  the 
Republicans.  That  party  having  obtained 
the  ascendency  in  the  fifty-first  congress  he 
was  elected  speaker  on  the  first  ballot,  and 
he  was  again  chosen  speaker  of  the  fifty- 
fourth  and  fifth-fifth  congresses.  As  a 
writer,  Mr.  Reed  contributed  largely  to  the 
magazines  and  periodicals,  and  his  book 
upon  parliamentary  rules  is  generally  rec- 
ognized as  authority  on  that  subject. 


CLARA  BARTON  is  a  celebrated  char- 
acter among  what  might  be  termed  as 
the  highest  grade  of  philanthropists  Amer- 
ica has  produced.  She  was  born  on  a  farm 
at  Oxford,  Massachusetts,  a  daughter  of 
Captain  Stephen  Barton,  and  was  educated 
at  Clinton,  New  York.  She  engaged  in 
teaching  early  in  life,  and  founded  a  free 
school  at  Bordentown,  the  first  in  New  Jer- 
sey. She  opened  with  si.\  pupils,  but  the 
attendance  had  grown  to  six  hundred  up  to 
1854,  when  she  went  to  Washington.  She 
was  appointed  clerk  in  the  patent  depart- 
ment, and  remained  there  until  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  war,  when  she  resigned 
her  position  and  devoted  herself  to  the  al- 
leviation of  the  sufferings  of  the  soldiers, 
serving,  not  in  the  hospitals,  but  on  the  bat- 
tle field.  She  was  present  at  a  number  of 
battles,  and  after  the  war  closed  she  origi- 
nated, and  for  some  time  carried  on  at  her 
own  expense,  the  search  for  missing  soldiers. 
She  then  for  several  years  devoted  her  time 
to  lecturing  on  "Incidents  of  the  War." 
About  1868  she  went  to  Europe  for  her 
health,  and  settled  in  Switzerland,  but  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  Franco-German  war  she  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  of  the  grand  duchess 
of  Baden  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  her 
hospitals,  and  Miss  Barton  afterward  fol- 
lowed the  German  army      She  was  deco- 


rated with  the  golden  cross  by  the  grand 
duke  of  Baden,  and  with  the  iron  cross  by 
the  emperor  of  Germany.  She  also  served 
for  many  years  as  president  of  the  famous 
Red  Cross  Society  and  attained  a  world- 
wide reputation. 


CARDINAL  JAMES  GIBBONS,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  Catholic  clergymen 
in  America,  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land, July  23,  1834.  He  was  given  a 
thorough  education,  graduated  at  St.  Charles 
College,  Maryland,  in  1857,  and  studied 
theology  in  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore, 
Maryland.  In  1S61  he  became  pastor  of 
St.  Bridget's  church  in  Baltimore,  and  in 
1868  was  consecrated  vicar  apostolic  of 
North  Carolina.  In  1872  our  subject  be- 
came bishop  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  and 
five  years  later  was  made  archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore. On  the  30th  of  June,  1886,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  full  degree  of  cardinal 
and  primate  of  the  American  Catholic 
church.  He  was  a  fluent  writer,  and  his 
book,  ''Faith  of  Our  Fathers,"  had  a  wide 
circulation. 

CHAUNCEY  MITCHELL  DEPEW.— 
This  name  is,  without  doubt,  one  of 
the  most  widely  known  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Depew  was  born  April  23,  1834,  at 
Peekskill,  New  York,  the  home  of  the  Depew 
family  for  two  hundred  years.  He  attended 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  place, 
where  he  prepared  himself  to  enter  college. 
He  began  his  collegiate  course  at  Yale  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  and  graduated  in  1856. 
He  early  took  an  active  interest  in  politics 
and  joined  the  Republican  party  at  its  for- 
mation. He  then  took  up  the  study  of  law 
and  went  into  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Will- 
iam Nelson,  of  Peekskill,  for  that  purpose, 
and  in  1858  he   was   admitted   to  the  bar. 


210 


COMPENDIUM  OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


He  was  sent  as  a  delegate  by  the  new  party 
to  tlie  Republican  state  convention  of  that 
year.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  1859,  but  though  he  was  a  good 
■Vv-orker,  his  attention  was  detracted  by  the 
campaign  of  i860,  in  which  he  took  an  act- 
ive part.  During  this  campaign  he  gained 
his  first  laurels  as  a  public  speaker.  Mr. 
Depew  was  elected  assemblyman  in  1862 
from  a  Democratic  district.  In  1863  he  se- 
cured the  nomination  for  secretary  of  state, 
and  gained  that  post  by  a  majority  of  thirty 
thousand.  In  1866  he  left  the  field  of  pol- 
itics and  entered  into  the  active  practice 
of  his  law  business  as  attorney  for  the 
New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad  Company, 
and  in  1869  when  this  road  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  New  York  Central,  and 
called  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  Railroad,  he  was  appointed  the  attor- 
ney for  the  new  road.  His  rise  in  the  rail- 
road business  was  rapid,  and  ten  years  after 
his  entrance  into  the  Vanderbilt  system  as 
attorney  for  a  single  line,  he  was  the  gen- 
eral counsel  for  one  of  the  largest  railroad 
systems  in  the  world.  He  was  also  a 
<lirector  in  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan 
Southern,  Michigan  Central,  Chicago  & 
Northwestern,  St.  Paul  &  Omaha,  West 
■Shore,  and  Nickel  Plate  railroad  companies. 
In  1874  Mr.  Depew  was  made  regent  of 
the  State  University,  and  a  member  of  the 
commission  appointed  to  superintend  the 
erection  of  the  capitol  at  Albany.  In  1882, 
•on  the  resignation  of  W.  H.  Vanderbilt 
from  the  presidency  of  the  Nev/  York  Cen- 
tral and  the  accession  to  that  office  by 
James  H.  Rutter,  Mr.  Depew  was  made 
second  vice-president,  and  held  that  posi- 
tion until  the  death  of  Mr.  Rutter  in  1885. 
In  this  year  Mr.  Depew  became  the  execu- 
tive head  of  this  great  corporation.  Mr. 
Depew's  greatest  fame  grew  from  his  ability 


and  eloquence  as  an  orator  and  "  after-din- 
ner speaker,"  and  it  has  been  said  by  emi- 
nent critics  that  this  country  has  never  pro- 
duced his  equal  in  wit,  fluency  and  eloquence. 


PHILIP  KEARNEY.— Among  the  most 
dashing  and  brilliant  commanders  in 
the  United  States  service,  few  have  outshone 
the  talented  officer  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch.  He  was  born  in  New  York  City, 
June  2,  181  5,  and  was  of  Irish  ancestry  and 
imbued  with  all  the  dash  and  bravery  of  the 
Celtic  race.  He  graduated  from  Columbia 
College  and  studied  law,  but  in  1837  ac- 
cepted a  commission  as  lieutenant  in  the 
First  United  States  Dragoons,  of  which  his 
uncle,  Stephen  W.  Kearney,  was  tlien  colo- 
nel. He  was  sent  by  the  government, 
soon  after,  to  Europe  to  examine  and  report 
upon  the  tactics  of  the  French  cavalry. 
There  he  attended  the  Polytechnic  School, 
at  Samur,  and  subsequently  served  as  a  vol- 
unteer in  Algiers,  winning  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  He  returned  to  the 
United  States  in  1840,  and  on  the  staff  of 
General  Scott,  in  the  Mexican  war,  served 
with  great  gallantry.  He  was  made  a  cap- 
tain of  dragoons  in  1846  and  made  major 
for  services  at  Contreras  and  Cherubusco. 
In  the  final  assault  on  the  City  of  Mexico 
at  the  San  Antonio  Gate,  Kearney  lost  an 
arm.  He  subsequently  served  in  California 
and  the  Pacific  coast.  In  185  i  he  resigned 
his  commission  and  went  to  Europe,  where 
he  resumed  his  military  studies.  In  the 
Italian  war,  in  1859,  he  served  as  a  volun- 
teer on  the  staf?  of  General  Maurier,  of  the 
French  army,  and  took  part  in  the  battles 
of  Solferino  and  Magenta,  and  for  bravery 
was,  for  the  second  time,  decorated  with 
the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  On  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  war  he  hastened  home, 
and,  offering  his  services  to  the  general  gov- 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRArUT. 


211 


ernrrent,  was  made  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers  and  placed  in  command  of  a  bri- 
gade of  New  Jersey  troops.  In  the  cam- 
paign under  McClellan  he  commanded  a  di- 
vision, and  at  Williamsburg  and  Fair  Oaks 
his  services  were  valuable  and  brilliant,  as 
v/ell  as  in  subsequent  engagements.  At 
Harrison's  Landing  he  was  made  major-gen- 
eral of  volunteers.  In  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run  he  was  conspicuous,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Chantilly,  September  i,  1862, 
while  leading  in  advance  of  his  troops,  Gen- 
eral Kearney  was  shot  and  killed. 


RUSSELL  SAGE,  one  of  the  financial 
giants  of  the  present  century  and  for 
more  than  an  average  generation  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  and  celebrated  of  Ameri- 
cans, \\as  born  in  a  frontier  hamlet  in  cen- 
tral New  York  in  August,  1816.  While  Rus- 
sell was  still  a  boy  an  elder  brother,  Henry 
Risley  Sage,  established  a  small  grocery 
store  at  Troy,  New  York,  and  here  Russell 
found  his  first  employment,  as  errand  boy. 
He  served  a  five-years  apprenticeship,  and 
then  joined  another  brother,  Elisha  M.  Sage, 
in  a  pew  venture  in  the  same  line,  which 
proved  profitable,  at  least  for  Russell,  who 
soon  became  its  sole  owner.  Next  he 
formed  the  partnership  of  Sage  &  Bates, 
and  greatly  extended  his  field  of  operations. 
At  twenty-five  he  had,  by  his  own  exertions, 
amassed  what  was,  in  those  days,  a  consid- 
erable fortune,  being  worth  about  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars.  He  had  acquired  an 
influence  in  local  politics,  and  four  years 
later  his  party,  the  Whigs,  elected  him  to 
the  aldermanic  board  of  Troy  and  to  the 
treasuryship  of  Rensselaer  county.  In  1  848 
he  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  New 
York  delegation  to  the  Whig  convention  at 
Philadelphia,  casting  his  first  votes  for  Henry 
Clay,  but  joining   the    "stampede"   which 


nominated  Zachary  Taylor.  In  1850  the 
Whigs  of  Troy  nominated  him  for  congress, 
but  he  was  not  elected  —  a  failure  which  he 
retrieved  two  years  later,  and  in  1854  he 
was  re-elected  by  a  sweeping  majority.  At 
Washington  he  ranked  high  in  influence  and 
ability.  Fame  as  a  speaker  and  as  a  polit- 
ical leader  was  within  his  grasp,  when  he 
gave  up  public  life,  declined  a  renomination 
to  congress,  and  went  back  to  Troy  to  de- 
vote himself  to  his  private  business.  Six - 
years  later,  in  1863,  he  removed  to  New 
York  and  plunged  into  the  arena  of  Wall 
street.  A  man  of  boundless  energy  and 
tireless  pertinacit}',  with  wonderful  judg- 
ment of  men  and  things,  he  soon  took  his 
place  as  a  king  in  finance,  and,  it  is  said, 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  con- 
trolled more  ready  money  than  any  other 
single  individual  on  this  continent. 


ROGER  QUARLES  MILLS,  a  noted 
United  States  senator  and  famous  as  the 
father  of' the  "Mills  tariff  bill, "  was  bora 
in  Todd  county,  Kentucky,  March  30,  1832. 
He  received  a  liberal  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  removed  to  Palestine, 
Texas,  in  1849.  He  took  up  the  study  of 
law,  and  supported  himself  by  serving  as  an 
assistant  in  the  post-office,  and  in  the  offices 
of  the  court  clerks.  In  1850  he  was  elected 
engrossing  clerk  of  the  Texas  house  of  rep- 
resentatives, and  in  1852  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  while  still  a  minor,  by  special  act 
of  the  legislature.  He  then  settled  at  Cor- 
sicana,  Texas,  and  began  the  active  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  He  was  elected  to 
the  state  legislature  in  1859,  and  in  1872  he 
was  elected  to  congress  from  the  state  at 
large,  as  a  Democrat.  After  his  first  elec- 
tion he  was  continuously  returned  to  con- 
gress until  he  resigned  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  United   States  senator,  to  which  he 


212 


COMPENDIUM   OF   BIOGRArHT. 


was  elected  March  23,  1892,  to  succeed 
Hon.  Horace  Chilton.  He  took  liis  seat  in 
the  senate  March  30,  1892;  was  afterward 
re-elected  and  ranked  among  the  most  use- 
ful and  prominent  members  of  that  body. 
In  1876  he  opposed  the  creation  of  the  elec- 
toral commission,  and  in  1887  canvassed 
the  state  of  Texas  against  the  adoption  of 
a  prohibition  amendment  to  its  constitution, 
which  was  defeated.  He  introduced  into 
the  house  of  representatives  the  bill  that  was 
known  as  the  "Mills  Bill,"  reducing  duties 
on  imports,  and  extending  the  free  list. 
The  bill  passed  the  house  on  July  21,  1888, 
and  made  the  name  of  "Mills"  famous 
throughout  the  entire  country. 


HAZEN  S.  PINGREE,  the  celebrated 
Michigan  political  leader,  was  born  in 
Maine  in  1842.  Up  to  fourteen  years  of 
age  he  worked  hard  on  the  stony  ground  of 
his  father's  small  farm.  Attending  school 
in  the  winter,  he  gained  a  fair  education, 
and  when  not  laboring  on  the  farm,  he 
found  employment  in  the  cotton  mills  in  the 
vicinity.  He  resolved  to  find  more  steady 
work,  and  accordingly  went  to  Hopkinton, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  entered  a  shoe  fac- 
tory, but  on  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  en- 
listed at  once  and  was  enrolled  in  the  First 
Massachusetts  Heavy  Artillery.  He  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  which  was 
his  initial  fight,  and  served  creditably  his 
early  term  of  service,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  he  re-enlisted.  He  fought  in  the 
battles  of  Fredricksburg,  Harris  Farm, 
Spottsylvania  Court  House  and  Cold  Har- 
bor In  1864  he  was  captured  by  Mosby, 
and  spent  five  months  at  AndersonvilJe, 
Georgia,  as  a  prisoner,  but  escaped  at  the 
end  of  that  time.  He  re-entered  the  service 
and  participated  in  the  battles  of  Fort 
Fisher,  Boyden,    and    Sailor's    Creek.      He 


was  honorably  mustered  out  of  service,  and 
in  1866  went  to  Detroit,  Michigan,  where 
he  made  use  of  his  former  experience  in  a 
shoe  factory,  and  found  work.  Later  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  another  workman 
and  started  a  small  factory,  which  has  since 
become  a  large  establishment.  Mr.  Pin- 
gree  made  his  entrance  into  politics  in  1889, 
in  which  year  he  was  elected  by  a  surpris- 
ingly large  majority  as  a  Republican  to  the 
mayoralty  of  Detroit,  in  which  office  he  was 
the  incumbent  during  four  consecutive  terms. 
In  November,  1896,  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  of  Michigan.  While 
mayor  of  Detroit,  Mr.  Pingree  originated 
and  put  into  execution  the  idea  of  allowing 
the  poor  people  of  the  city  the  use  of  va- 
cant city  lands  and  lots  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  potatoes.  The  idea  was  enthusiast- 
ically adopted  by  thousands  of  poor  families, 
attracted  wide  attention,  and  gave  its  author 
a  national  reputation  as  "Potato-patch  Pin- 
gree."   

THOMAS  ANDREW  HENDRICKS,  an 
eminent  American  statesman  and  a 
Democratic  politician  of  national  fame,  was 
born  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  Septem- 
ber 7,  18 19.  In  1822  he  removed,  with  his 
father,  to  Shelby  county,  Indiana.  He 
graduated  from  the  South  Hanover  College 
in  1 841,  and  two  years  later  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  In  1851  he  was  chosen  a  mem- 
ber of  the  state  constitutional  convention, 
and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  deliberations 
of  that  body.  He  was  elected  to  congress 
in  1851,  and  after  serving  two  terms  was 
appointed  commissioner  of  the  United  States 
general  land-office.  In  1863  he  was  elected 
to  the  United  States  senate,  where  his  dis- 
tinguished services  commanded  the  respect 
of  all  parties.  He  was  elected  governor  of 
Indiana   in    1872,  serving  four  years,  and  in 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


218 


1876  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats  as 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency  with  Til- 
den.  The  returns  in  a  number  of  states 
were  contested,  and  resulted  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  famous  electoral  commission, 
which  decided  in  favor  of  the  Republican 
candidates.  In  1884  Mr.  Hendricks  was 
again  nominated  as  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency,  by  the  Democratic  party,  on  the 
ticket  with  Grover  Cleveland,  was  elected, 
and  served  about  six  months.  He  died  at 
Indianapolis,  November  25,  1885.  He  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  brainiest  men  in  the 
party,  and  his  integrity  was  never  ques- 
tioned, even  by  his  political  opponents. 


GARRETT  A.  HO  BART,  one  of  the 
many  able  men  who  have  held  the 
high  office  of  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  June  3,  1844,  in  Mon- 
mouth county.  New  Jersey,  and  in  i860  en- 
tered the  sophomore  class  at  Rutgers  Col- 
lege, from  which  he  graduated  in  1863  at 
the  age  of  nineteen.  He  then  taught 
school  until  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
Socrates  Tuttle,  of  Paterson,  New  Jersey, 
with  whom  he  studied  law.  and  in  1869 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  immediately 
began  the  active  practice  of  his  profession 
i  1  the  office  of  the  above  named  gentleman. 
He  became  interested  in  political  life,  and 
es  oused  t  e  cause  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  in  1865  held  his  first  office,  serving  as 
clerk  for  the  grind  jury.  He  was  also  city 
counsel  of  Paterson  in  1871,  and  in  May, 
1872,  was  elected  counsel  for  the  board  of 
chosen  freeholders.  He  entered  the  state 
legislature  in  1873.  and  was  re-elected  to 
the  assembly  in  1S74.  Mr.  Hobart  was 
made  speaker  of  the  assembly  in  1876,  and 
and  in  1879  was  elected  to  the  state  senate. 
After  serving  three  years  in  the  same,  he 
was  elected  president  of  that  body  in  1S81, 


and  the  following  year  was  re-elected  to 
that  office.  He  was  a  delegate-at -large  to 
the  Republican  national  convention  ni  1876 
and  1880,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
national  committee  in  1884,  which  pos-tion 
he  occupied  continuously  until  1S96.  He 
was  then  nominated  for  vice-president  by 
the  Republican  national  convention,  ani^ 
was  elected  to  that  office  in  the  fall  of  1896 
on  the  ticket  with  William  McKinley. 


WILLIAM  MORRIS  STEWART,  noted 
as  a  political  leader  and  senator,  was 
born  in  Lyons,  Wayne  county.  New  York, 
August  9,  1827,  and  removed  with  his  par- 
ents while  still  a  small  child  to  Mesopota- 
mia township,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio.  He 
attended  the  Lyons  Union  school  and  Farm- 
ington  Academy,  where  he  obtained  his  ed- 
ucation. Later  he  taught  mathematics  in 
the  former  school,  while  yet  a  pupil,  and 
with  the  little  money  thus  earned  and  the 
assistance  of  James  C.  Smith,  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  New  York, 
he  entered  Yale  College.  He  remained 
there  until  the  winter  of  1849-50,  when,  at- 
tracted by  the  gold  discovcrie-;  in  California 
he  wended  his  way  thither.  He  arrived  at 
San  Francisco  in  May,  1850,  and  later  en- 
gaged in  mining  with  pick  and  shovel  in  Ne- 
vada county.  In  this  way  he  accumulated 
some  money,  and  in  the  spring  of  1852  he 
took  up  the  study  of  law  under  John  R. 
McConnell.  The  following  December  he 
was  appointed  district  attorney,  to  which 
office  he  was  chosen  at  tha  general  election 
of  the  next  year.  In  1854  he  was  ap- 
pointed attorney-general  of  California,  and 
in  1S60  he  removed  to  Virginia  City,  Ne- 
vada, where  he  largely  engaged  in  early 
mining  litigation.  Mr.  Stewart  was  also  in- 
terested in  the  development  of  the  "Coni- 
stock    lode,"    and    in    1S61    was    chosen    a 


214 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPIir. 


member  of  the  territorial  council.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention in  1863,  and  was  elected  United 
States  senator  in  1864,  and  re-elected  in 
iS6g.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  in 
1875,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  in 
Nevada,  California,  and  the  Pacific  coast 
generally.  He  was  thus  engaged  when  he 
was  elected  again  to  the  United  States  sen- 
ate as  a  Republican  in  1887  to  succeed  the 
late  James  G.  Fair,  a  Democrat,  and  took 
his  seat  March  4,  1887.  On  the  expiration 
of  his  term  he  was  again  re-elected  and  be- 
came one  of  the  leaders  of  his  party  in  con- 
gress. His  ability  as  an  orator,  and  the 
prominent  part  he  took  in  the  discussion  of 
public  questions,  gained  him  a  national  rep- 
utation. 


GEORGE  GRAHAM  VEST,  for  many 
years  a  prominent  member  of  the 
United  States  senate,  was  born  in  Frank- 
fort, Kentucky,  December  6,  1848.  He 
graduated  from  Center  College  in  1868,  and 
from  the  law  department  of  the  Transyl- 
vania University  of  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
in  1853.  In  the  same  year  he  removed  to 
Missouri  and  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. In  1 860  he  was  an  elector  on  the 
Democratic  ticket,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  lower  house  of  the  Missouri  legislature 
in  1860-61,  He  was  elected  to  the  Con- 
federate congress,  serving  two  years  in  the 
lower  house  and  one  in  the  senate.  He 
then  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  and  in 
1879  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  the  United 
States  to  succeed  James  Shields.  He  was 
re-elected  in  1885,  and  again  in  1891  and 
1S97.  His  many  years  of  service  in  the 
National  congress,  coupled  v/ith  his  ability 
as  a  speaker  and  the  active  part  he  took  in 
the  discussion  of  public  questions,  gave  him 
a  wide  reputation. 


HANNIBAL  HAMLIN,  a  noted  American 
statesman,  whose  name  is  indissolubly 
connected  with  the  history  of  this  country, 
was  born  in  Paris,  Maine,  August  27,  1809. 
He  learned  the  printer's  trade  and  followed 
that  calling  for  several  years.  He  then 
studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice 
in  1833.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature 
of  the  state  of  Maine,  where  he  was  several 
times  chosen  speaker  of  the  lower  house. 
He  was  elected  to  congress  by  the  Demo- 
crats in  1843,  and  re-elected  in  1845.  I" 
1848  he  was  chosen  to  the  United  States 
senate  and  served  in  that  body  until  1861. 
He  was  elected  governor  of  Maine  in  1857 
on  the  Republican  ticket,  but  resigned  when 
re-elected  to  the  United  Stales  senate 
the  same  year.  Hl;  was  elected  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  on  the  ticket  with 
Lincoln  in  i860,  and  inaugurated  in  March, 
1 861.  In  1865  he  was  appointed  collector 
of  the  port  of  Boston.  Beginning  with 
1869  he  served  two  six-year  terms  in  the 
United  States  senate,  and  was  then  ap- 
pointed by  President  Garfield  as  minister  to 
Spain  in  1881.  His  death  occurred  July  4, 
1891. 

I  SHAM  G.  HARRIS,  famous  as  Confed- 
1  erate  war  governor  of  Tennessee,  and 
distinguished  by  his  twenty  years  of  service 
in  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  Franklin  county,  Tennessee,  and 
educated  at  the  Academy  of  Winchester. 
He  then  took  up  the  study  of  law,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  and  commenced  practice 
at  Paris,  Tennessee,  in  1841.  He  was 
elected  to  the  state  legislature  in  1847,  was 
a  candidate  for  presidential  elector  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  in  1848,  and  the  next 
year  was  elected  to  congress  from  his  dis- 
trict, and  re-elected  in  185 1.  In  1853  he 
was  renominated   by  the    Democrats  of  his 


COMPENDIUM    OF    VlOGRAPJir. 


215 


district,  but  declined,  and  removed  to  Mem- 
phis, where  he  took  up  the  practice  of  law. 
lie  was  a  presidential  elector-at-large  from 
Tennessee  in  1856,  and  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  the  next  year,  and  again 
in  1859,  and  in  1861.  He  was  driven  from 
Nashville  by  the  advance  of  the  Union 
armies,  and  for  the  last  three  years  of  the 
war  acted  as  aid  upon  the  staff  of  the  com- 
manding general  of  the  Confederate  army 
of  Tennessee.  After  the  war  he  went  to 
Liverpool,  England,  where  he  became  a 
merchant,  but  returned  to  Memphis  in  1867, 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  In  1877 
he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate, 
to  which  position  he  was  successively  re- 
elected until  his  death  in  1897. 


N 


ELSON  DINGLEY,  Jr.,  for  nearly  a 
i  N  quarter  of  a  century  one  of  the  leaders 
in  congress  and  framer  of  the  famous 
"  Dingley  tariff  bill,"  was  born  in  Durham, 
Maine,  in*  1832.  His  father  as  well  as  all 
his  ancestors,  were  farmers,  merchants  and 
mechanics  and  of  English  descent.  Young 
Dingley  was  given  the  advantages  first  of 
the  common  schools  and  in  vacations  helped 
his  father  in  the  store  and  on  the  farm. 
When  twelve  years  of  age  he  attended  high 
school  and  at  seventeen  was  teaching  in  a 
country  school  district  and  preparing  him- 
self for  college.  The  following  year  he  en- 
tered Waterville  Academy  and  in  185  i  en- 
tered Colby  University.  After  a  year  and  a 
half  in  this  institution  he  entered  Dart- 
mouth College  and  was  graduated  in  1855 
with  liigh  rank  as  a  scholar,  debater  and 
writer.  He  next  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1856.  But  instead  of 
practicing  his  profession  he  purchased  the 
"  Levvi>town  (Me.)  Journal,"  which  be- 
came famous  throughout  the  New  England 
states  as  a  leader  in  the  advocacy  of  Repub- 


lican principles.  About  the  same  time  Mr. 
Dingley  began  his  political  career,  although 
ever  after  continuing  at  the  head  of  the 
newspaper.  He  was  soon  elected  to  the 
state  legislature  and  afterward  to  the  lower 
house  of  congress,  where  he  became  a 
prominent  national  character.  He  also 
served  two  terms  as  governor  of  Maine. 


OLIVER  PERRY  MORTON,  a  distin- 
guished American  statesman,  was  born 
in  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  August  4,  1823. 
His  early  education  was  by  private  teaching 
and  a  course  at  the  Wayne  County  Seminary. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  years  he  entered  the 
Miami  University  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  at 
the  end  of  two  years  quit  the  college,  began 
the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  John  New- 
man, of  Centerville,  Indiana,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1S47. 

Mr.  Morton  was  elected  judge  on  the 
Democratic  ticket,  in  1852,  but  on  th', 
passage  of  the  "  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  "  he 
severed  his  connection  with  that  party,  and 
soon  became  a  prominent  leader  of  the  Re- 
publicans. He  was  elected  governor  of  In- 
diana in  1 86 1,  and  as  war  governor  became 
well  known  throughout  the  country.  He 
received  a  paralytic  stroke  in  1865,  which 
partially  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his 
limbs.  He  was  chosen  to  the  United  States 
senate  from  Indiana,  in  1867,  and  wielded 
great  influence  in  that  body  until  the  time 
of  his  death,  November  i,   1877. 


JOHN  B.  GORDON,  a  brilliant  Confeder- 
ate officer  and  noted  senatorof  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  Upson  county,  Georgia, 
February  6,  1832.  He  graduated  from  the 
State  University,  studied  law,  and  took  up 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  he  entered  the  Confederate 
service  as  captain   of   infantry,  and   rapidly 


216 


COMI'ENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


rose  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general, 
commanding  one  wing  of  the  Confederate 
army  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1868  he 
was  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  of 
Georgia,  and  it  is  said  was  elected  by  a  large 
majority,  but  his  opponent  was  given  the 
ofBce.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  national 
Democratic  conventions  in  1868  and  1872, 
and  a  presidential  elector  both  years.  In 
1873  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
senate.  In  1886  he  was  elected  governor 
of  Georgia,  and  re-elected  in  1888.  He 
was  again  elected  to  the  United  States 
senate  in  1890,  serving  until  1897,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  A.  S.  Clay.  He  was 
regarded  as  a  leader  of  the  southern  Democ- 
racy, and  noted  for  his  fiery  eloquence. 


STEPHEN  JOHNSON  FIELD,  an  illus- 
trious associate  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at 
Iladdam,  Connecticut,  November  4,  1S16, 
being  one  of  the  noted  sons  of  Rev.  D. 
D.  Field.  He  graduated  from  Williams 
College  in  1837.  took  up  the  study  of  law 
with  his  brother,  David  Dudley  Field,  be- 
coming his  partner  upon  admission  to  the 
bar.  He  went  to  California  in  1849,  and  at 
once  began  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the 
political  affairs  of  that  state.  He  was 
elected  alcalde  of  Marysville,  in  1850,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  was  elected 
to  the  state  legislature.  In  1857  he  was 
elected  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  the 
state,  and  two  years  afterwards  became  its 
chief  justice.  In  1863  he  was  appointed  by 
President  Lincoln  as  associate  justice  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  United  States.  During 
his  incuinbenc}',  in  1873,  he  was  appointed 
by  the  governor  of  California  one  of  a  com- 
mission to  examine  the  codes  of  the  state 
and  for  the  preparation  of  amendments  to 
the  same  for  submission   to  the    legislature. 


In  1877  he  was  one  of  the  famous  electoral 
commission  of  fifteen  members,  and  voted 
as  one  of  the  seven  favoring  the  election  of 
Tilden  to  the  presidency.  In  1S80  a  large 
portion  of  the  Democratic  party  favored  his 
nomination  as  candidate  for  the  presidency. 
He  retired  in  the  fall  of  1897,  having 
served  a  greater  number  of  years  on  the 
supreme  bench  than  any  of  his  associates  or 
predecessors,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  coming 
next  in  length  of  service. 


JOHN  T.  MORGAN,  whose  services  in 
the  United  States  senate  brought  him 
into  national  prominence,  was  born  in 
Athens,  Tennessee,  June  20,  1824.  At  the 
age  of  nine  years  he  emigrated  to  Alabama, 
where  he  made  his  permanent  home,  and 
where  he  received  an  academic  education. 
He  then  took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845.  He  took  a 
leading  part  in  local  politics,  was  a  presi- 
dential elector  in  i860,  casting  his  ballot 
for  Breckenridge  and  Lane,  and  in  1861 
was  a  delegate  to  the  state  convention  which 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession.  In  May, 
of  the  same  year,  he  joined  the  Confederate 
army  as  a  private  in  Company  I,  Cahawba 
Rifles,  and  was  soon  after  made  major  and 
then  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fifth  Regiment. 
In  1862  he  was  commissioned  colonel,  and 
soon  after  made  brigadier-general  and  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  a  brigade  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  resigned  to  join  his  old  regiment 
whose  colonel  had  been  killed.  He  was 
soon  afterward  again  marie  brigadier-gen- 
eral and  given  command  of  the  brigade  that 
included  his  regiment. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  and  continued  it  up  to  the  time 
of  his  election  to  the  United  States  senate,  in 
1877.  He  was  a  presidential  elector  in  1876, 
and  cast  his  vote  for  Tilden  and  Hendricks. 


COMPENDIUM   OF    BIOGRAPHT. 


217 


He  was  re-elected  to  the  senate  in  1883, 
and  again  in  1889,  and  1895.  His  speeches 
and  the  measures  he  introduced,  marked 
as  they  were  by  an  intense  Americanism, 
brought   him    into   national  prominence. 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY, the  twenty-fifth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  at  Niles,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  Jan- 
uary 29,  1844.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry,  and  received  his  early  education 
in  a  Methodist  academy  in  the  small  village 
of  Poland,  Ohio.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  Mr.  McKinley  was  teaching  school, 
earning  twenty-five  dollars  per  month.  As 
soon  as  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon  he  en- 
listed in  a  company  that  was  formed  in 
Poland,  which  was  inspected  and  mustered 
in  by  General  John  C.  Fremont,  who  at 
first  objected  to  Mr.  McKinley,  as  being  too 
young,  but  upon  examination  he  was  finally 
accepted.  Mr.  McKinley  was  seventeen 
when  the  war  broke  out  but  did  not  look  his 
age.  He  served  in  the  Twenty-third  Ohio 
Infantry  throughout  the  war,  was  promoted 
from  sergeant  to  captain,  for  good  conduct 
on  the  field,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
for  meritorious  services,  he  was  brevetted 
major.  After  leaving  the  army  Major  Mc- 
Kinley took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in  1869  he  took 
his  initiation  into  politics,  being  elected  pros- 
ecuting attorney  of  his  county  as  a  Republi- 
can, although  the  district  was  usually  Demo- 
cratic. In  1 876  he  was  elected  to  congress, 
and  in  a  call  upon  the  President-elect,  Mr. 
Hayes,  to  whom  he  went  for  advice  upon  the 
way  he  should  shape  his  career,  he  was 
told  that  to  achieve  fame  and  success  he 
must  take  one  special  line  and  stick  to  it. 
Mr.  McKinley  chose  tariff  legislation  and 
he  became  an  authority  in  regard  to  import 
duties.      He  was  a  member   of   congress  for 


many  years,  became  chairman  of  the  ways 
and  means  connnittee,  and  later  he  advo- 
cated the  famous  tariff  bill  that  bore  his 
name,  which  was  passed  in  1890.  In  the 
next  election  the  Republican  party  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated  through  the  coun- 
try, and  the  Democrats  secured  more  than 
a  two  thirds  majority  in  the  lower  house, 
and  also  had  control  of  the  senate,  Mr. 
McKinley  being  defeated  in  his  own  district 
by  a  small  majority.  He  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Ohio  in  1891  by  a  plurality  of 
twenty-one  thousand,  five  hundred  and 
eleven,  and  two  years  later  he  was  re-elected 
by  the  still  greater  plurality  of  eighty  thou- 
sand, nine  hundred  and  ninety-five.  He  was 
a  delegate-at-large  to  the  Minneapolis  Re> 
publican  convention  in  1892,  and  was  in- 
structed to  support  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Harrison.  He  was  chairman  of  the  con^ 
vention,  and  was  the  only  man  from  Ohio 
to  vote  for  Mr.  Harrison  upon  the  roll  call. 
In  November,  1892,  a  number  of  prominent 
politicians  gathered  in  New  York  to  discuss 
the  political  situation,  and  decided  that  the 
result  of  the  election  had  put  an  end  to  Mc- 
Kinley and  McKinleyism.  But  in  less  than 
four  years  from  that  date  Mr.  McKinley  was 
nominated  for  the  presidency  against  the 
combined  opposition  of  half  a  dozen  rival 
candidates.  Much  of  the  credit  for  his  suc- 
cess was  due  to  Mark  A.  Hanna,  of  Cleve- 
land, afterward  chairman  of  the  Republican 
national  committee.  At  the  election  which 
occurred  in  November,  1896,  Mr.  McKinley 
was  elected  president  of  the  United  States 
by  an  enormous  majority,  on  a  gold  stand- 
ard and  protective  tariff  platform.  He  was 
inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  1897, 
and  called  a  special  session  of  congress,  to 
which  was  submitted  a  bill  for  tariff  reform, 
which  was  passed  in  the  latter  part  of  July 
of  that  vear. 


218 


COMPEXDIUM    OF    niOGRAPIIT 


CINCINNATUS  HEINE  MILLER, 
known  in  the  literary  world  as  Joaquin 
Miller,  "the  poet  of  the  Sierras,"  was  born 
at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1841.  When  only 
about  thirteen  years  of  age  he  ran  away 
from  home  and  went  to  the  mining  regions 
in  California  and  along  the  Pacific  coast. 
Some  time  afterward  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Modoc  Indians  and  lived  with  them 
for  five  years.  He  learned  their  language 
and  gained  great  influence  with  them,  fight- 
ing in  their  wars,  and  in  all  modes  of  living 
became  as  one  of  them.  In  1858  he  left 
the  Indians  and  went  to  San  Francisco, 
where  he  studied  law,  and  in  i860  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  Oregon.  In  1866  he 
was  elected  a  county  judge  in  Oregon  and 
served  four  years.  Early  in  the  seventies 
he  began  devoting  a  good  deal  of  time  to 
literary  pursuits,  and  about  1874  he  settled 
in  Washington,  D.  C.  He  wrote  many 
poems  and  dramas  that  attracted  consider- 
able attention  and  won  him  an  e.xtended 
reputation.  Among  his  productions  maybe 
mentioned  "Pacific  Poems,"  "  Songs  of  the 
Sierras,"  "Songs  of  the  Sun  Lands," 
' '  Ships  in  the  Desert,  "  ' '  Adrianne,  a  Dream 
of  Italy,"  "Danites,"  "Unwritten  History," 
"  First  Families  of  the  Sierras  "  (a  novel), 
"  One  Fair  Woman  "  (a  novel),  "  Songs  of 
Italy,"  "  Shadows  of  Shasta,"  "The  Gold- 
Seekers  of  the  Sierras,"  and  a  number  of 
others. 

GEORGE  FREDERICK  ROOT,  a 
noted  music  publisher  and  composer, 
was  born  in  Sheffield,  Berkshire  county, 
Massachusetts,  on  August  30,  1820.  While 
working  on  his  father's  farm  he  found  time 
to  learn,  unaided,  several  musical  instru- 
ments, and  in  his  eighteenth  year  he  went 
to  Boston,  where  he  soon  found  employ- 
ment as  a   teacher  of   music.      From    1839 


until  1844  he  gave  instructions  in  music  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  city,  and  was  also 
director  of  music  in  two  churches.  Mr. 
Root  then  went  to  New  York  and  taught 
music  in  the  various  educational  institutions 
of  the  city.  He  went  to  Paris  in  1850  and 
spent  one  year  there  in  study,  and  on  his  re- 
turn he  published  his  first  song,  "Hazel 
Dell."  It  appeared  as  the  work  of  "  Wur- 
zel, "  which  was  the  German  equivalent  of 
his  rijme.  He  was  the  originator  of  the 
normal  musical  institutions,  an"d  when  the 
first  one  was  started  in  New  York  he 
was  one  of  the  faculty.  He  removed  to 
Chicago,  Illinois,  in  i860,  and  established 
the  firm  of  Root  &  Cady,  and  engaged  in 
the  publication  of  music.  He  received,  in 
1872,  the  degree  of  "  Doctor  of  Music" 
from  the  University  of  Chicago.  After  the 
war  the  firm  became  George  F.  Root  &  Co., 
of  Cincinnati  and  Chicago.  Mr.  Root  did 
much  to  elevate  the  standard  of  inusic  in  this 
country  by  his  compositions  and  work  as  a 
teacher.  Besides  his  numerous  songs  he 
wrote  a  great  deal  of  sacred  music  and  pub- 
lished many  collections  of  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music.  For  many  jears  he  was  the 
most  popular  song  writer  in  America,  and 
was  one  of  the  greatest  song  writers  of  the 
war.  He  is  also  well-known  as  an  author, 
and  his  work  in  that  line  comprises:  "  ivleth- 
ods  for  the  Piano  and  Organ,"  "Hand- 
book on  Harmony  Teaching,"  and  innumer- 
able articles  for  the  musical  press.  Among 
his  many  and  most  popular  songs  of  the 
war  time  are :  ' '  Rosalie,  the  Prairie-flower, " 
"Battle  Cry  of  Freedom,"  "  Just  Before  the 
Battle,"  "Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp,  the  Boys 
are  Marching,"  "  The  Old  Folks  are  Gone," 
"A  Hundred  Years  Ago,"  "Old  Potomac 
Shore, "and  "  There's  Music  in  the  Air."  Mr. 
Root's  cantatas  include  "The  Flower  Queen" 
and  "The  Haymakers."      He  died  in   1896. 


FART  II. 


^?T 


^^S^>3 


COMFENDIUMs 


5-^ 


OF 


/qSM^ 


(rX?7Ta) 


LOCAL  BIOGRArHY 


?ii^a 


OF 


COLUMBIA.  SAUK  AND  ADAMS  COUNTIES, 


-l^-^WISCONSIN^— ^ 


i^s^^-s-s^^^^^^^^^^^^a^r^c^s^s^-^'^^^^^^^^'^^^^^fv. 


OF 


4^  LOCAL  BIOGRAPHY 


ox.  JAMES  TAYLOR 
LEWIS,  LL.  D.— 
Eoremost  am<  mg  the 
men  of  Ci)Iumbiacijun- 
ty,  and  recognized 
tliroughout  tlie  state  as 
one  of  the  most  useful 
and  iniluential  citizens  of  Wisconsin,  stands 
tlie  venerable  ex-governor,  James  T.  Lewis, 
of  Columbus.  He  may  be  justly  termed  one 
of  the  fathers  of  the  state,  having  been  close- 
ly identified  with  many  of  its  most  vital  in- 
terests during  the  formative  period  and  the 
Civil  war.  His  distinguished  serx'ice  in  puli- 
lic  life  as  well  as  his  personal  wi>rth  make 
the  following  history  of  general  interest,  n(jt 
only  to  the  readers  of  the  present  day,  l)ut 
to   future  historians  of  this   section. 

Air.  Lewis  was  born  in  Clarendon,  New 
York,  October  30,  1819,  a  son  of  Shubael 
and  Eleanor  (Robertson)  Lewis.  The 
mother  was  born  in  Edinburg,  Scotland,  and 
died  October  8,  1854,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two  years.  The  father,  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  born  February  27,  1783,  and 
\\  as  a  son  of  Samuel  Lewis,  whose  ancestors 
located  in  New  England  at  an  early  day  in 


the  history  of  this  cnuntr}-.  Shubael  Lewis 
began  life  with  few  advantages,  but  with  a 
strong  iletermination  to  succeed  and  a  spirit 
of  integrity  and  enterprse  which  enaliled  liim 
to  acquire  a  comfijrtaljje  estate  in  New  York 
and  to  add  to  the  same  considerably  in  \Vis- 
ci^nsin.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife 
he  was  married  in  New  York  to  ]Miss  Parne 
Nichols,  who  was  a  true  and  devoted  mother 
to  her  seven  step-children. 

James  T.  Lewis,  our  subject,  pursued  his 
studies  at  Clarkson  Academy,  Monroe  coun- 
ty. New  York,  and  Clinton  Seminary  with 
the  view  of  entering  Hamilton  College,  but 
after  C()mpleting  the  course  at  the  seminary 
he  abandoned  the  original  project  by  his  fa- 
ther's advice,  and  in  1842  commenced  the 
study  of  law  with  (j(A'ernor  Selden  Clark- 
son,  of  New  Y(jrk.  L"i)on  completing  his 
studies,  in  1845.  ^^^  came  to  Columlnis,  Wis- 
consin, and  was  admitted  to  practice  before 
the  LTnited  States  circuit  court  in  the  terri- 
tory of  W'isconsin,  and  later  before  the  state 
supreme  court.  Soon  after  locating  here  he 
became  actively  identified  with  public  affairs 
and  filled  the  offices  of  district  attornev  and 
countv   judge.     He  was  also  a  member  of 


222 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


the  con\-eiition  whicli  adopted  the  present 
constitution  of  the  state,  December  15,  1847. 
In  1852  Mr.  Lewis  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  from  Columbia  county 
and  the  following  year  he  was  electetl  to  the 
state  senate.  He  served  as  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor for  two  years,  beginning  in  January, 
1854.  In  the  fall  of  1861  he  was  elected 
secretary  of  state,  receiving  every  vote  in 
Columbus  cast  for  that  oflice,  and  two  years 
later  was  elected  governor,  receiving  the 
largest  majority  ever  given  a  governor  of 
Wisconsin  up  to  1896.  His  administration 
was  characterized  by  economy,  activity  and 
justice,  and  he  was  especially  active  in  rais- 
ing and  equipping  troops  for  the  army  and 
looking  after  their  comfort  while  in  the  field. 
He  visited  many  camps  and  hospitals  and  se- 
cured from  the  surgeon  general  of  the  United 
States  an  order  transferring  sick  and  wound- 
ed soldiers  from  Wisconsin  to  hospitals  with- 
in the  state.  By  this  means  many  lives  were 
saved  and  those  whose  recovery  was  impos- 
sible were  made  more  comfortable.  Gov- 
ernor Lewis  also  assisted  in  establishing  a 
home  for  soldiers'  orphans.  He  secured  the 
correction  of  an  error  in  the  state's  quota 
of  troops  by  which  the  number  was  reduced 
about  four  thousand.  He  declined  the 
usual  appropriation  of  governor's  con- 
tingent fund  and  managed  the  affairs  of 
the  state  in  a  judicious  and  economical 
manner,  worthy  of  emulation  by  some 
latter  day  statesmen.  Upon  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term,  however,  he  positively  de- 
clined  a   renomination. 

On  the  23d  of  July,  1846,  Governor 
Lewis  married  Aliss  Orlena  M.  Sturges,  a 
daughter  of  David  Sturges,  a  prominent  mer- 
chant of  Clarendon,  New  York,  and  they 
are  the  parents  of  three  children,  two  sons 
and  one  daughter,  namely:  Selden  J.,  an  at- 
torney of  Vermillion,  South  Dakota;  Charles 
R.,  who  is  employed  in  the  city  ticket  office 


of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road at  Minneapolis;  and  Annie  L.,  wife  of 
W.  F.  Dudley,  assistant  general  auditor  for 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad, 
residing  at  Evanston,  111.  Mrs.  Lewis  is  a 
most  estimable  lady  and  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
of  Columbus,  which  the  family  also  attend. 
Until  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war 
Governor  Lewis  was  a  stanch  advocate  of 
Democratic  principles,  but  when  the  southern 
states  attempted  to  secede,  he  took  a  decided 
stand  in  support  of  the  government  and  was 
elected  secretary  of  state  on  the  Republican 
ticket.  Ever  since  he  has  affiliated  with  that 
party,  and  has  been  one  of  its  stanch  sup- 
porters. One  of  his  characteristic  expres- 
sions while  governor  was  "He  who  is  not  a 
faithful  friend  to  the  government  of  his 
country  in  this  trying  hour  is  no  friend  of 
mine,"  and  he  has  ever  been  acknowledged 
one  of  the  most  patriotic  and  loyal  citizens 
of  the  state  or  nation.  Since  his  retirement 
from  public  life  he  has  lived  in  his  old-fash- 
inned  residence  at  Columbus,  amid  rural  antl 
picturesque  surroundings,  where  he  dispenses 
a  hearty  hospitality  to  his  numerous  visitors. 
He  has  always  been  a  liberal  supporter  of  ed- 
ucational and  philanthropic  institutions  for 
some  years,  devoting  most  of  his  income  to 
thatl  object.  In  1864  Lawrence  Uni- 
\-ersity  conferred  upon  him  the  degree 
of  LL.  D.  A  few  years  ago  Gov- 
ernor Lewis  made  a  journey  around  the 
world,  visiting  the  principal  countries  and 
cities  of  the  orient  and  collecting  many  in- 
teresting views  and  curiosities  from  those 
lands.  After  a  pure,  honorable  and  useful 
life,  actuated  by  unselfish  motives,  prompted 
by  patriotism  and  guided  by  truth  and  jus- 
tice, he  may  in  his  declining  age  rest  assured 
that  the  people  of  this  state  are  not  unmind- 
ful of  those  who  have  labored  for  their  in- 
terests. 


COMPENDIUM    Of    BIOGRAPHY 


1^23 


A     TRUE     COPY     OF     AUTOBIOGRAPHY     FOUND 

AMONG  THE  PAPERS  OF  GENERAL 

GUPPEY. 

"General  Josluui  J.  Giippey,  Portage, 
\\'iscuiisin,  member  of  Rousseau  Post,  Xo. 
14,  G.  A.  R.,  son  of  John  and  Hannah 
(Dame)  Guppey,  was  born  August  2y,  1820, 
at  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  and  is  of  English 
extraction. 

"Joshua  Guppey,  the  founder  of  the 
American  branch  of  tlie  family,  emigrated  in 
early  youth,  about  the  year  1720,  from 
southwest  England  to  America,  settled  in 
Beverly,  Massachusetts,  married  there  and 
(lied  there  before  reaching  middle  age.  His 
SL'U,  Cajitain  James  CJuppey,  was  a  sea  officer 
and  commanded  a  United  States  naval  \-essel 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  John  Guppey, 
son  of  Captain  James  Guppey,  was  a  wealthy 
farmer  and  much  respected  business  man, 
but  never  held  any  public  position. 

"General  Guppey  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1843.  I'''  '^'s  senior  year 
he  was  captain  of  the  'Dartmouth  Phalanx,' 
the  college  military  company.  He  studied 
law  in  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  April,  1846,  and  in  Sep- 
tember following  he  settled  in  Columljus, 
Wisconsin,  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
and  in  doing  a  general  land  agency  business. 
He  remained  there  until  185 1,  wlien  he  re- 
moved to  Portage,  in  the  same  county,  which 
is  still  his  home.  He  is  in  good  circumstan- 
ces, and  has  a  beautiful  homestead  of  fifty 
acres  on  Silver  Lake.  In  February,  1847, 
he  was  appointed  colonel  of  jNIilitia.  In 
September,  1849,  '^^  was  appointed  Judge  of 
Probate.  He  has  six  times  been  elected 
County  Judge  for  terms  of  four  years  each, 
commencing,  respectively,  January  i,  1850, 
1854,  1866,  1870,  1874  and  1878.  From 
1858  to  1 86 1  he  was  school  superintendent 
of  the  city  of  Portage,  and  again  from  1866 
to  1872.  His  elections  to  these  offices  were 
usually  without  opposition. 


"In  1862  he  was  the  Democratic  candi- 
date for  congress  in  the  Second  Wisconsin 
district,  and  was  defeated  l)y  only  2,000 
votes,  the  usual  Repulilican  majority  being 
about  7.000.  In  1868  he  became  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  ever  since  acted  w:th  that 
l)arty.     He  was  never  \'ery  acti\'e  in  politics. 

"September  13,  1861,  he  was  commis- 
sioned Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Tenth 
Regiment  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry 
and  served  under  General  O.  M.  Mitchell, 
in  all  his  campaigns  of  1861  and  1862  in 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Alaliama. 

"July  17,  1862,  he  was  promoted  to 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  Wis- 
consin Infantry,  and  was  with  it  in  actual 
command  in  the  iirst  assault  on  \'icksburg, 
I^ecember,  1862,  under  General  Sherman; 
also  in  the  assault  and  capture  of  Post  Ar- 
kansas, January  11,  1863;  and  at  the  battle 
of  Grand  Gulf,  Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hills 
and  Black  River  Bridge.  In  all  these  bat- 
tles his  regiment  behaved  with  marked  brav- 
ery, and  the  official  report  of  the  capture  of 
I'ost  Arkansas  states  that  a  part  of  the  rebel 
right  was  'djiMven  in  by  a  charge  of  the 
1  wenty-third  Wisconsin,  Colonel  Guppey.' 

"Colonel  Guppey  was  also  in  command 
of  his  regiment  in  the  assault  at  Vicksburg 
in  May,  1863,  and  in  the  siege  operations  re- 
sulting in  the  capture  of  that  stronghold, 
July  4,  1863.  After  this  capture,  his  regi- 
ment with  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  to 
\\hich  it  belonged,  was  transferred  to  the 
Department  of   the   Gulf. 

"On  Novemljer  3,  1863,  the  Fourth 
Division,  in  command  of  General  Bur])ridge, 
Vv'as  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force  of 
rebels  at  Carrion  Crow  or  Ba_\'ou  Corbeau, 
near  Opelousas,  Louisiana,  and  the  battle 
of  Grand  Coteau  was  fought.  In  this  bat- 
tle the  Twenty-third  W^isconsin,  Colonel 
Guppey,  was  held  in  reser\-e.  When  it  came 
its  turn  to  take  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  says 
the   Cincinnati    Commercial,    'this   excellent 


224 


COMPEXDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


regiment,  animated  l)y  its  brave  Colonel, 
lielcT  the  enemy  in  check  for  a  short  time,  de- 
livering its  fire  with  deadly  effect. 

"  'Here  Colonel  Guppey  was  wounded 
(just  below  the  knee  of  the  left  leg),  and 
subsequently  taken  prisoner.  The  man  who 
shot  him  was  not  thirty  feet  from  him  at  the 
time.  But  the  Twenty-third,  too,  had  to 
gi\'e  way.  The  odds  were  too  great  for 
human  effort  to  ox'ercome. 

"  'The  Colonel  commanded  his  men  fur 
some  time  after  he  was  shot.'  Mr.  Greslev, 
in  his  '.Vmerican  Conflict,'  when  describing 
this  battle  says :  'Our  right,  thus  suddenly 
assailed  in  great  force  and  with  intense 
fury,  was  broken,  and  was  saved  from  utter 
distruction  by  the  de\oted  bravery  of  the 
Twenty-third  \\'isconsin  and  the  efficient 
service  of  Xims  battery.'  Colonel  Guppey 
was  treated  kindly  while  a  prisoner,  and 
was  exchanged  in  January,  1864.  He  was 
soon  after  detailed  by  General  Banks  as 
President  of  a  Military  Commission  for  the 
examination  of  officers  in  the  Thirteenth 
Army  Corps. 

"In  the  summer  of  1864  Colonel  Guppey 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  brigade, 
and  was  in  active  service  till  the  close  of  the 
v^-ar,  all  the  way  frcjm  I\Iol:)ile  Bay,  Alabama, 
to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  and  was  Post  Com- 
mander at  the  latter  place  when  the  war 
endeil.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1865,  Colonel 
Guppey  was  commissioned  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral of  Volunteers  by  brevet,  for  gallant  and 
meritorious  services  during  the  war.  His 
regiment  was  mustered  out  of  service  July 
4,  1865,  and  had  an  enthusiastic  reception 
on  reaching  Madison,  Wisconsin,  July  i6Lh. 
(_)n  the  first  of  January,  1866,  he  again  en- 
tered upon  his  duties  as  county  judge,  to 
which  office  he  had  been  elected  while  sew- 
ing in  the  army. 

"In  January,  18S2,  at  the  close  of  his 
sixth  term  as  county  judge,  on  accoimt  of 
impaired   health     from    wuunds,    and   from 


rheumatism  contracted  while  in  the  army, 
General 'Guppey  retired  to  private  life,  and 
since  that  date  has  given  most  of  his  time 
to  his  own  affairs — excepting  business  from 
a  few  of  his  old  clients  only. 

"He  was  never  married;  but  notwith- 
standing that  ill  fortune,  antl  his  suffering 
from  rheumatism  he  retains  his  old  time 
cheerfulness  of  spirit  and  finds  much  pleas- 
lu'c  in  the  (|uiet  days  of  his  old  ago." 

He  died  at  Portage,  \\'isciinsin,  Decem- 
ber 8,  1S93. 

M.  T.  Alverson,  Executor  of  the  Estate 
of  Joshua  J.  Guppey. 


HON.  SOLOX  WESLEY  PIERCE. 

Hon.  Solon  ^^'esley  Pierce,  for  more 
than  forty  years  identified  with  the  public 
affairs  of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  is  a  resi- 
dent of  the  city  of  Friendship,  and  the  an- 
nals of  his  county  could  not  be  compiled 
without  frequent  reference  to  his  name  and 
deeds. 

Solon  Wesley  Pierce  is  a  native  of  Xew 
'^'ork,  Ijorn  in  the  town  of  Yorkshire,  Catta- 
raugus county,  March  7,  1831,  the  son  of 
Daniel  and  Adeline  (DeMott-Brunson) 
Pierce.  Daniel  Pierce  is  supposed  to  ha\e 
been  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  of 
English  lineage.  His  ancestors  located  near 
Marblehead  in  the  early  days  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony,  and  the  members  of  this 
family  were  active  in  the  public  affairs  of 
the  great  commonwealth  for  many  genera- 
tions. The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  John 
Pierce,  had  charge  of  a  military  school  in 
Marblehead  for  some  years,  and  later  became 
a  Methodist  minister,  and  removed  to  Xew 
York,  where  he  died.  Daniel  Pierce  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  and  died 
in  Rochester,  Xew  York,  in  1843,  ^t  the  age 
of  fort}--fi\-e  years.  Our  subject's  mother, 
who  later  married    James  W.    Xorris,  lived 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


225 


for  many  years  at  Nunda,  Livingston  coun- 
ty, New  York,  where  she  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  Iler  fatlier,  Hosea  Brunson, 
was  a  veteran  of  the  war  of  1812.  serving  in 
a  New  York  regiment.  If  is  family  were  of 
Scandinavian  origin.  His  death  occurred  at 
Brighton,  New  York. 

Solon  Wesley  Pierce  received  his  pri- 
mary education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Rochester,  then  took  a  course  in  the 
Lima  College,  and  later  at  Menden 
Academy,  Menden,  New  ^'nrk.  He 
then  became  a  stationary  engineer,  continu- 
ing in  that  calling  for  si.x  years.  Li  1854 
he  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  located  at  Cas- 
cade (now  White  Creek),  Adams  county. 
He  had  taken  u;)  the  study  of  law  before 
leaving  New  York,  and  he  taught  school 
for  several  years.  In  1.S57  he  removed  to 
Friendship,  and  was  admittetl  to  the  bar 
in  1858,  since  which  time  he  lias  been  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  He  instituted 
the  first  gerrymander  suit  in  the  state  of 
\\'isconsin,  in  January,  1892,  having  pre- 
viously drafted  a  resolution  wh'ich  was 
adopted  by  the  lioard  of  supervisors  of 
Adams  count}",  authorizing  such  action.  His 
position  was  x'indicateil  liy  the  sujireme 
ccurt,  which  declared  the  appnrtionment 
unconstitutional,  antl  ordered  a  re-appor- 
tionment. At  the  age  of  thirt}-  years  he  was 
elected  district  attorr.ey  (jf  the  county.  an<l 
he  served  three  years  as  county  judge.  In 
1861,  April  28th,  he  with  two  associates, 
Thomas  B.  Marsden  and  D.  D.  McGibeny,  is- 
sued the  first  number  of  the  "Adams  County 
Press,"  i)f  which  iiapcr  he  has  l)een  the  sole 
proprietor  since  1866,  and  with  which  he  has 
been  continuously  connected  since  its  estab- 
lishment with  the  exception  of  the  interval 
during  which  he  was  in  the  service.  The 
"J'ress''  is  the  oldest  and  most  influential 
journal  in  the  county.  In  1866  our  subject 
published  "Battle  Field  and  Cami)  Fires  of 
the  Thirty-eighth  Regiment." 


Mr.  Pierce  enlisted  in  Company  Iv, 
Thirty-eighth  Wisconsin  \'olunteer  Lifant- 
ry,  September  12,  1864,  and  was  made  first 
lieutenant.  His  cajjtain  was  T.  B.  Mars- 
den. His  regiment  was  attached  to  the 
Ninth  Army  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  he  was  ne\-er  aljsent  from  duty  during 
the  entire  period  of  his  service.  While  in 
charge  of  a  force  of  men  engaged  in  felling- 
trees  in  front  of  the  Union  lines  a  tree  fell 
across  his  legs,  causing  severe  injuries.  He 
was  compelled  to  go  on  crutches  for  three 
weeks,  but  he  appeared  regularly  for  duty. 
His  entire  army  record  is  marked  by  faith- 
fulness to  duty,  [jatriotism  and  unshrinking- 
courage.  He  received  his  honorable  dis- 
charge June  24,   1865. 

In  1870  ]\lr.  Pierce  was  elected  to  the 
Wisconsin  Assemb'.y,  and  was  electetl  to  tlie 
same  body  in  1877,  1878,  1880,  1881,  1882 
and  1897.  He  is  the  author  of  that  measure 
providing  for  biennial  elections  in  Wiscon- 
sin, and  was  active  in  securing  the  adoptii.m 
of  the  amendment  to  the  state  constitution 
authorizing  the  same.  He  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  judiciary  committee  in  1880, 
]S8i  and  1882.  He  has  always  been  active 
in  the  councils  of  the  Repulilican  party,  ami 
in  the  assembly  was  a  recognized  leader. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  married  in  1851  to  Hes- 
ter A.  Mosher,  of  Nunda,  New  York.  She 
died  August  25,  1865,  aged  thirty-l<  ur 
years.  Our  subject  was  married  to  his  prt.s- 
cnt  wife,  who  was  Miss  Hattie  E.  Water- 
man, in  1866.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Susan  (Norcross)  Waterman, 
of  Friendship,  Wisconsin.  ^Ir.  and  Mr;;. 
Pierce  aire  the  parents  of  five  children, 
nrmied  as  follows:  Katie  L.,  now  Mrs. 
Robert  S.  Harrison,  of  Friendship;  Jennie 
May,  now  the  wife  of  Norman  M.  Jones,  of 
I'riendship;  Nellie  L.,  now  Mrs.  C.  F. 
Pierce,  of  Chicago;  Jessie  W.,  and  Harry 
.S.,  cnnnected  with  his  father  in  business  in 
iM-iendship.        Mr.    Pierce    is    an    honcjred 


226 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


member  of  Badger  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and  of  the 
Quincy  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Friend- 
ship. He  is  a  man  deservedly  popular 
throughout  the  county  and  that  section  of 
the  state.  He  is  liberal,  broad  minded  and 
generous,  and  his  services  to  his  county  and 
state  merit  the  highest  meed  of  praise,  and 
no  man  in  central  Wisconsin  can  boast  more 
warm  friends  and  earnest  supporters. 


HON.  I<OBERT  BOYD  WENTWOirfH. 

Hon.  Robert  Boyd  Wentworth,  of  Port- 
age,^Visconsin,  has  long  been  identified  with 
the  leading  commercial  interests  of  the  city 
and  county,  and  is  wiflely  knt)\vn  as  one  of 
the  foremost  citizens  of  the  county.  He  was 
born  January  i8,  1827,  -at  Buxton,  York 
county,  Maine,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  and 
Sally  (Harding)  Wentworth,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Maine.  The  Wentworths 
are  descendants  of  Reginald  \Ventworth, 
.  who  was  owner  of  the  lordship  of  Went- 
worth, in  Strafford,  Yorkshire,  at  the  time  of 
the  Norman  conquest.  The  Magna  Britan- 
nica  says  the  Wentworth  House  may  justly 
be  numbered  with  the  most  magnificent  seats 
in  liritain.  The  Wentworth  family  has  been 
prominent  in  England,  in  the  Colonies,  and 
in  tlie  United  States,  for  several  centuries. 
The  first  of  that  name  in  this  ciiuntry  was 
Elder  \Villiam  \\'entworth,  who  located  at 
Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  as  early  as  1639. 
Burke,  in  his  Peerage,  says  he  belonged  to 
the  illustrious  family  of  Thomas  Wentworth, 
earl  of  Strafford.  Fie  was  a  contemporary 
of  Rev.  John  Wheelwright  and  Ann  Hutch- 
inson. He  lived  for  a  time  at  Wells,  Maine, 
but  his  later  years  were  spent  at  Dover,  New 
Hampshire.  His  grave  at  that  place  is  said 
to  be  underneath  the  present  tracks  of  the 
Boston  and  Maine  Railroad.  \\'hen  about 
eighty  years  old  he  was  preaching  in  Exeter 


and  in  1693  the  town  agreed  to  pay  him 
fdrly  pounds  a  year  for  his  services.  He 
reared  a  large  family  of  sons  and  his  poster- 
ity includes  a  number  of  men  who  have 
achieved  distinction  in  the  wtst,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  most  prominent  people  of  New 
England.  A  descendant  of  his  was  John 
Wentworth.  Jr.,  who  sat  as  a  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress  from  New  Hampshire, 
and  affixed  his  name  to  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation. Se\eral  of  his  descendants  have 
been  citizens  of  ^Visconsin  and  Illinois,  and 
among  the  number  ma)^  be  mentioned  that 
famous  "Long  John  Wentworth,"  for  many 
years  a  resident  of  Chicago.  He  was  mayor 
of  that  city  for  two  terms,  member  of  con- 
gress for  several  years  and  the  compiler  of 
the  genealogy  of  the  family 

Robert  Wentworth,  father  of  Robert  B., 
spent  his  life  upon  a  farm  at  Buxton  Center, 
Maine,  where  he  reached  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  He  was  a  worker  in  metals,  and  made 
brass  clocks,  sleigh  bells,  and  other  articles. 
He  was  a  man  of  character  and  standing, 
was  an  officer  in  the  Congregational  church, 
and  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  by 
the  Whigs  in  the  year  1848.  In  later  life 
he  became  a  Republican.  Mrs.  Sally  ^Vent- 
worth  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years, 
leaving  seven  small  children.  He  afterward 
married  her  sister,  Miss  Eunice  Harding", 
by  whom  he  had  four  children.  The  father 
of  these  two  ladies  commanded  a  ship  sailing 
from  Portland  in  the  West  India  trade,  and 
v'AS  a  man  of  much  importance  in  the  early 
days. 

Robert  Boyd  Wentworth  belongs  to  the 
seventh  generation  of  Elder  William  Went- 
worth, and  his  great-grandfather.  Lieu- 
tenant Samuel  Merrill,  fought  in  the  l)attle 
of  Bunker  Hill.  He  left  home  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  vears,  and  went  to  Portland,  where  he 
learned  the  printing  trade,  which  was  his 
occupation  for  many  years.  In  1848  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  and  has  been  a  citizen  of 


ROBERT  B.  WENTWORTH. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


229 


this  state  ever  since  its  organization.  He 
located  at  JNIadison,  and  had  the  position  of 
state  printer  from  i8=;o  to  1852,  and  did  all 
his  work  upon  a  hand  press.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  removed  to  Junean,  and  founded 
the  "Dodge  County  Gazette,"  the  first  news- 
paper ever  printed  in  that  county.  Mr. 
Wentworth  has  ^reserved  the  original  files 
of  the  paper,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that 
it  presents  an  appearance  more  pleasing"  to 
the  critical  eye  than  many  of  the  rural  pub- 
lications of  the  present  day.  He  published 
the  "Gazette"  for  two  years,  and  then  sold  it 
to  Hon.  Charles  Billinghurst,  who  changed 
the  name  to  "The  Burr  Oak."  Mr.  Went- 
worth continued  to  print  it  until  it  was  dis- 
continued in  1855.  In  1857  he  came  to 
Portage  and  purchased  the  "Independent," 
which  became  in  his  hands  the  "Portage  City 
Record."  He  ])ublished  the  "Record"  four 
years  and  then  sold  it  to  A.  J.  Turner. 

Mr.  ^^'entworth  now  determined  to  en- 
ter a  wider  field  of  business  activity,  and  con- 
structed a  grain  elevator  on  the  bank  of  the 
,  ship  canal  connecting  the  Fox  and  ^^'iscon- 
sin  rivers,  and  for  more  than  thirty  years 
carried  on  an  extensive  business  in  grain. 
He  helped  to  organize  the  "Portage  and 
Green  Bay  Transportation  Company,"  which 
operated  a  line  of  steamboats  and  barges 
Ijetwecn  these  points  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  alsi.)  carried  on,  in  connection  with  his 
grain  business,  an  extensive  trade  in  lumber. 
In  1S74  ]\Ir.  Wentworth  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  the  organization  of  the  City  Bank 
of  Portage  and  was  its  first  cashier,  and  is 
now  its  vice-president.  In  1880  he  became 
one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Portage 
Hosiery  Company  and  is  the  president  of 
that  corporation  at  the  present  time.  It 
has  developed  into  one  of  the  principal  in- 
dustries of  the  city. 

]\lr.  \\'ent\vorth  is  careful  and  methodical 
i:i  all  his  business  enterprises,  conservative 
until  e\ery.chance  is  estimated,  and  then  pro- 


gressive and  thoroughly  alive.  He  enjoys 
the  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  comes 
in  contact,  and  richly  merits  the  fraternal  re- 
gard in  which  he  is  held  by  all  who  know 
him.  For  several  years  Mr.  Wentworth 
has  practically  lived  a  retired  life,  a  portion 
of  his  time  being  spent  in  travel.  He  has 
given  little  time  to  the  agitation  and  discus- 
sion of  political  cjuestions,  liut  he  has  a  clear 
apprehension  of  the  great  themes  that  inter- 
est men.  The  people  have  shown  their  con- 
fidence in  his  judgment  by  electing  him  to 
responsible  positions  from  time  to  time. 
He  went  from  Dodge  county  to  represent 
the  people  of  that  section  in  the  first  Republi- 
can legislature  of  the  state,  and  acquitted 
himself  in  every  wav  in  a  most  creditable 
manner.  In  Portage  he  has  served  as  alder- 
man several  terms,  and  is  regarded  as  one 
of  tlie  verv  foremost  citizens  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Wentworth  was  married  to  Miss 
Lydia  H.  Pike,  October  9,  1850.  She  was 
tlie  daughter  of  Rev.  John  and  Hannah  Pike, 
of  Fryeburg,  Maine,  and  a  lady  of  noble 
character.  She  died  June  6,  1894.  Four 
children  were  born  to  them  :  Ella  W.  Carr,  of 
San  Antonio,  Texas;  Winfield  S.,  of  Wau- 
kegan,  Illinois;  Florence  W.  Thomas,  of 
Milwaukee,  and  John  P.,  who  died  in  child- 
hood. February  2,  1898,  Mr.  Wentworth 
was  married  to  Miss  Emma  C.  Haight,  of 
Milwaukee. 

A  portrait  of  ]\lr.  Wentworth  will  be 
found  upon  another  page  in  this  \-iihnne. 


COLONEL  D.  K.  NOYES. 

Colonel  D.  K.  Noyes,  one  of  the  earliest 
and  most  i)rominent  citizens  of  ]3araboo, 
Sauk  county,  was  liorn  in  Orange  county, 
Vermont,  October  28,  1820.  It  is  needless 
to  introduce  him  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin, 
as  iiis  name  is  well  known,  and  a  history  of 


290 


COM  PES  DI  I'M    01-    BIOGRAPHY. 


that  state  could  not  be  written  witlnnit  fre- 
quently referring  to  his  labors. 

Mr.  Noyes  is  the  son  of  Enoch  and  Mary 
A.  (Knox)  Noyes.  His  father  was  a  son 
of  Aaron  Noyes,  who  was  born  at  Pembroke, 
New  Hampshire.  He  married  Betty  Ladd 
and  moved  to  Vermont,  the  original  famly 
in  America  coming  in  1636.  Two  of  the 
family  of  Noyes  came  together,  and  one  set- 
tled in  Massachusetts,  while  the  other  set- 
t!eil  in  Connecticut.  Many  honors  have 
f;;llen  to  the  family  along  the  line  of  descent, 
and  have  included  statesmen,  min-sters,  etc. 
iMioch  Noyes,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
a  farmer  and  remained  in  \'ermont  until 
1844,  when  he  emigrated  to  Wisconsin,  then 
a  territnry.  He  first  located  in  Iowa  countv, 
then  in  Dane  county,  and  later  went  to  Sauk 
county,  about  1851,  where  he  .spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  on  a  farm.  He  died 
December  29,  1855,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine 
years,  and  his  wife  died  October  15,  1859, 
aged  sixty  years.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Methodist  church.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  was  a  daughter  of  David  Knox.  The 
family  (  riginally  came  from  the  north  of 
Ireland,  and  settled  near  Londonderry,  New 
Hampshire,  afterwards  at  Tunbridge,  Ver- 
mont, (ieneral  Knox,  of  Revolutionary 
war  fame,  was  of  the  same  family,  and  all 
are  descendants  of  |ohn  Kuox,  the  great  re- 
former of  ScotLind.  Our  suliject  was  the 
eldest  of  nine  children,  eight  of  whom  grew 
to  maturity,  as  follows:  D.  K.,  our  subject; 
"Aaron  A.,  a  practicing  physician  of  Minne- 
apolis; William  W.,  deceased,  was  an  editor 
and  never  married:  Mary  .\..,  who  married 
Mr.  Bennett,  by  whom  she  had  two  .sons, 
and  later  married  Mr.  Prentice,  ])y  whom 
two  daughters  were  born.  She  is  now  de- 
cea.sed;  Silon,  deceased,  was  an  editor  at 
Mason  City,  L_)wa;  Amanda  died  in  chiM- 
liood  :  Pydia.  deceased,  married  Mr.  j\l(_)rse; 
Henry,  who  now  resides  at  Baraboo.  He 
ser\'ed  through  the  Ci^•il  war,  and  haj  served 


a;:  city  treasurer  of  Baraboo,  and  filled  nu- 
merous offices  of  minor  character;  and  Rob- 
ert Bruce,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years. 

Our  subject  uas  educated  in  the  common 
schools,  and  at  Norwich  University  and 
Chelsea  and  Royalton  .\cademies.  He  began 
to  work  at  the  age  of  eleven  years,  and  wdien 
not  studying  was  engaged  at  farming,  herd- 
ing sheep  and  stock,  learned  the  tanner's 
trade,  and  later  run  a  saw  null  and  worked 
al  many  employments.  His  brother,  Aaron 
.\.,  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1843,  ^"d  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  family,  including  our  sub- 
ject, joined  him  in  Wisconsin.  Our  subject 
had  taught  in  N'erniont  and  earned  the 
money  with  w  hich  to  bring  the  family  to  the 
new  home.  He  was  first  employed  at  mak- 
ing rails  at  fifty  cents  per  hundred  and 
taught  school  winters,  and  he  afterward 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Ceneral  Amasa 
Cobb,  with  whom  he  went  to  the  lead  mines 
and  spent  one  season  prospecting;  liut  found 
n(>  lead,  and  after  their  money  was  spent 
in  foolish  tligging  they  enlisted  for  the  Mex- 
ican war.  But  the  companv  was  not  ac- 
,  cepted.  Our  subject  then  went  to  Dodge- 
\-ille,  anil  soon  entered  the  oflice  of  Strong 
i!\_  .\])l)ott,  attorneys,  at  Alineral  Point,  and 
began  the  study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  at 
the  March  term  in  1X47  to  practice  law,  and 
in  June  of  the  same  year  went  to  Baraboo, 
\,hich  had  Ijeen  located  as  the  county  seat 
of  Sauk  county.  The  country  was  a  wilder- 
ness and  but  little  land  was  cleared.  Four 
saw  mills  were  running  and  the  settlers  were 
few,  and  not  permanenth-  settled.  Our 
subject  was  a  \\  big  and  estal)lished  the 
newspaper  "Republic,"  which  isstill  running, 
Ijut  in  other  hands.  He  was  the  first  attor- 
ne\'  locatetl  at  Baraboo,  and  erected  the  first 
office  of  the  town,  and  was  attorney  and  land 
agent.  There  was  not  much  law  practice 
tc  attentl,  and  he  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  time  locating  land,  and  did  more  of  that 


COMPENDIUM    OP    BIOGRAPHY 


231 


jjrolialily  llian  any  other  nian  ut  tliat  reg'ion. 
He  continued  the  paper  about  six  or  eight 
years,  and  later  purchased  a  farm  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  whicli  liad  been 
partially  improved,  and  he  erected  a  commo- 
ilious  residence,  large  barn,  and  made  other 
permanent  improvements.  In  180 1  he  en- 
listed in  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and 
was  elected  first  lieutenant  of  his  company, 
and  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  was  in  numerous  engagements,  including 
Kai)pahannock,  Gainesville,  second  battle  of 
ilull  Run,  South  Mountain  and  Antietam. 
He  received  a  slight  wound  on  the  forehead, 
and  at  Antietam  his  right  foot  was  taken 
off  by  a  shell,  while  he  was  acting  as  captain, 
and  after  the  battle  he  remained  at  a  pri\-ate 
liouse  eight  weeks  before  he  could  lie  re- 
moved to  Georgetown  lnjspital.  All  but  his 
heel  bone  was  taken  from  the  foot  and  he  was 
rendered  a  cripple  for  life.  After  abont 
three  months  he  went  home  and  with  the  aid 
of  crutches  was  able  to  walk  some.  As 
soon  as  he  was  able  he  was  given  a  recruit- 
ing office  and  continued  thus  for  some  time, 
and  later  was  given  a  major's  commission 
and  again  entered  the  service  in  the  Forty- 
ninth  Wisconsin  Infantry.  He  v.as  as- 
signed to  St.  Louis  and  Rolla,  Missouri, 
where  he  remained  a  short  time  and  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  court  martial  service  at  St. 
Louis,  remaining  thus  until  November,  1865, 
when  he  returned  home  as  lieutenant- 
colonel.  He  soon  after  established  an  in- 
dependent newspaper,  and  in  1867  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  at  Baraboo,  which  he 
held  about  sixteen  years.  He  has  now  re- 
tired from  active  business,  and  devotes  his 
attention  to  looking  after  his  property  inter- 
ests, of  which  he  owns  consideral)le  in 
Baraboo. 

Colonel  Xoyes  married  Miss  Lucinda 
Barnes,  in  Vermont,  in  June,  1848.  Mrs. 
Noyes  was  the  daughter    of    Captain  Joel 


Barnes,  of  Vermont.  His  father  was  Major 
Daniel  Barnes,  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
Joel  Barnes  settled  in  Wisconsin  with  his 
family  in  1854,  and  engaged  in  farnn'ng; 
there  his  wife  ^\.:^\.  and  the  last  three  \'ears 
of  his  life  lie  found  a  coml'ortable  home  with 
Colonel  and  Mrs.  Noyes.  He  died  about 
1870,  imd  was  the  father  of  the  following 
children:  Harry,  an  ex-assemblyman;  Lucy, 
now  Mrs.  Goodman;  Leonard,  of  Iowa;  and 
Lucinda,  wife  of  our  subject,  b'our  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Colonel  and  AL's.  Noyes, 
as  follows:  Clara  L.,  deceased,  who  mar- 
ried Judge  Huntington,  of  Green  Bay,  and 
M^ho  left  five  children;  Walter  W.,  justice 
of  the  peace  in  Baraboo;  .\rthur  H.,  for- 
merly a  prominent  attorne)-  of  Minneapolis, 
VA)\\  one  of  the  fe<lei'a!  judges  at  Cape  Nome, 
Alaska,  and  Rolla  E.,  an  attorney  of  Bara- 
boo. Mr.  Noyes  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  (1.  A.  R.,  and  the 
Loyal  Legion.  Both  he  and  RL's.  Noyes  are 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  cluirch.  He 
has  been  commander  of  the  G.  -\.  R.  ami 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Boston  reunion,  and 
has  received  two  honorable  discharges  as  an 
officer.  He  early  entered  into  public  affairs 
and  was  a  Republican  from  the  organization 
of  the  party.  The  county,  prior  to  the  b're- 
mont  c<ami)aign,  was  Uemocratic,  but  since 
tliat  time  has  been  a  Republican  county,  and 
ftjr  the  first  office  for  which  lie  was  nomi- 
nated he  was  defeated,  but  has  since  lieen 
elected  to  numerous  important  offices.  In 
1856  he  was  elected  assemblyman,  and 
served  on  the  judiciary  committee,  and  also 
on  the  town  and  county  organizations  com- 
mittee, and  assisted  with  the  Wisconsin 
code.  He  was  the  first  town  clerk  of  1  bara- 
boo, and  has  also  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace.  A  man  respected  and  honored  lor 
his  good  deeds,  he  is  passing  his  decliifing 
years  among  those  who  know  him  well,  and 


232 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


he  has  gained  a  competence  which  affords 
him  a  comfortable  income,  and  he  may  well 
be  accorded  a  prominent  place  in  the  annals 
of  Wisconsin. 


HON.  JAMES  BRAINARD  TAYLOR,  A. 
B.,  A.  j\I.,  Deceased. 

In  the  last  half  of  the  present  century 
the  lawyer  has  been  a  pre-eminent  factor  in 
all  aft'airs  of  private  concern  and  national 
importance.  He  has  been  depended  upon 
to  conserve  the  best  and  permanent  interests 
of  the  whole  people  and  is  a  recognized 
power  in  all  the  avenues  of  life.  He  stands 
as  the  protector  of  the  rights  and  liberties" 
of  his  fell(.)w  men  and  is  the  representative 
of  a  profession  wlinse  followers,  if  they 
would  gain  honor,  fame  and  success,  must 
be  men  of  merit  and  al.iility.  Such  a  one  was 
Judge  Taylor,  \\-ho  for  years  occupied  the 
bench  of  Columbia  county,  winning  high 
commendation  by  his  fair  and  impartial  ad- 
ministration of  justice. 

He  was  born  in  Rupert,  Bennington 
county,  Vermont,  August  15,  1840,  a  son  of 
Stephen  and  Harriet  (Sheldon)  Taylor.  The 
grandfather,  Joel  Taylor,  removed  to  Ver- 
mont from  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  about 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  be- 
came a  successful  farmer  of  Rupert,  where 
he  (lied  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  He 
was  one  of  the  defenders  of  the  country  dur- 
ing the  war  of  1812.  His  ancestors  came 
from  England.  The  Judge's  father  spent 
bis  life  upon  a  farm  in  Rupert,  Ver- 
mont, (lying  there  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years.  His  wife,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  that  place  and  a 
daughter  of  Increase  Sheldon,  passed  away 
some  years  prior  to  her  husband's  death,  at 
the  age  of  fifty.  Their  six  sons  are  now  all 
deceased.  His  l)rother,  Emmons  Taylor, 
was  at  one  time    a    prominent    citizen  of 


Portage,  Wisconsin,  and  is  represented  on 
another  page  of  this  \-olume. 

Judge  Taylor  completed  the  prescribed 
course  at  Burr  Seminary,  Manchester,  Ver- 
mont, and  then  entered  Union  College, 
Schenectady,  New  York,  where  he  pursued 
a  classical  course  and  was  graduated  in 
1865.  The  same  year  he  came  to  Portage, 
Wisconsin,  and  commenced  reading  law  with 
his  brother  Emmons,  who  had  located  here 
in  1857.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1868  and  successfully  engaged  in  practice, 
being  at  tlie  time  of  his  death  one  of  the 
oldest   established   attorneys   of   Portage. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  he  was  elected 
county  j-udge  and  re-elected  four  years  later 
by  the  unanimous  vote  of  all  parties.  He 
also  ser\-ed  as  city  attorney  several  terms 
and  as  mayor  for  one  term.  His  integrity 
as  a  judge  was  never  called  into  question, 
and  he  was  ecpially  popular  with  his  brethren 
of  the  legal  profession  and  with  all  classes  of 
citizens. 

On  the  1 6th  of  September,  1873,  Judge 
Taylor  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Julia  A.  Davidson,  a  native  of  Beaver  Dam, 
Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter  of  Alexander 
and  Julia  Davidson,  of  Portage,  who  were  of 
Scottish  birth.  Her  father,  who  was  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  United  States 
mail  serx'ice,  is  still  living  in  Oshkcish,  \\'is- 
consin,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  but 
the  mother  died  there  in  1896.  To  the 
Judge  and  his  \\ife  came  foiu'  children: 
Emmons  H.,  who  is  now  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  I'aul  Rail- 
road;  James  Dixon;  Dwight  D.,  and  Caro- 
line M. 

The  family  attend  the  Episcopal  church, 
of  which  Mrs.  Taylor  is  a  member  and  the 
Judge  was  a  \estrvnian.  Since  1861  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order,  and 
Vv'as  one  of  the  foremost  -representatives  of 
the  fraternity  in  this  state.  He  belonged 
to   Adonisius   Lodge,   of   Manchester,   Vt. ; 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


233 


Poultney  Cliapter,  Poultney,  \'t. ;  Fort  Win- 
nebago Commandery,  No.  4,  K.  T.,  Port- 
age, Wis.;  and  the  Milwaukee  Consistory; 
and  was  a  member  of  Tripoli  Temple,  A.  A. 
O.  X.  M.  S..  Milwaukee  He  was  also  a 
member  of  IMcQueeney  Lodge,  K.  P.,  of 
Portage.  Politically  he  was  a  Republican. 
Of  amiable  disposition  and  generous  im- 
pulses, he  was  ever  ready  t(_)  lend  his  encour- 
agement to  worthy  pubHc  enterprises,  or  to 
extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  needy  and 
distressed.  Judge  Ta}-lor  died  September 
25,  189S. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON    WATER- 
MAN. 

George  Washington  Waterman,  one  of 
the  best  known  citizens  of  Friendship, 
Adams  county,  is  a  leading  merchant  of  that 
city,  and  has  been  interested  in  many  of  the 
business  enterprises  of  that  region.  He  be- 
came a  resident  of  Adams  county  as  early 
as  1857,  and  has  ever  lent  a  helping  hand 
for  the  better  interests  of  his  county  and 
state. 

]\Ir.  Waterman  was  born  in  Baldwins- 
ville.  Onondaga  county.  New  York,  July 
2,  1836,  and  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and 
Susan  E.  (Norcross)  Waterman.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  the 
son  of  Calvin  Waterman,  who  was  born  in 
Connecticut,  and  removed  to  Onondaga 
county.  New  York,  where  he  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-five  years.  He  was  descended  from 
an  old  New  England  family.  Thomas 
Waterman  went  to  Illinois  when  a  young 
man,  and  about  1840  settled  at  LaGrange, 
Walworth  county,  Wisconsin,  becoming  one 
cf  the  pioneers  of  that  county,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming.  A  few  years  later  he 
established  a  store  which  he  carried  on  in  a 
part  of  his  house,  and  also  worked  some  at 
his  trade  of  shoeniaking.     Subsequently  he 


erected  a  large  building  for  a  store  and  res- 
idence, which  is  still  standing,  and  is  a 
conspicuous  landmark  in  that  place.  He  re- 
moved to  Adams  county  in  the  fall  of  1857, 
and  resided  on  a  farm  in  Springville  town- 
ship, and  uiion  tiie  location  of  the  county 
seat  at  Friendship  he  reiuo\'ed  thither,  serv- 
ing as  deputy  register  of  deeds  for  a  time, 
and  also  operating  a  shoe  shop  until  his  death 
in  i860,  aged  fifty-eight  years  and  six 
months.  He  was  always  an  active  member 
of  the  Methodist  church  and  ofttimes  filled 
the  pulpit,  and  his  jiome  was  ever  opened 
with  true  hospitality  to  the  visiting  clergy. 
He  was  earnest  and  conscientious  in  all  his 
dealings,  and  was  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him. 

INIr.  \\'aterman  was  first  married  to 
Eliza  Dennis,  whose  death  occurred  in 
New  York.  She  was  the  mother  of  one 
daughter  who  died  in  infancy,  and  five  sons, 
as  follows:  John,  Andrew,  Thomas,  Law- 
rence and  Matthew.  Lawrence  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  "Whitewater  Register," 
one  of  the  leading  newspapers  of  Wisconsin. 
.Vndrew  is  at  present  proprietor  of  a  hotel 
at  Kilbourn.  The  mother  of  our  subject, 
Susan  E.  \\'aterman,  was  born  in  New  York, 
and  was  the  daughter  of  John  and  JMatilda 
(\Mlbur)  Norcross,  both  of  whom  passed 
away  at  La  Grange,  Wisconsin,  on  the  same 
day,  aged  seventy-five  years.  John  Nor- 
cross was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was 
possessed  of  considerable  musical  and  liter- 
ary talent,  and  wrote  numerous  books,  in- 
cluding an  English  grammar.  The  Wilbur 
family  was  of  Holland  lineage.  Thomas 
and  Susan  Waterman  were  the  parents  of 
two  sons  and  two  daughters,  as  follows : 
George  W.,  our  subject;  Harriet  E.,  nov/ 
Mrs.  S.  W.  Pierce,  of  Friendship;  Sarah  L., 
now  ]\Irs.  Isaac  Tuttle,  of  Rhinelander,  Wis- 
consin; and  Benjamin  F.,  of  Friendship. 

George  W.  Waterman  came  with  his 
parents  to  Adams  ctjunly  and  in   1862  was 


234 


COMPEXDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


elected  register  of  deeds  and  held  the  office 
eight  years,  being  an  independent  candidate 
at  his  last  election.  He  served  as  chairman 
antl  town  clerk  in  Adams  township  several 
vears.  He  established  a  general  merchan- 
dise store  at  Friendship  in  1878,  which  he 
has  since  conducted,  and  now  owns  a  com- 
modious building,  devoted  to  that  business. 
For  one  year  about  1876  he  was  engaged  in 
business  with  his  brother,  Benjamin,  in 
Gundrum,  Indiana. 

j\Ir.  Waterman  is  a  member  and  past 
master  of  Ouincy  Lodge,  No.  71,  A.  F.  & 
A.  AI.  He  has  been  a  life  limg  Republican, 
and  stands  firmly  for  the  principles  of  "nis 
party.  He  keeps  abreast  of  the  times  an'i 
is  one  of  the  progressive  gentlemen  of  the 
city.  His  courteous  manner  and  honest 
dealings,  make  him  many  friends  and  he 
is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  his  fellow 
citizens. 


HOX.   SILAS  JAMES   SEY.MOUR, 
Dece.\sed. 

Hon.  Silas  James  Seymour,  deceased, 
whose  death  occurred  at  Reedsburg,  April 
z'^.  1899,  was  one  of  the  nmst  conspicuous 
pioneers  of  Sauk  county,  and  a  record  of 
this  character  would  be  incomplete  without 
a  suitable  tribute  to  his  memory.  During 
his  residence  of  a  half  century  therein  he 
had  been  identified  with  many  events  of  the 
utmost  interest  and  importance  to  its  people 
and  fully  merited  the  confidence  which  was 
unanimously  reposed  in  him. 

Mr.  Seymour  was  born  at  Pompey,  On- 
ondaga county.  New  York,  b'ebruary  21, 
1824.  He  was  a  son  of  James  and  Susan 
(Ostrander)  Seymour  and  sprang  of  a  family 
which  has  always  been  distinguished  for  the 
patriotic  spirit  of  its  members  and  their  de- 
votion to  principles  of  integrity  and  honor. 
His  grandfather,  Zadoc  Seymour,  was  borii 
near   Hartford,   Connecticut,   the  birthplace 


of  a  number  of  statesmen  of  that  name  who 
have  achieved  national  reputations. 

\Vhile  a  lx)y  Zadoc  Seymour  was  bound 
out  to  a  farmer  in  the  neighborhood.  Be- 
fore reaching  his  majority ,  however,  his 
father  cancelled  his  indentures,  whereupon 
he  enlisted  in  the  Continental  army,  being- 
one  of  the  first  to  do  so,  and  spent  six  or 
seven  years  in  the  service.  He  went  through 
the  terrible  winter  at  Valley  Forge  and  saw 
much  other  hard  service  under  the  immedi- 
ate command  of  General  Washington. 
About  1798  he  settled  at  Pompey,  New  York, 
where  he  died  about  1844,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years.  He  was  a  conscientious 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  His 
wife,  Naomi  Munger,  was  born  in  Vermont 
and  died  some  years  earlier  than  her  hus- 
band, attaining  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 
They  reared  a  family  of  five  sons  and  five 
daughters,  in  which  James  was  the  third 
son  and  sixth  child.  He  was  born  in  Che- 
nango county.  New  Yiirk.and  lived  for  some 
vears  in  Genesee  count\-.  He  died  at 
Covington,  Wyoming  county,  in  the  same 
state,  reaching  the  age  of  nearly  sixty  years. 
He  was  a  devout  memlier  of  the  Congrega- 
tional churcli  and  a  public-sp:rited  citizen. 
In  early  life  he  was  a  Democrat  but  became 
an  Abolitionist  when  that  question  began  to 
be  agitated.  His  wife,  who  was  born  at 
Pompey,  died  about  three  years  before  her 
husband.  Her  father,  Peter  Ostrander, 
who  was  of  Dutch  lineage,  came  from  Essex 
count V,  New  York,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  town  of  Pompey.  His  wife, 
Clarissa,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.  It  is 
related  as  a  curious  coincidence,  that  at  the 
tnue  of  their  marriage  this  lady  could  not 
speak  a  word  of  Dutch  nor  her  husband  a 
word  of  English.  One  of  their  sons.  Rev. 
Jared  F.  Ostrander,  a  Congregationalist 
minister,  was  one  of -the  pioneers  of  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  at  Aztalan,  Jefl^erson  county,  in 
1836.     He   never   accepted   any   remunera- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


235 


tion  for  his  professional  services,  thereby 
demonstrating  his  disinterested  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  Christianity. 

S.  J.  Seymour,  whose  name  heads  this 
article,  left  home  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  and  was  employed  about  two  years  on 
the  Wabash  and  Erie  canal  in  western  Ohio, 
but  as  he  suffered  much  from  fe\-er  and  ague, 
he  returned  to  New  Yurk.  I'p  to  this  time 
he  had  attended  school  but  six  weeks,  but  he 
now  determined  to  obtain  a  better  education 
and  spent  the  next  two  winters  at  school  at 
Co\'ington  and  Pompey.  He  then  began 
teaching  and  spent  several  winters  in  that 
way,  attending  school  in  summer.  While 
teaching  in  Manlius,  New  York,  he  began 
using  the  "word  method,"  since  adopted  by 
the  most  progressi\'e  teachers  generally. 
This  is  the  first  instance  known  of  the  use  of 
that  method  of  instruction. 

In  1849  lis  determined  to  seek  a  home 
iri  the  wilds  of  Wisconsin  and  came  to  Sauk 
county  to  locate  a  claim.  Walking  from 
Madison  to  Reedsburg,  he  selected  a  farm  in 
the  present  town  of  Dellona  and  continued 
on  foot  as  far  as  the  United  States  land  office 
a:  Mineral  Point  to  enter  the  same.  At  that 
time  there  were  but  fi\e  dwellings  in  Reeds- 
burg. These  were  built  of  logs  and  shingled 
with  bark.  There  was  one  other  house  be- 
tween that  ])lace  and  his  farm.  1  his  farm  he 
culti\'ated  until  1892  when  he  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Reedsburg.  He  was  a  practical  land 
surveyor  and  for  fort}'  years  did  more  or  less 
work  in  that  line. 

When  the  Milwaukee  &  La  Crosse  rail- 
road was  projected  in  that  vicinity,  like  many 
of  his  neighbors,  Mr.  Seymour  mortgaged 
his  farm  to  assist  in  promoting  the  enter- 
])rise.  Wiiile  the  result  of  this  action  was 
not  as  disastrous  to  him  as  to  many  others, 
he  took  an  active  interest  in  trying  to  secure 
some  relief  for  the  sufferers  and  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Smith  one  of  the  com- 
n-.issioners  to  dispose  fif  certain  lands,  pre- 


viously in  possession  of  the  railroad  com- 
pany, for  the  benefit  of  the  mortgagors  and 
labored  diligently  for  several  years  to  secure 
the  best  possible  results  from  this  fund. 

He  was  married  Septemlier  23,  1851,  to 
Aiary  Ann  Cnnine,  daughter  of  Derrick  and 
Abigail  (Bates)  Conine.  This  lady,  wdio 
still  survives,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Win- 
dom,  Greene  ciiunt\'.  New  \'ork.  Five  chil- 
dren blessed  their  union,  all  of  whom  en- 
joyed exceptional  educational  advantages : 
Ellen  iVugusta,  who  was  engaged  in  teach- 
ing for  several  years,  was  born  July  19, 
1852,  and  died  November  25,  1880;  Ida 
Jane  was  born  March  2,  1855,  and  died 
April  27,  187O;  [Merton  Eugene  is  a  promi- 
nent farmer  of  the  t(jwn  of  Dellona ;  \Valter 
Frederick,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Wisconsin 
Uni\-ersity  autl  of  Chicago  Medical  College, 
is  now  a  medical  missionary  in  China;  and 
Arthur  Romeyn  is  an  instructor  of  Frencli  at 
Wisconsin  Uni\ersity,  of  which  he  is  an 
alumnus. 

Mr.  Seymour  was  a  leading  member 
of  the  Methodist  church  for  a  number  of 
years.  Before  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  he  began  to  advocate  its  prin- 
ciples. He  filled  all  the  principal  offices  of 
the  town  of  Dellona  and  served  two  terms 
in  the  Wisconsin  assembly  in  187^1  and  1877. 
While  a  member  of  that  body  he  introduced 
a  bill  providing  for  the  establishment  of  the 
state  board  of  health  and  labored  diligently 
to  secure  its  jjassage.  The  wisdom  of  this 
measure  has  since  been  repeatedly  demon- 
strated. He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Reedsburg  Old  Settlers'  .Association  and 
his  presence  will  be  greatly  missed  at  its  an- 
nual gatherings. 


JOHN   GWILLYM   OWEN. 

John  Gwill_\m  Owen  is  a  son  of  Hon. 
William  Owen  and  a  grandson  of  John 
Owen,    the    founder    of    the    W^elsh    colony 


286 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


in  Caledonia,  Columbia  county.  Detailed 
accounts  of  the  lives  of  his  progenitors 
\\\\\  lie  found  elsewhere  in  this  rec- 
ord. Mr.  Owen  was  horn  at  Portag-e,  Wis- 
consin, July  12,  1854.  He  attended  the  high 
school  in  his  native  city  and  spent  most  of 
his  early  life  upon  the  farm,  also  operating 
a  steam  threshing  machine  for  several  years. 
About  1887  he  went  to  Chicago  and  followed 
the  trade  of  paper  hanger  for  eight  or  nine 
years  in  that  city.  Since  that  time  he  has 
resided  in  Portage,  where  he  continues  the 
same  occupation  in  connection  with  paint- 
ing, contracting,  and  other  pursuits. 

He  was  married  November  8,  1893,  to 
Miss  Alice,  daughter  of  Isaac  Tully,  of 
Shullsburg,  Wisconsin,  and  their  union  has 
been  blessed  by  two  children,  William  El- 
dred  and  Evelyn. 

Mr.  Owen  has  inherited  a  talent  for  mu- 
sic and  literary  work.  He  is  a  frecjuent  con- 
tributor to  current  publications  and  has  been 
instrumental  in  gathering  and  preserving 
much  of  the  early  history  of  the  town  of 
Caledonia  as  well  as  in  rescuing  from  (..)b- 
livion  numerous  reminiscences  and  traditions 
of  his  ancestors.  He  was  the  chief  promoter 
of  the  plan  to  hold  a  semi-centennial  jubilee 
of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  church 
of  Caledonia,  which  was  carried  out  on  the 
twenty-sixth  of  September,  1896.  He  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  organization  and  pre- 
served the  only  records  of  the  event  which 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  his  grandparents  in  Caledonia 
and  the  practical,  beginning  of  the  church. 
This  jubilee  was  participated  in  l)y  many 
of  the  early  pioneers  of  the  town  and  their 
descendants,  all  of  whom  passed  an  enjoy- 
able day,  their  only  regret  being  that  more 
of  their  neighbors  had  not  taken  part  in  the 
celebration.  Many  interesting  relics  of  the 
early  days  were  exhibited,  including  articles 
of  clothing,  furniture,  farm  implements  and 
other  things,  many  of  which  were  rare  curi- 


osities to  the  present  generation  and  des- 
tined to  be  of  great  value  to  their  descend- 
ants. 


FERDINAND  EFFINGER. 

Ferdinand  Ef^nger,  one  of  the  most 
energetic,  enterprising  and  prosperous  busi- 
ness men  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  was  born 
ir  Rottweil,  Dotternhausen,  W\trtemburg, 
Germany,  August  3,  1848,  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Veronika  Etiinger,  life-long  residents  of 
that  country,  where  the  father  successfully 
engaged  in  the  lirewery  and  cooperage  busi- 
ness. 

Leaving  home  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  our  subject  went  to  Milhausen,  Alsace, 
where  he  worked  in  a  brewery  for  a  time. 
In  November,  1869,  he  entered  the  German 
army  and  remained  in  the  service  for  three 
years,  during  which  time  he  participated  in 
the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Although  he  took 
part  in  nine  hard-fought  battles,  he  for- 
tunately escaped  uninjured.  Later  he  was 
employed  in  a  brewery  in  Donau,  Eschingen, 
Baden,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  river 
Danube. 

Bidding  goodby  to  his  native  land,  Air. 
Efifinger  went  to  London,  England,  in  1873, 
and  was  there  employed  in  a  brewery  for 
about  a  year.  In  April,  1874,  he  sailed  for 
the  United  States  and  landed  in  New  York 
city.  As  a  cooper  he  worked  in  a  sugar 
liouse  at  Hastings-on-the-Hudson  for  one 
year  and  nine  months,  and  on  the  ist  of 
January,  1S76,  returned  to  New  York  city, 
and  he  was  employed  as  a  brewer  and  cooper 
until  October,  1879,  when  he  came  to  Wis- 
consin, locating  in  Baraboo  in  November 
of  that  year.  His  first  employment  here  was 
in  the  capacity  of  superintendent  of  a  brew- 
ery owned  by  Mrs.  Bender,  and  a  few 
months  later,  in  company  with  Adolph  Ben- 
der,  he  rented   the   establishment   and   em- 


V 


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COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


239 


barked  in  business  on  bis  own  account.  This 
relation  continued  for  one  year,  when  he 
purchased  the  interest  of  his  partner  and  has 
since  carried  on  the  business  alone  with 
marked  success.  In  July,  1884,  his  plant 
was  destroyed  by  hre,  and  until  his  present 
large  brewery  was  completed  the  following 
year  he  handled  Milwaukee  beer.  His  plant 
has  a  capacity  of  5,000  barrels  per  annum 
and  he  furnishes  employment  to  four  men. 
A  view  of  his  plant  forms  one  of  the  illustra- 
tions of  this  volume  on  another  page. 

In  1 88 1  Mr.  Effinger  was  ruiited  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Bertha  ]\Iilke,  a  native  of 
Pommerin,  Germany,  and  to  them  have  been 
born  five  children,  namely :  Bertha,  Martha, 
Lilly,  Frederick  Carl  and  Ferdinand  Joseph. 
The  family  attend  the  Lutheran  church,  and 
Mr.  Effinger  holds  membership  in  the  An- 
cient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  He  is  not 
identified  with  any  political  party,  and  is 
now  most  creditably  and  acceptably  serving 
his  second  term  as  supervisor  from  the  third 
ward  of  Baraboo.  He  is  a  prominent  and 
active  member  of  the  Baraboo  Mannerchoir, 
was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  its  organiza- 
tion, and  has  been  very  instrumental  in  mak- 
ing it  one  of  the  leading  mannerchoirs  in 
this  part  of  the  state. 


HON.  WILLIAM  OWEX,  Deceased. 

Hon  William  Owen,  deceased,  will 
be  long  remembered  as  one  of  the  most 
broad  minded  and  public  spirited  citizens 
of  Columbia  county.  The  record  of  his 
life  betokens  an  intelligent  devotion  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community  with  which  he  was 
identified,  though  his  personal  interests  might 
sometimes  have  been  better  served  by  pursu- 
ing a  different  course.  He  was  a  prime 
mover  in  securing  a  number  of  public  im- 
provements, the  advantages  of  which  are 
now  unquestioned,  but  which  recjuired  con- 
siderable agitation  to  secure  their  adoption. 


He  was  the  oldest  son  of  John  and  ]Mar- 
garet  Owen,  the  history  of  whose  lives  will 
be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  and  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Llanelltyd,  Whales, 
September  10,  1825.  His  death  occurred 
in  the  town  of  Caledonia,  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  August  21,  1894.  His  educa- 
tion was  of  a  rather  rudimentary  character, 
but  he  was  an  extensive  reader,  keeping  well 
in  touch  with  the  leading  questions  of  the 
day,  and  forming  decided  opinions  on  the 
various  public  questions  which  arose  from 
time  to  time.  He  had  marked  taste  for  lit- 
erary work  and  was  a  frequent  contributor 
to  current  publications,  including  several  of 
the  leading  Welsh  journals  issued  in  the 
United  States.  For  diversion  he  translated 
a  number  of  articles  from  Welsh  to  English 
and  others  from  English  into  the  Welsh 
language.  Though  he  reached  his  majority 
about  the  same  time  the  family  located  in 
this  county,  he  continued  to  live  with  his 
parents  for  several  years,  assisting  in  the 
dififerent  kinds  of  labor  necessary  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  frontier  farm.  As  lum- 
ber was  one  of  the  first  things  needed  he 
spent  one  winter  with  his  brothers  and  some 
of  their  neighbors  in  getting  out  timber  on 
the  Yellow  river.  Up  to  that  time  no  one 
had  ever  attempted  to  run  a  raft  through  the 
Wisconsin  dells,  but,  having  had  some  ex- 
perience in  navigation  on  the  Welsh  coast, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  the  attempt  and 
successfully  piloted  his  lumber  to  its  desti- 
nation near  his  home,  where  the  most  of  it 
was  shaved  into  shingles  and  used  to  roof 
the  houses  of  the  early  settlers  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. His  business  capacity  soon  began 
to  attract  the  attention  of  his  neighbors  and 
in  1849  he  was  elected  the  first  school  super- 
intendent of  the  town  of  Dekorra  (which 
then  included  Caledonia)  and  also  served  as 
one  of  the  first  justices  of  the  peace.  W'hile 
filling  the  first  named  position  he  organized 
six  district  schools. 


240 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


In  1852  Mr.  Owen  was  elected  register 
of  deeds  and  took  up  liis  residence  in  Portage. 
He  filled  the  office  for  four  years  and  soon 
after  removed  to  the  \-illage  of  Cambria 
where  he  dealt  in  grain  and  lumber  for  al.iout 
nine  years,  four  years  of  this  time  officiating 
as  station  agent  at  that  place.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  hop  culture  in  the  town 
of  Randolph  for  a  few  years,  after  wdiich  he 
returned  to  Caledonia  and  spent  the  balance 
of  his  life  upon  a  farm,  continuing  to  man- 
ifest a  keen  interest  in  every  important  public 
enterprise.  He  was  always  a  stanch  sup- 
porter of  Republican  principles  and  in  1865 
was  elected  by  that  party  to  a  seat  in  the  state 
assembly.  In  1870  he  was  appointed  to  tak^^ 
the  United  States  census  in  four  townships, 
and  in  1880  performed  the  same  duty  for  the 
town  of  Caledonia.  He  was  instrumental  in 
promoting  many  improvements  in  the  high- 
ways of  the  town.  One  of  his  first  official 
acts  was  the  laying  out  of  the  road  along 
the  south  side  of  the  Baraboo  river,  between 
"The  Narrows"  and  the  "Welsh  Bridge." 
He  ^^■as  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  com- 
pany which  finally  secured  the  construction 
of  the  present  bridge  across  the  Wisconsin 
river  at  Portage  and  served  as  treasurer  of 
the  company  for  a  time.  He  secured  a  spe- 
cial act  of  the  legislature  (drafted  by  him- 
self J  authorizing  the  use  of  the  ■"Swanip 
Land  Funtls"  due  from  the  state  to  the  town 
of  Caledonia,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a 
lexee  along  the  Wisconsin  ri\er.  and  it  was 
chiefly  due  to  his  influence  that  the  fund  was 
finally  utilized  for  that  purpose,  thereby  pro- 
tecting several  thousand  acres  of  land  from 
overflow  and  adding  immensely  to  their 
value.  All  these  improvements  were  accom- 
plished in  spite  of  the  apathy  and.  in  some 
cases,  the  positix'e  opposition  of  many  of  the 
])eople  who  were  most  benefited  1)_\'  them. 
He  was  also  one  of  the  first  champions  of 
the  project  to  organize  the  "Leech  Creek  and 
Lower  Baraboo  Drainage  District."     It  was 


ascertained  that  by  cutting  one  mile  of  ditch 
the  length  of  the  Baraboo  river  between  "the 
narrows"  and  its  mouth  could  be  reduced 
fi'om  twenty-two  miles  to  only  eleven 
miles  antl  the  water  level  of  the  whole  valley 
would  thereby  be  lowered  about  three  feet, 
which  would  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the 
adjacent  property.  Owing  to  a  technicality, 
the  idea  failed  of  realization  at  the  time  but 
agitation  of  the  project  has  recently  been  re- 
vi\ed  and  it  promises  to  be  eventually  carried 
out  by  private  enterprise.  His  enthusiasm  in 
behalf  of  publk  improvements  sometimes 
proved  disastrous  to  his  private  interests  and 
he  never  fully  recovered  from  the  financial 
embarassments  which  resulted  from  mort- 
gaging his  farm  to  promote  the  building  of 
the  Milwaukee  &  LaCrosse  railroad  through 
the  county. 

The  social  and  religious  sides  of  his  na- 
ture were  amply  developed.  He  was  one 
of  the  workers  in  the  Calvinistic  Methodist 
church  and  ^vas  known  throughout  the  sur- 
rounding country  as  an  organizer  of  Sabbath 
schools.  He  hail  a  natural  talent  for  music 
which  he  took  pains  to  cultivate  and  de- 
lighted to  gratitV.  Few  instruments  were 
to  be  found  when  he  came  to  the  county,  but 
he  was  ready  with  his  "tuning  fork"  on 
every  occasion  to  pitch  the  key  and  lead  the 
vocal  melody 

January  i,  1853,  Mr.  Owen  was  married 
to  i\Iargaret,  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Laura 
(  Price)  Jones.  This  lady,  who  is  still  active 
in  pursuit  of  the  duties  of  life,  was  born  at 
Bronyfoel,  Parish  of  Llangelynin,  Merion- 
ethshire, Wales.  John  W.  Jones  came  to  this 
country  with  his  family  in  1851  and  settled 
in  the  towii  of  Randolph,  Columbia  county, 
where  he  gained  quite  a  reputation  on  ac- 
ciiunt  of  his  surgical  skill.  He  died  there 
April  4,  1868,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years. 
His  wife  reached  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years,  passing  away  March  20,  1889. 

Ten  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


241 


Owen,  named  as  follows,  their  homes  being 
in  Columbia  county,  unless  otherwise  noted  : 
John  Gwillym ;  Edwin  Caradoc  and  Edwena 
Esellt,  twins;  Aneurim,  of  Langford,  South 
Dakota;  William  Salisbury,  in  Chicago; 
David  Garonwy,  at  Blue  Earth  City,  Min- 
nesota ;  Owen  Jones ;  Merrion  Rhydderch, 
Atlantic  City,  New  Jersey;  Laura  Maggie; 
and  Edward  Grant. 


MAIiCUS  ALEXANDER   WARREN. 

Marcus  Alexander  ^^^arren,  president  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Baraboo,  and 
one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  that 
vicinity,  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin  and  has 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  Sauk  county.  He 
is  the  oldest  son  of  Thompson  M.  and  Cath- 
arine (McKennan)  Warren.  Thompson  ^L 
Warren  was  born  in  the  state  of  Maine,  but 
while  a  young  man  went  to  New  York  City 
and  carried  on  a  book  store  for  some  time. 
Li  1845  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  locating  at 
JNlineral  Point  where  he  was  joined  by  his 
brothers,  Dennis  and  Andrew.  They  formed 
a  partnership  under  the  name  of  Warren 
Brothers,  and  did  an  extensive  trading  busi- 
ness in  general  mercliandise  and  lumber 
with  marked  success.  Andrew  Warren,  the 
only  survivor  of  this  firm,  now  resides  in 
Chicago.  After  spending  several  years  at 
Mineral  Point,  Thompson  AL  Warren  re- 
moved to  Dane  county.  He  entered  large 
tracts  of  land  near  the  city  of  Madison  and 
engaged  in  farming  on  a  large  scale.  He 
improved  this  property  and  it  rapidly  in- 
creased in  value  until  he  sold  it  at  a  good 
profit  in  1867  and  removed  to  Baraboo. 
Upon  becotning  a  citizen  of  this  place  he 
displayed  the  same  enterprising  spirit  which 
had  characterized  his  previous  ventures  and 
began  to  exert  himself  toward  the  upbuild- 
ing and  development  of  the  town,  which  was 


then  but  a  struggling  village.  Being  of  a 
speculative  turn  of  mind  and  possessing  con- 
siderable foresight,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
invest  his  means  where  more  timid  men 
would  have  held  aloof,  and  continued  to 
prosper,  accunudating  a  large  estate. 
Among  the  enterprises  which  he  established 
ma\'  be  mentioned  Hotel  Warren,  built  in 
1877.  It  is  a  substantial  three-story  stone 
building  and  continues  to  be  the  leading  hos- 
telry of  the  town.  In  1886  he  organized  the 
First  National  Bank,  of  which  he  was  pres- 
ident until  his  death  and  which  has 
always  been  one  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial financial  institutions  of  Sauk 
county.  After  a  long  and  useful  ca- 
reer his  death  occurred  February  26,  1893, 
ac  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years.  His  ven- 
erable widow  is  still  a  resident  of  Baraboo. 
She  was  born  in  Herkimer  county.  New 
York,  and  is  the  mother  of  five  children : 
Marcus  A. ;  Minnie,  Mrs.  J.  Hoggins,  of 
Chicago,  Illinois;  Thompson  j\I.,  Jr.,  now 
deceased,  a  former  ranchman  of  South  Da- 
kota; Wm.  A.,  cashier  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Baraboo;  and  Isabel,  Mrs.  L.  E. 
Hoyt,  of  Baraboo. 

IMarcus  A.  Warren  was  born  on  the  farm 
i:i  Dane  cuunty,  Wisconsin,  May  2^,  ^^S7- 
He  was  ten  years  old  when  the  family  lo- 
cated in  Baraboo  and  has  therefore  been  a 
resident  of  that  thriving  city  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  After  leaving  the  Baraboo 
high  school  he  took  a  course  at  the  State 
University  in  Madison.  He  assisted  his  fa- 
tlier  in  various  ways,  acquiring  a  good  un- 
derstanding of  business  aft'airs,  and  in  1889 
embarked  in  business  on  his  own  account, 
taking  charge  of  the  electric  light  plant, 
since  merged  into  the  Baraboo  Gas  &  Elec- 
tric Light  Company. 

Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
and  has  ever  since  been  at  the  head  of  that 
corporation.     Besides  other  \aluable  prop- 


242 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


erty,  he  is  the  individual  owner  of  Hotel 
Warren.  Believing  that  the  precepts  and 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  embody 
the  best  interests  of  the  nation,  he  gives  that 
organization  his  hearty  support  but  does  not 
engage  in  active  politics. 

He  was  happily  married  May  28,  1888, 
to  Miss  Mary  R.  Willott,  a  native  of  Boone 
county,  Illinois,  who  has  been  a  resident  of 
Sauk  county  from  early  childhood.  They 
are  the  parents  of  one  daughter,  Lucile. 
,Mi's.  Warren  is  a  communicant  of  the  Epis- 
copal church  and  the  social  connections  of 
the  familv  are  all  that  could  be  desired. 


HON.   WILLIAM   HENRY   PROCTOR. 

Hon.  William  Henry  P.roctor,  widely 
known  as  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and 
enterprising  farmers  of  the  town  of  Foun- 
tain Prairie,  Columbia  county,  is  also  equal- 
ly and  as  readily  recognized  as  one  of  the 
most  representative  citizens  of  the  county. 
Modest  and  unassuming  in  his  personal 
habits  and  ciiaracter,  he  is  yet  so  able  and 
worthy  that  it  somehow  seems  as  a  matter 
of  course  that  he  should  come  to  the  front 
on  every  occasion  that  demands  clear  and 
clean  manhood.  Pie  is  a  noble  type  of  the 
best  American  citizenship,  and  his  name 
adorns  these  pages,  not  for  great  deeds  and 
wide  activities,  but  for  straightforward  hon- 
esty, moral  cleanness,  and  sweet,  wholesome 
living  in  the  community  in  which  his  long 
and  useful  life  has  been  passed. 

Mr.  Proctor  was  born  October  19,  1827, 
in  Cavendish,  Vermont,  and  inherits  the  best 
traditions  of  a  long  and  illustrious  New 
England  lineage.  His  maternal  grand- 
father was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
army  at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  his 
paternal  great-grandfather  also  participated 
in  the  same  glorious  struggle.     His  parents 


were  Asa  and  Lorena  Proctor,  both  resi- 
dents of  Cavendish,  Windsor  county,  Ver- 
mont, at  the  time  when  the  subject  of  this 
article  was  ushered  into  this  workl.  In  the 
same  house  the  senior  Proctor  was  also  born 
and  it  was  associated  with  the  family  for- 
tunes for  many  years.  Lorena  Proctor 
was  a  native  of  Mt.  Plolly,  Rutland  county, 
Vermont. 

The  or'ginal  Proctor  is  said  to  have  come 
into  New  England  from  Scotland,  but  ex- 
Secretary  Proctor,  perhaps  the  most  conspic- 
uous member  of  the  clan,  was  accustomed 
to  look  to  England  for  the  primal  springs  of 
the  family  name  and  fortune.  English  or 
Scotch,  however,  the  family  lineage  is  one 
(.)f  which  the  present  generation  may  well 
be  proud.  Asa  Proctor  was  usually  known 
as  Captain  Proctor,  probably  because  of  his 
soldierly  bearing,  which  was  his  by  hered- 
ity. His  father  served  in  both  the  army  and 
the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  while  yet 
a  boy  he  heard  the  cannon  roar  in  the  dis- 
tance at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  With  his 
wife  and  family  he  left  Vermont  in  1836,  and 
following  a  great  tide  of  western  immigra- 
tion found  a  home  for  several  years  in 
Schoolcraft,  Michigan.  In  1844  he  moved  on 
to  a  new  home  in  what  was  then  the  terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin,  and,  settling  upon  a  gov- 
ernment claim  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  made  it  his  home  for  life.  He  died 
August  30,  1848,  at  the  early  age  of  fifty 
years,  and  his  wife  died  on  the  same  farm 
October  13,  1855,  when  fifty-five  years  old. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  two 
(if  whom  died  in  infancy,  and  one  after  at- 
taining maturity.  Ellen  Lorette  was  twice 
married  and  died  in  Texas  many  years  ago. 
Mrs.  Stillman  R.  Dix  is  now  living  in  Mitch- 
ell, South  Dakota,  and,  with  the  subject  of 
this  writing,  constitutes  the  only  surviving 
members  of  the  family. 

When  the  Proctor  family  came  to  Michi- 
gan, William  Henry  was  but  a  lad  of  nine 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


243 


years.  He  attended  school  in  Michigan,  but 
after  their  removal  to  Wisconsin  he  was 
able  to  attend  only  a  term  at  a  private  school 
at  Aztalan.  Upon  his  parents'  death  the 
farm  on  which  they  were  living  passed  into 
his  possession;  and  very  soon  occurred  his 
wedding  with  Angeline  Elizabeth  Lashier. 
They  were  married  November  8,  1857,  and 
the  union  has  proved  in  every  way  a  most 
ideal  and  happy  one.  .She  is  a  lady  of  many 
excellent  traits  of  character,  and  has  helped 
to  make  her  husband's  home  the  center  of 
many  wide  and  distant  friendships.  She 
is  the  second  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
(Durfee)  Lashier,  of  Fall  River,  Wiscon- 
sin. Her  father  was  of  Hollandish  extrac- 
tion, while  her  mother  was  1x)rn  in  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  a  carpenter  and  built 
many  of  the  houses  in  Fall  River  and  vicin- 
ity. He  was  also  a  wagon  maker  and  is 
remembered  as  a  capable  workman  and  a 
thoroughly  honest  and  reliable  man.  He 
died  in  1881,  survi\-ing  the  loss  of  his  wife 
only  one  year. 

Mr.  and  JMrs.  Proctor  lia\e  continued  to 
make  their  home  on  the  old  farm.  Here 
they  have  reared  a  family  of  eight  children, 
and  here  they  have  written  a  history  of  can- 
dor and  neighborly  kindness,  honesty  and 
fair  dealing,  high  moral  character,  and  loyal- 
ty to  the  ideal.  Their  oldest  child,  Nettie 
Angeline,  was  born  in  1S58,  and  died  March 
23,  1876.  Ellen  Lorena,  February  14,  i860, 
is  living  at  home.  John  Samuel,  September 
30,  1861,  lives  in  Mnnieapolis  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  a  firm  having  very  extensive  trade 
in  iron  goods.  William  Rush,  July  i,  1863, 
lives  at  Sedalia,  Missouri,  where  he  is  a 
train  dispatcher  for  the  Missouri  Pacific  rail- 
road. Mary  Elizabeth,  February  11,  1868, 
is  the  wife  of  A.  S.  Ralph,  of  Columbus. 
Walter  Asa,  June  21,  1874,  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Delafield  Military  Academy,  and  served 
in  the  army  used  to  police  the  city  of  Manila 
in  the  Spanish-American  war.     While  there 


he  learned  the  Spanish  language,  and  was 
a  court  interpreter  for  some  time;  Clara 
May,  February,  1875,  a  teacher  in  the  Fall 
River  school;  Alfred  Henry,  March  17,  1878, 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Columbus  high  school, 
and  is  now  assisting  in  the  management  of 
the  home  farm.  Adelaide  Lulu,  February 
20,  1878,  is  now  in  attendance  at  the  same 
school. 

Mr.  Proctor  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and 
he  has  served  his  town  many  times  as  chair- 
man of  the  town  bnard  of  Fountain  Prairie. 
In  1882  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  state 
assembly  from  the  second  district  of  Colum- 
bia county.  He  has  always  taken  a  lively 
interest  in  political  affairs,  and  his  influence 
is  much  sought.  He  was  an  alternate  dele- 
gate to  the  Philadelphia  convention  that 
nom'inated  Mcfelnley  and  'Roosevelt.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Columbus  Universalist 
church,  as  are  most  of  his  family.  He  is  an 
honest  and  upright  citizen,  careful  and  con- 
scientious in  the  performance  of  every  duty. 
Recording  his  genuine  worth  and  real  manli- 
ness is  no  perfunctory  task  to  the  editorial 
pen.  The  writer  (Dinsmore)  has  tender 
memories  of  days  and  scenes  long  gone,  and 
has  often  communed  with  him  heart  to  heart. 
He  has  seen  into  the  soul  of  the  man,  and 
bears  testimony  to  its  nobilit}'. 


PLATON  GARFIELD  COLLIPP. 

Platon  Garfield  Collipp,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing attorneys  of  Friendship,  and  publisher  of 
the  "Adams  County  Reporter,"  is  a  young 
man  whose  ability  and  intelligent  worth  are 
recognized  by  every  citizen  of  Adams  coun- 
ty. He  has  already  filled  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant offices  within  the  gift  of  the  people  of 
his  community,  and  has  faithfully  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  commission  in  every  in- 
stance, and  is  one  of  the  public-spirited  men 
of  W^isconsin. 


244 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Collipp  was  bom  in  Portage,  Wis- 
consin, May  9,  1869,  and  was  the  son  of  Con- 
rad and  Louisa  (Slifer)  Collipp.  Conrad 
Collipp  was  a  native  of  Obersuhl,  Hesse-Cas- 
sel.,  Germany.  His  father  died  in  his  native 
land,  but  his  mother  passed  away  in  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania.  Conrad  Collipp 
learned  the  trade  of  carpet  weaving  in  his 
native  land,  and  about  1842  came  to 
America,  and  worked  at  his  trade  in  Phila- 
delphia several  years,  and  then  went  to  Chi- 
cago, and  in  1848  came  to  Wisconsin.  He 
settled  at  Portage  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing on  land  which  is  now  within  the  city  lim- 
its. After  a  few  years  he  started  a  Isrick 
yard,  and  for  a  number  of  years  was  thus  en- 
gaged, and  was  successful,  but  afterward 
rented  the  establisjiment.  He  served  as 
county  treasurer  and  was  active  in  matters  of 
public  import.  He  was  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  German  Methodist  church.  Mrs. 
Collipp  is  a  resident  of  Portage,  aged  sixty- 
nine  years,  where  her  husband  passed  away 
in  1883,  aged  sixty-one  years.  Mrs.  Collipp 
was  born  near  Pittsburg,  Pennsyh-ania,  and 
was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Slifer,  a  native 
of  German}-,  and  a  cari^enter  by  trade.  He 
settled  at  Portage  in  1848.  where  he  re- 
mained until  his  death.  1  he  original  name 
of  the  family  was  Schlifer. 

Platon  G.  Collipp  completed  the  course  in 
the  Portage  high  school,  and  then  spent  two 
years  in  the  English  course  at  the  Wiscon- 
sin Universitv.  He  then  entered  the  freight 
office  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad  Company  at  Portage,  remaining 
there  until  1896.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he 
entered  the  law  department  of  the  univer- 
sity, and  after  spending  one  year  and  three 
months  at  the  study  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Milwaukee  in  December,  1897.  He 
spent  three  months  in  the  office  of  J.  H. 
Rogers,  in  Portage,  and  then  established  his 
present  practice  at  Friendship.  July  8, 
1898,  in  company  with  L.  L.   Ketchum,  he 


began  the  publication  of  the  "Adams  County 
Reporter,"  and  in  November  of  that  year  be- 
came its  sole  proprietor.  During  the  fall 
of  1898  he  was  elected  district  attornev,  hav- 
ing been  unanimously  nominated  at  the  Re- 
publican con\-ention.  He  is  also  engaged 
in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  to 
some  extent.  His  practice  is  a  growing  one 
and  he  is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  fore- 
most men  in  his  state.  Wherever  he  has 
made  his  home  he  has  many  friends,  and  has 
been  called  upon  to  serve  in  various  offices  of 
local  importance.  \\'hile  a  resident  of  Port- 
age he  served  two  vears  as  alderman,  and  in 
1894  was  nominated  for  city  treasurer,  Init 
the  party  opposition  caused  his  defeat. 

Mr.  Collipp  was  married  September  27, 
1899,  to  Miss  Agnes  A.  Fulton,  daughter  of 
William  and  Agnes  (More)  Fulton,  resi- 
dents of  Portage,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Collii^p 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Portage,  and  also  of  McOueeney 
Lodge,  No.  104,  Knights  of  Pythias. 


CAL\"L\    E.    REED,  Dece.vsed. 

Of  the  worthy  pioneers  who  lead  the 
way  of  ci\-ilization  into  the  wilderness 
too  much  cannot  be  said,  and  among 
those  \vho  ga\-e  the  best  years  of  their 
lives  to  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources of  Adams  county,  Calvin  E. 
Reed  must  be  mentioned  with  much  praise. 
Born  in  Berkshire,  iMassachusetts,  December 
15,  1815,  and  rearetl  to  maturit}-  in  Li\-ing- 
ston  count}-.  New  York,  whither  he  had  ac- 
companietl  his  parents  when  a  child,  he  de- 
terniiiied  earl}-  in  his  career  to  seek  fortune 
in  the  new  west,  and  in  1845  'i*^  's*'^  '^'^  New 
York  home  and  came  to  Wisconsin.  He  lo- 
cated in  Rock  county,  where  he  purchased 
land  of  the  govennnent,  improved  it,  and 
held  it  for  ten  years.  He  then,  in  1856, 
nioved  to  White  Creek,  Adams  countv.  Wis- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


245 


consin,  and  purchased  a  farm  of  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  on  the 
site  of  the  present  village.  He  erected  a 
good  house,  which  now  stands  within  the 
village  limits;  also  good  barns  and  other 
farm  buildings.  The  residence  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  his  daughter,  ]Mrs.  William  Fisher. 
Mr.  Reed  was  a  man  of  great  force  of  char- 
acter, business  ability,  strictest  integrity,  and 
a  Christian  of  devout  princiiiles.  By  good 
example  and  liberal  cducatinn  he  did  much 
to  maintain  Christian  institutions  and  works 
iti  the  community.  He  was  a  member  nf  the 
Baptist  church,  but  his  Christianit)-  was 
broad  and  generous.  In  politics  he  was  not 
a  strong  partisan,  but  took  great  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  good  government,  local  as  well 
as  national,  and  was  always  found  support- 
ing those  men  and  measures  which  he  be- 
lieved were  calculated  for  the  good  of  the 
people.  He  served  ior  eighteen  years  as 
postmaster,  and  his  duty  was  thoroughly  and 
conscientiously  performed  during  the  whole 
of  that  long  period. 

His  death  was  seriously  felt  by  the  en- 
tire community  as  an  irreparable  loss,  and 
the  heartfelt  sympathies  of  all  were  extended 
to  the  bereaved  family,  each  member  of  the 
community-  feeling  it  as  a  personal  1l>ss.  He 
was  the  counselor  and  friend  of  all  in  dis- 
tress, a  genial  neighbor,  and  kintl  and  indul- 
gent parent  and  de\-oted  husband.  He  died 
at  White  Creek,  May  9,  1895. 

Sarah  Twist,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Mary  (Burkhart)  Twist,  became  the  wife 
of  Calvin  E.  Reed  December  30,  1837.  ^Nlrs. 
Reed  was  born  in  Mt.  Morris,  Livingston 
county,  Xew  "^"ork,  Jul}'  23,  1819.  .She  was  a 
devoted  wife  and  mother,  and,  like  her  hus- 
band, was  a  devout  memlier  of  the  Baptist 
church.  Her  death  occurred  in  tlie  \-illage 
of  White  Creek,  January  28,  1899,  and  was 
deeply  mourned  l)y  all  who  had  known  her. 
During  the  latter  years  of  her  life  her 
liealtb      failed     and     she     was     unable     t;;) 


attend  to  her  household  duties.  She  devoted 
nnich  time  to  reading,  and  was  a  close  stu- 
dent of  the  Bible  and  of  all  good  literature. 
She  retained  her  faculties  perfectly  until  lier 
last  illness,  which  began  in  July,  1898.  but 
from  that  time  until  her  death  she  was  a 
great  sufferer,  and  reciuired  the  constant  and 
closest  care  of  her  daughters,  who  attended 
her. 

^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Calvin  E.  Reed  were  the 
parents  of  the  following  children:  A.  Jo- 
sephine, now  Mrs.  William  Fisher;  Ennis 
T.,  for  whom  Ennis  T.  Reed  Post,  G.  A.  R., 
of  White  Creek,  was  named:  Mary  E.,  now 
Mrs.  C.  J.  Austin;  Sarah  W.,  now  }ilrs. 
Bergman ;  and  Kittie,  who  died  December 
25,  1864,  aged  si.x  years. 


CHAUNCEY    J.    AUSTIN. 

Chauncey  J.  Austin,  deceased,  was  one 
of  tlie  pione'ers  of  Wisconsin,  and  a  \-eteran 
of  the  Civil  war.  He  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania March  9,  1840.  His  parents,  Alvah 
and  Lucinda  (Stowell)  Austin,  who  moved 
from  Pennsyl\-ania  to  Oconomowoc,  Wis- 
consin, in  1844,  devoted  the  best  part  of 
their  lives  Xo  the  uplnhlding  of  the  unculti- 
vated and  unci\ilized  wilderness  of  Wiscon- 
sin, and  the  father  died  and  now  rests  in  the 
cemetery  at  Mapleton,  near  Oconomowoc. 
The  mother  died  in  La  Crosse  in  the  autumn 
of  1888,  and  is  buried  in  that  city.  Her 
death  occurred  in  her  eighty-third  year. 

Chauncey  J.  Austin,  the  subject  of  this 
article,  came  with  his  parents  to  Wisconsin 
when  he  was  four  years  of  age.  He  re- 
ceived the  common  school  education  afforded 
at  that  time  in  Wisconsin,  remained  at  home 
until  he  reached  his  majority,  and  learned  the 
trade  of  carpenter.  In  1S61  he  came  to 
White  Creek,  .\dams  county,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  near  the  village.    Here 


246 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


lie  engaged  in  the  hop  industry,  and  was 
successful  in  the  enterprise,  demonstrating 
tliat  hops  can  he  successfully  cultivated  in 
Adams  county. 

In  August,  1862,  he  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  soldiers,  and  enlisted  in 
Company  K,  Twenty-fifth  Wisconsin  \'(.)1- 
unteer  Infantry.  He  remained  with  his 
regiment  through  all  its  many  and  weari- 
some marches  and  hattles,  and  did  his  dut}' 
as  a  brave  and  true  soldier,  until  May,  i8f)T,, 
when,  near  Snyders  Bluft',  Mississippi,  he 
was  seized  by  an  attack  of  dysentery,  and 
suffered  severely  from  that  time  on  until  in 
May,  1864,  he  was  sent  to  Decatur  to  the 
hospital,  and  later  to  the  United  States  hos- 
pital at  Nashville.  Tennessee.  In  June, 
1864,  he  received  his  discharge  from  the 
Twentv-fifth  Regiment,  and  was  commis- 
sioned first  lieutenant  in  the  Forty-second 
Wisconsin,  by  Go\-ernor  Lewis.  He  came 
home  to  Madison,  Wisconsin,  on  a  furlough, 
and  remained  until  September  of  that  year. 
He  was  finally  nuistered  out  June  20,  1865. 
after  a  long  and  arduous  service,  marked 
bv  great  o'allantry,  and  honored  by  his  su- 
perior officers  f(jr  his  courage. 

He  did  not  reco\-er  from  his  physical 
troulile  contracted  during  the  ser\-ice.  and 
in  August.  1879,  he  was  attacked  by  what 
appeared  to  be  paralysis  of  the  lower  limbs. 
A  sudden  relapse  and  a  recurrence  of  his 
old  trouble  came  on  July  8,  1880,  and  for 
the  six  years  following  he  suffered  intense 
pain,  and  was  never  able  to  stand  upon  his 
feet,  nor  to  so  nuich  as  turn  himself  in  bed 
with()ut  assistance.  Through  all  these  years 
of  sufi^ering  he  was  always  most  patient  and 
thoughtful,  and  ever  considerate  of  the  com- 
fort and  well-being  of  those  around  him. 
Though  not  a  memlier  of  anv  church  organi- 
2ation,  he  was  a  true  Christian  man.  and  the 
consolations  of  Christianity  cheered  him  in 
his  last  sufferings.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
public  spirit  and  generosity,  and  he  took  a 


lively  interest  in  all  matters  of  a  public  na- 
ture. It  was  largely  through  his  sugges- 
tions and  influence  that  the  town  of  White 
Creek  was  subdivided  into  the  towns  of 
Easton,  Spring\'ille,  and  Ouincy.  He  was 
a  Republican  in  political  sentiment,  and  was 
always  loyal  to  the  principles  of  good  gov^- 
ernment.  He  was  married  Februat)'  15, 
1868,  to  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  Calvin  E. 
and  Sarah  (Twist)  Reed,  a  sketch  of  whom 
will  be  found  in  connection  with  this  article. 
]\Irs.  Austin  still  lives  at  the  old  homestead 
at  W'hite  Creek.  To  this  union  two  children 
were  born,  namely:  George  Edward,  born 
April  22,  1869,  who  is  now  at  home,  and 
Alvah,  born  September  28,  1874,  and  who 
was  married  to  Alice  L.  Henry,  daughter 
of  John  A.  and  Augusta  (  Stowell)  Henry, 
December  i,  1898. 


DARIUS  ADAMS  GOODYEAR. 

Darius  Adams  Goodyear,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  highly  respected  citi- 
zens of  Portage,  is  now  living  in  an  hon- 
orable retirement.  He  is  a  native  of  Sem- 
pronius,  Cayuga  county.  New  York,  where 
he  was  born  August  6,  1822,  the  tenth  child 
in  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His  par- 
ents were  John  and  Julia  (Bradley)  Good- 
year. His  father  was  a  native  of  Fair- 
haven,  Connecticut,  but  rem(.)ved  to  New 
York  in  early  y(juth.  He  li\ed  on  a  farm 
in  Cayuga  county  until  a  short  time  after  the 
birth  of  his  son,  Darius  .\.,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Genesee  count}',  in  the  same  state, 
\\'here  he  died  in  1826.  His  wife  did  not 
long  survive  him.  passing  away  the  same 
\'ear.  ]Mr.  Goodyear  has  a  letter  written 
li}'  his  mother  to  her  mother,  and  an- 
other written  by  her  brother,  Henry 
Bradley.  Both  contain  much  valuable  in- 
formation  about    the     family.       It     appears 


DARIUS  A.  GOODYEAR. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


249 


that  Jolm  Goodyear  and  Julia  Brad- 
ley were  married  April  5,  1807,  and  their 
children  were :  Hannah,  who  was  horn  May 
8,  1808,  and  died  July  6,  1852.  Lavinia 
became  Mrs.  C.  C.  ^^'aterhouse,  and  prac- 
ticed medicine  in  California  after  his  death. 
She  was  born  November  13,  1809,  and  died 
April  I.  1890.  Diana  married  Dr.  Briggs, 
and  took  up.  the  study  and  jjractice  of  medi- 
cine with  him.  She  was  born  July  29,  181 1, 
and  died  Xovem])er  j8,  1897.  Pomeroy 
was  born  April  15,  1813,  and  died  Septem- 
ber 28,  1857.  Addison  was  born  January 
8,  1815,  and  died  April  10,  1849.  Brad- 
ley, a  physician,  was  born  December  6,  1816, 
and  died  May  16,  1889.  Julia  was  born 
Jmie  6,  1818,  and  died  April  4.  1872.  John, 
a  physician,  was  born  November  12,  1819, 
and  died  April  8,  1889.  Franklin,  a  physi- 
cian, was  born  April  26,  1821,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 30,  1883.  Byron  was  born  May  12, 
1824,  and  died  October  9,  1887. 

Dr.  ]\Iiles  Goodyear,  a  prominent  physi- 
cian of  Cortland,  New  York,  displayed 
much  interest  in  his  brother's  orphan  chil- 
dren, and  did  much  for  them  through  all 
their  youthful  years.  It  was  due  to  his  in- 
fluence that  so  many  of  the  family  studied 
for  the  medical  profession,  and  acquitted 
themselves  so  creditably  in  its  practice.  The 
family  had  a  part  in  the  old  cnlnnial  days 
0/  New  England,  and  came  originally  fr(jm 
the  parish  of  Monken  Haslley,  cnuntv  l\lid- 
dlesex,  England.  Stephen  Goodyear,  the 
founder  of  the  family  in  the  United  States, 
was  one  of  the  original  freemen  of  New 
Haven,  a  list  of  whom  was  prepared  in  1638. 
He  left  England  in  the  ship  Hester  in  1637. 
His  wife,  Mary,  was  a  woman  of  large  pos- 
sessions, including  an  estate  in  London,  now 
known  as  Grosvenor  Square.  She  died  on 
a  voyage  to  England  in  1646,  the  ship  never 
being  heard  of  after  it  left  the  land.  He 
afterward  married  Margaret,  the  widow  of 
Captain  (jeoree  LambertDU.     He  was  dep- 


uty governor  of  New  Haven  colony  from 
1643  to  1658,  and  was  a  man  of  mark.  His 
posterity  included  many  prominent  business 
and  professional  men,  none  of  whom  were 
ever  known  to  fail  in  business,  but  were  all 
famous  for  commercial  success  and  integrity 
of  character. 

The  Bradlev  family  came  from  Leeds, 
England,  and  settled  at  New  Haven,  where 
many  of  the  name  subsequently  attained 
prominence.  The  father  of  Julia  Bradley 
made  a  home  at  N(-)rthfield,  Cayuga  county, 
New  York,  wliere  he  was  widely  known  as  a 
successful  farmer,  and  as  the  founder  of 
the  Bradley  Meeting  House,  to  which  he 
ga\-e  the  ground  for  the  church  and  cem- 
etery. His  sons  were  Harry,  Jabez,  Daniel 
and  Walter,  and  his  daughters  were  Mrs. 
Darius  Adams,  Mrs.  Andrews,  and  perhaps 
other  children. 

Mr.  Goodyear,  the  subject  of  this  article, 
is  now  the  only  survivor  of  his  parents' 
numerous  family  and  was  less  than  four 
years  old  when  they  died.  He  was  adopted 
by  his  great-uncle,  Heman  Bradley,  a  resi- 
dent of  Cayuga  county.  When  he  was  about 
nine  he  was  taken  into  the  home  of  his  sis- 
ter, Mrs.  ^^'aterhouse,  then  living  at  Havana, 
New  York,  and  went  with  her  when  her 
fr.mily  found  a  home  at  Fort  Defiance,  Ohio. 
Schools  were  scarce  on  the  frontier,  and  the 
young  lad  had  little  chance  for  learning. 
With  open  eyes  and  attentive  ears,  however, 
lie  learned  much.  He  helped  about  a  hotel 
kept  by  Mr.  Waterhouse,  w'here  state  and 
county  oificials  were  frequently  entertained. 
He  also  carried  mail  on  horseback  from  Fort 
Defiance  to  Adrian,  Michigan,  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  and  IMaumee,  Ohio,  Mr.  Water- 
house  having  obtained  contracts  for  all  these 
routes.  In  1836  he  went  to  New  York 
citv  to  attend  a  school  taught  by  his  sister, 
Diana.  He  was  with  her  for  a  year,  and 
then  engaged  as  a  collector  for  a  lumber 
firm,  of  which  Mr.  \\'aterhouse  was  a  mem- 


250 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


ber,  and  spent  a  number  of  years  in  tbis 
way. 

]\Ir.  Goodyear  returned  to  Cortland  wbile 
still  a  3-oung  man,  and  applied  himself  to  tbe 
trade  of  cabinetmaker.  A\'ben  be  bad 
learned  tbis  trade  be  worked  bis  way  t(j 
New  York  city  on  a  canal  boat  and  secured 
emi)loyment  witb  a  large  furniture  bouse, 
wbere  be  remained  for  many  years.  He 
was  especially  good  at  repairing,  and  tbis 
line  of  work  took  b:m  to  many  of  tbe  bomes 
of  tbe  leading"  and  wealtby  citizens  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn.  He  was  called  to  do 
tbe  finest  work  in  repairing  passenger  cars, 
and  bis  unusual  ability  gave  tbe  house  a 
wide  reputation.  He  e\'entually  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business,  and  became  a  partner 
ii^  tbe  firm  of  W'aterbouse,  Linn  &  Com- 
pany, which  sent  se\-eral  shiploads  of  lum- 
ber to  California  in  the  boom  days  of  1849. 
Tbe  enterprise,  however,  did  not  prove 
profitable,  though  boldly  planned  and  ex- 
ecuted. Mr.  Goodyear  bad  by  this  time  be- 
come familiar  with  every  department  of  tbe 
Ijusiness  and  determined  to  strike  out  for 
himself.  He  came  to  Portage  in  1858,  and 
at  once  opened  a  lumber  yard.  His  intimate 
knowledge  of  tbe  business  gave  him  a  grasp 
of  tbe  situation  that  at  once  put  him  ahead 
of  all  C(jm]jetition,  and  won  for  him  an  ex- 
tensive retail  trade.  All  lumber  was  at  first 
brought  Ijy  water,  l)ut  as  railroad  transporta- 
tion was  increase!.!  he  opened  other  yards, 
and  at  one  time  bad  four  in  Columbia  coun- 
ty alone.  In  tbe  meantime  be  invested  his 
profits  in  timber  land  in  central  Wisconsin 
and  after  about  twenty  years  sold  out  bis  re- 
tail business  and  gave  his  entire  attention  to 
manufacture  and  wholesale  dealing  in  lum- 
ber. For  a  number  of  years  be  operated 
extensi\-e  saw-mills  in  tbe  \\'isconsin  valley. 
Tbis  l)usiness  took  on  large  proportions,  and 
continues  very  important.  Mr.  Goodyear 
sold  out  some  years  ago  to  bis  son,  and  a 
grandson  is  now  a  principal  partner  in  tbe 


firm.  The  headquarters  of  tbe  business  is 
at  Tomah,  \\'isconsin. 

Mr.  Goodyear  was  married  April  16, 
1 85 1,  to  Sarah,  a  daughter  of  Linus  and 
Mary  Holmes.  Her  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  spent  his  latter  days  at  Portage.  ^Ir. 
and  Mrs.  Goodyear  have  only  one  child, 
Charles  Adams,  who  lives  in  Chicago,  but 
has  bis  office  at  Tomah,  ^\'isconsin.  ]\Iuch 
of  Mr.  Goodyear's  success  be  attributes  to 
liis  wife.  They  began  housekeeping  in 
Brooklyn,  Xew  Ynrk,  on  a  salary  of  fifty 
dollars  a  nupntb.  b\ed  comfdrtaljly,  rented  a 
pew  in  tbe  Strong  Place  Baptist  church, 
but  frequently  attended  Henry  Ward  Beecb- 
er's  church,  and  saved  money.  In  recent 
years  they  have  spent  much  of  their  time 
in  travel.  Mr.  Goodyear  is  a  man  of  liberal 
and  progressive  ideas,  and  finds  pleasure 
in  freely  using  bis  ample  means  to  upbuild 
and  adorn  tbe  city  of  Portage.  He  has  erect- 
ed more  substantial  and  elegant  brick  build- 
ings than  any  other  man  of  that  city,  of 
recent  times.  Though  not  a  member  of  any 
church,  he  encourages  all  Christian  work 
and  all  other  movements  looking  to  tbe  gen- 
eral good.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  tem- 
perance work,  is  a  trustee  of  tbe  Presby- 
terian church,  and  \A'as  for  some  years  super- 
intendent of  tbe  Baptist  Sunday  school. 
From  tbe  organization  of  tbe  party  be  has 
been  a  Republican,  and,  while  never  promi- 
nent as  a  politician,  bis  aih'ice  has  often 
been  sought  by  friends  and  leading  men  in 
tbe  political  arena,  and  a  respectful  bearing 
given  and  his  ideas  often  folI<i\ved  in  tliat 
field. 

A  portrait  nf  Mr.  Goodyear  on  another 
page  of  this  \-olume  will  enhance  its  \alue 
to  bis  manv  friends  and  admirers. 


HOX.  FRANK  A\'ERY. 
Hon.  Frank  Avery,  of  Baraboo,  has  i)er- 
haps  been  more  closely  identified  \\itli   tbe 
pulilic  affairs  of  Sauk  county  than  an}'  other 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


251 


citizen,  and  lias  also  been  instrumental  in 
shaping  more  important  legislation.  He 
\vas  born  at  Tenterden,  county  of  Kent, 
England,  November  17,  1830,  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  (Boorman)  Avery. 
Thomas  Avery  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1864 
and  died  at  Baraboo  April  15,  1885,  aged 
eightv-three  years.  He  was  a  native  of 
Tenterden,  where  he  carried  on  business 
as  a  shoemaker,  following  the  occupati(^n 
in  whicli  his  father.  William  Avery,  had 
preceded  him.  Mrs.  Mary  Avery  was  born 
in  the  county  of  Kent  and  died  there  in 
1838.  Her  parents  came  to  the  United 
States  several  years  previous  to  that  time, 
settling  at  Rochester,  New  York,  where  the 
father  engaged  in  farming. 

Frank  Avery  is  the  only  son  of  his  par- 
ents and  the  only  survivor  of  the  family. 
He  received  a  common-school  education  and 
learned  his  father's  trade,  which  he  has  fol- 
lowed during  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
In  1853  he  came  to  the  United  States  and 
worked  successi\'ely  at  Oswego  and  Fort 
Brewerton,  New  York.  In  1855  he  re- 
moved to  Janesville,  \\'isconsin,  and  soon 
after  to  Baraboo,  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  Here  he  opened  a  shoe  shop  and 
store  and  successfully  carried  on  that  line 
of  business  until  1891.  For  the  first  twenty 
years  the  firm  was  Avery  &  Green,  but  dur- 
ing the  balance  of  this  period  he  was  sole 
proprietor.  Since  1891  he  has  been  en- 
gaged in  general  insurance,  als(3  managing 
a  number  of  estates. 

He  has  always  been  an  active  Republi- 
can, having  supported  John  C.  Fremont  in 
1856,  and  every  presidential  candidate  of  his 
party  since  that  time.  He  has  participated 
in  many  county  and  state  conventions  and 
was  chairman  of  the  county  committee  for 
six  years,  a  neriod  which  included  the  fa- 
mous Blaine  and  Logan  campaign  of  1884. 
For  more  than  a  score  of  3'ears  he  has  almost 
continuously   held   some    important    public 


office  and  has  frequently  filled  several  such 
positions  simultaneously.  In  1876  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  village  of  Baraboo 
and  in  1898  became  the  mayor  of  the  city. 
For  ten  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  com- 
ty  board  of  supervisors.  In  1887  he  was 
elected  a  memljer  of  the  Wisconsin  assem- 
bly, where  he  soon  became  conspicuous  for 
his  activity  and  devotion  to  puljlic  inter- 
ests. He  was  made  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  labor  and  manufactures,  the  first 
committee  of  that  name  e\er  formed  in  the 
assemblv,  and  was  instrumental  in  prevent- 
ing the  passage  of  a  bill  to  prohibit  prison 
lebor.  In  1889  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Wisconsin  senate,  in  which  liody  he 
served  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on 
roads  antl  bridges  and  on  state  affairs. 
He  continued  his  interest  in  prison  reform 
work  and  helped  to  secure  the  passage  of 
laws  permitting  the  indeterminate  sentence 
for  con\'icts,  a  pro\-ision  the  wisdom  of 
which  is  now  universally  recognized.  He 
also  strongly  supported  the  bill  for  a  gen- 
eral city  charter  and  worked  industriously 
to  secure  an  amendment  to  the  constitution 
of  the  state  prohibiting  special  legislation 
for  cities.  He  is  now  president  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  Baraboo  Public 
Library  and  chairman  of  the  jury  commis- 
sion of  Sauk  county. 

May  30,  1859,  he  was  wedded  to  Miss 
Emily  Anclrus,  a  daughter  of  Edwin  and 
Susan  (Gillette)  Andrus,  who  was  born 
near  Loraine,  Ohio,  and  died  at  Baraboo, 
April  17,  189;.  aged  sixty-one  years.  In 
addition  to  manv  other  admirable  qualities, 
this  lady  developed  remarkable  Kterary 
ability,  and  from  time  to  time  contributed 
to  some  of  the  leading"  periodicals  of  the 
country,  expressing  many  charming  ideas 
in  both  prose  and  verse. 

Julia,  the  only  daughter  of  ]\f  r.  and  Mrs. 
Avery,  departed  this  life  March  18,  1897, 
at  the  age  of  thirtv-lhree  vears.     She  was 


252 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


a  highly  accomphshed  lady  and  served  as 
secretary  to  Governor  W.  D.  Hoard  during 
the  latter's  term  of  office  as  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  state  of  Wisconsin.  Miss 
Avery  was  afterwards  employed  for  several 
years  as  stenographer  for  the  superintendent 
of  schools  for  the  city  of  Milwaukee. 

Mr.  Avery  was  reared  in  the  Unitarian 
faith,  to  which  he  has  always  consistently 
adhered.  Since  1854  he  lias  heen  identified 
with  the  ^lasonic  fraternity  and  he  justly 
merits  the  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held 
b}-  his  fellow  citizens. 

Mr.  Avery  was  married  May  4,  1899, 
to  Hattie  Hall,  a  resident  of  Baraboo. 


M.VURICE  GOODMAN. 

One  of  the  prominent  representatives  of 
the  journalistic  profession  in  \\'isconsin  is 
the  gentleman  whose  name  introduces  this 
brief  notice,  the  well-known  editor  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  "Wisconsin  State  Register" 
and  the  "Portage  Daily  Register,"  published 
at  Portage,  Columbia  county.  He  was  born 
in  Penn  Yan,  New  York,  July  15,  1866, 
a  son  of  Philip  and  Sarah  (Cardozo)  Good- 
man. The  father,  a  native  of  Germany, 
came  to  Wisconsin  in  1867,  and  for  several 
years  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
in  Portage,  where  he  dietl  in  1886.  The 
mother  is  still  living  and  makes  her  home 
iri  Chicago.  She  was  born  in  London, 
England,  and  when  a  child  came  to  the 
United  States.  Her  ancestors  were  orig- 
inally from  Spain,  where  they  were  people 
of  much  prominence. 

It  was  during  his  infancy  that  Maurice 
Goodman  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Portage,  where  he  later  attended  the  public 
schools,  and  was  afterward  a  student  at  a 
private  academy  conducted  by  Dr.  A.  M. 
Allen   in   Chicago,   where  he  was  partially 


fitted  for  college,  but  owing  to  ill  health 
he  was  at  length  forced  to  aljandon  the 
course.  After  spending  a  year  or  two  in 
recuperating,  he  entered  his  father's  store 
in  Portage,  where  he  remained  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  after  his  father's  death 
carried  on  the  business  with  his  brother, 
Louis,  now  deceased,  until  1889,  when  he 
sold  out  and  became  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Register  Printing  Company,  a 
stock  company  engaged  in  the  newspaper 
business  and  the  manufacture  of  blank 
books.  Severing  his  connection  with  that 
business  in  1892,  Mr.  Goodman  spent  two 
years  in  a  clothing  house  in  Chicago,  and 
owing  to  ill  health  spent  the  following  year 
in  the  west.  On  his  return  to  Portage,  in 
1894,  he  bought  the  "Register,"  and  has 
since  successfully  engaged  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  weekly  "Wisconsin  State  Regis- 
ter" and  the  "Portage  Daily  Register." 
Through  his  paper  he  supports  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party.  Fra- 
ternally he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order.  Mr.  Goodman  was  married,  March 
5,  1890,  to  Miss  Mary  Goodell,  a  native  of 
Montello,  Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter  of  B. 
F.  and  Mary  Goodell,  of  Portage. 


HON.  EPHRAIM  WOOD  YOUNG. 

Hon.  Ephraim  Wood  Young,  deceased, 
was  for  many  years  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizens  of  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin.  It  is  an  important  public  duty 
to  honor  and  perpetuate,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  memory  of  an  eminent  citizen — one  who 
by  his  blameless  and  honorable  life  and  dis- 
tinguished career  reflected  credit,  not  only 
upon  his  city  and  county,  but  also  upon  the 
whole  state.  Through  such  memorials  as 
this  at  hand  the  individual  and  the  char- 
acter  of   his   services   are   kept  iin    remem- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


253 


brance  and  the  importance  of  those  services 
acknowledged.  His  example,  in  whatever 
field  his  work  may  ha\'e  been  done,  thus 
stands  an  object  lesson  to  those  who  come 
after  him,  and  though  dead  he  still  speaks. 
Mr.  Young  was  born  in  Bingham,  Som- 
erset county,  Maine,  October  8,  1821,  and 
was  the  eldest  in  a  family  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren. By  his  own  efforts  he  acquired  an 
education  and  graduated  from  Idar\-ard 
College  with  the  class  of  1848.  Edward 
Everett,  president  of  the  college,  spoke  of 
him  as  having  sustained  a  distinguished 
rank  as  a  scholar,  and  that  his  character  was 
most  exemplary.  For  several  years  he  was 
professor  of  natural  sciences  in  the  high 
school  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  in  the  meantime 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1856.  The  same  year  he  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin and  opened  a  law  office  at  Waupun,  but 
soon  becoming  dissatisfied  he  bought  a  farm 
in  Prairie  du  Sac  township,  Sauk  county, 
and  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, as  farming  was  always  his  delight. 

For  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  Mr.  Young 
attended  the  annual  sessions  of  the  general 
assembly,  as  a  member  one  year,  as  clerk 
several  years,  and  later  as  chief  clerk  for 
seven  or  eight  years.  He  was  also  a  trus- 
tee for  the  Wisconsin  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  and  a  member  of  the  commission 
to  locate  the  Northern  Hospital  for  the  In- 
sane. He  was  a  prominent  representative 
of  the  Republican  party  and  was  its  candi- 
date for  secretary  of  state  in  1873,  but 
shared  the  fate  of  his  associates  in  their 
defeat  of  that  year.  In  1881  he  was  elected 
county  judge  and  some  time  afterward  re- 
moved to  Baraboo.  He  was  twice  re-elect- 
ed and  had  but  little  more  than  half  served 
his  Last  term  of  four  years  when  his  death 
occurred,  March  25,  1892. 

Judge  Young  married  Miss  Harriet  Nor- 
ton, of  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  to  them  were 
born  two  children :  a  daughter,   who  died 


in  infancy;  and  a  son,  who  was  killed  by 
runaway  horses  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years. 
In  his  religious  views  the  Judge  was  a  Uni- 
tarian and  quite  liberal,  and  was  one  of  the 
board  of  trustees  of  the  Free  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Baraboo.  He  was  sys- 
tematic, accurate  and  conscientious  in  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties  and  his  sen- 
tences were  models  of  judicial  fairness.  He 
was  a  noble,  generous  man,  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  cause  of  education  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  fellowmen,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  board  of  education  in  Bara- 
boo for  some  time.  Universally  respected 
and  beloved,  he  was  laid  to  rest  by  his 
brother  Masons  in  the  cemetery  at  Prairie 
du  Sac,  where  those  members  of  his  family 
who  had  preceded  him  were  also  buried. 


CAPTAIN  IRA  H.  FORD. 

Captain  Ira  H.  Ford,  of  Hampden,  Co- 
lumbia county,  an  original  son  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  was 
born  June  n,  1827,  in  Granville,  Vermont, 
to  Caleb  and  Roxanna  (Lamb)  Ford,  both 
natives  of  the  Green  Mountain  state.  His 
father  was  a  militiaman  in  the  Revolution, 
and  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Ticonder- 
oga.  He  died  in  1852  at  the  great  age  of 
eighty-eight.  His  mother  died  in  1861 
when  about  seventy-eight  years  old.  They 
were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  of  whom 
seven  are  now  living:  Elisha  B.,  Chicago; 
Warren  W.,  Granville,  A'ermont ;  George  L., 
Chicago;  Ira  H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Sarah  married  Artemus  A.  Rice,  and  lives 
in  San  Francisco,  California;  Elizabeth,  who 
is  now  Mrs.  Captain  Garcia;  Ellen,  Mrs. 
Robinson,  of  Rochester,  Vermont. 

Captain  Ford  left  Vermont  in  1849  and 
went  to  California  by  way  of  the  Horn.  He 
sought  gold  the    first    year,    and  followed 


254 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


(lairving  for  the  next  two  years.  In  185 J  lie 
came  to  Wisconsin  to  visit  relatives,  and  was 
so  charmed  with  the  agricnltural  p;)ssibili- 
ties  of  Hampden,  in  tliis  county. then  largely 
a  wilderness,  that  he  bought  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  and  devoted  him- 
self with  characteristic  energy  to  its  im- 
provement. He  continued  on  this  farm  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  when  he 
dropped  everything  and  made  haste  to  join 
the  Union  army.  He  enlistetl  August  0, 
1S61.  Governor  Salomon  recognized  his 
executive  ability,  made  him  a  lieutenant,  and 
at  the  suggestion  of  J.  T.  Lewis  (the  follow- 
ing governor  of  the  state,  and  only  surviv- 
ing war  governor)  appointed  him  to  recruit 
a  company  for  the  Eighteenth  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry.  He  did  this  very  eas.ly 
and  the  command  was  mustered  in  as  Com- 
pany I,  and  sent  with  others  immediately 
south.  At  Shiloh,  while  in  command  of  the 
company,  Captain  Ford  was  taken  prisoner 
|jy  the  rebels  and  sent  to  the  war  prison  at 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  and  after  that  to  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama,  and  at  Macon  and  Madi- 
son, Georgia.  At  Macon  he  was  detailed  at 
the  recjuest  of  a  superior  officer,  to  attend  a 
brother  oi^cer  through  a  severe  sickness.  He 
nursed  him  back  to  health,  and  then  gained 
permission  to  visit  the  barracks  and  minister 
to  the  wants  of  his  soldiers.  This  permis- 
sion was  given  by  Dr.  Owen,  a  Confederate 
officer  with  Union  sympathies.  Captain 
Ford  found  William  Foster,  one  of  his  men, 
lying  in  the  sand  beside  a  tree,  and  in  a  ter- 
rible condition.  He  turned  him  upon  his 
side,  and  found  he  was  wasted  away  to  that 
extent  that  his  hip  bone  fell  from  its  sock- 
el.  Scores  were  in  as  bad  a  condition,  and 
every  morning  sixty  or  seventy  were  taken 
out  dead.  The  flies  were  terrible,  but  through 
Masonic  influence  he  was  able  to  secure  nets 
for  five  hundred.  During  the  fore  part  of 
June  an  order  for  exchange  was  issued,  but 
2lT.  the  officers  were  left  out,  Captain  Ford 


and  another  officer  determined  to  escape. 
Accordingly  they  got  a  long  iron  poker  from 
a  negro  and  found  there  was  a  Union  sym- 
pathizer on  guard  duty.  The  night  of 
June  22,  1862,  he  went  o\-er  the  dead  hne 
and  was  not  hit  l)y  the  Ijullets  fired  by  the 
friendly  sentinel.  He  went  immediately  to 
a  tree  that  had  been  agreed  upon  as  a  meet- 
ing place  with  his  brother  officer,  and  waited 
there  until  nearly  daylight.  As  his  comrade 
had  not  yet  appeared  he  left  the  city,  and 
co\-ered  twenty-se\-en  miles  before  the  follow- 
ing noon  in  hopes  of  eluding  pursuit.  Hear- 
ing bloodhounds  in  the  distance  he  walked 
down  a  creek  hoping  to  throw  them  off  the 
scent.  It  was  to  no  purpose,  and  presently 
he  was  beset  by  a  pack  of  nine  hounds,  led 
by  a  great  Dane  that  generally  throttled  the 
man  they  caught.  Captain  Ford  watched  his 
chance,  and  when  the  dog  leaped  at  him 
struck  it  a  blow  that  laid  it  low.  At  this 
moment  a  man  appeared  in  a  thicket  a  short 
distance  awa)-,  and,  with  lexeled  gun,  de- 
manded his  surrender.  Our  subject  drew 
his  poker  to  a  firing  position  and  said  "Don't 
you  shoot  unless  you  want  to  be  killed." 
They  finally  agreed  to  lower  their  arms,  and 
Ford  surrendered.  He  was  taken  back  to 
prison  and  put  in  shackles.  It  was  expected 
he  would  wear  these  all  the  time,  but  he  got 
a  key  from  a  negro,  and  when  the  officers 
were  not  near  took  one  of  tliem  oft'.  It 
was  supposed  by  the  rebels  that  he  wore  them 
for  fi\'e  months.  He  still  has  the  poker  and 
the  shackles  in  his  possession.  He  was  after- 
wards transferred  to  Columbus,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  then  to  Libby  prison.  He  says 
this  was  the  best  prison  he  was  in,  as  it  was 
the  only  place  where  he  found  white  bread. 
At  Libby  prison  he  was  paroled  and  sent  to 
Washington.  He  came  back  to  Madison,  and 
understanding  he  had  been  exchanged,  went 
back  into  the  army.  It  \\-as  not  until  he 
fought  through  several  battles  that  he  got 
official  notice  of  his  exchange  at  Vicksburg. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


255 


He  was  in  tlie  battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Ray- 
mond, Jackson,  Champion  Hill,  Black  River 
Bridge,  Vicksburg.  and  many  other  import- 
ant engagements.  In  1864  he  res-gned  to 
come  home  and  raise  another  company.  This 
company  he  took  out  of  the  vicinity  of  Co- 
lumbus, under  the  designation  of  Company 
]\1,  First  Wisconsin  Heavy  Artillery,  and 
was,  by  Governor  Lewis,  commissiuned 
captain,  and  went  to  Alexandria,  V.rgiiiia. 
They  did  garrismi  duty  until  Jinie  J6,  1865, 
A\  hen  they  were  discharged. 

Like  a  million  other  bra\-e  and  loyal 
soldiers,  when  war's  alarms  were  over. 
Captain  Ford  came  back  to  his  farm,  and  ap- 
plied himself  as  sedulously  to  its  duties  as 
if  there  had  never  been  a  war.  In  1867  and 
1868  he  represented  the  Twenty-second  as- 
sembly district  of  Columl)ia  county  in  the 
state  assembly.  He  was  one  of  the  three 
commissioners  appointed  liy  the  governor 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  ColumJjia  county, 
a  method  since  replaced  by  the  county  board. 
Beginning  in  1881  he  was  superintendent  of 
a  silver  mining  company  Ihat  conducted  ex- 
tensive operations  at  Buena  \'ista,  Colo- 
rado. Our  subject  has  been  three  times  mar- 
ried, and  his  present  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Gertrude  D.  Erickson,  has  pre- 
sided over  his  household  since  March  17, 
i88j.  They  ha\-e  four  bright  chdclren,  all 
at  home ;  Jessie  E.,  Clarence  \'.,  Ellen  R., 
and  Ira  H.,  Jr. 

Captain  Fonl  is  a  strong  Republican, 
and  takes  much  interest  in  public  affairs.  In 
September,  1899,  he  called  his  company  to 
gether  at  Columbus,  and  twenty-six  respond- 
ed. It  was  an  interesting  occasion,  and  he 
was  presented  with  a  gold  headed  cane  by 
his  soldiers  as  a  mark  of  their  appreclaUon 
of  his  unceasing  interest  in  their  welfare. 
The  whole  community  honors  Captain  Ford, 
■and  his  friends  are  not  confined  to  this 
county  or  state.  All  who  know  him  think 
kindly  of  him. 


WTLLIA^I   FISHER,   M.   D. 

William  Fisher,  i\I.  D.,  deceased,  was 
born  September  18,  1S33,  in  western  New 
York,  the  son  of  John  W.  Fisher,  a  native 
of  the  state  of  New  York.  John  W.  Fisher 
brought  his  family  to  Wisconsin  at  an  early 
day  in  the  history  of  the  state,  and  located 
in  Rock  county,  at  Cookville,  where  he  fol- 
lowed his  trade  of  millwright.  His  death 
occurred  N'ox-ember  1 1,  1873,  in  the  seventy- 
second  year  i:>f  his  age.  He  was  a  promi- 
nent Mason,  and  his  funeral  services  were 
conducted  by  that  order.  His  wife  died 
at    Cookville,    Wisconsin,    about    the    year 

1853- 

\\'illian:  Fisher,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  received  a  high  education,  and 
graduated  from  a  medical  college  in  Phila- 
delphia. He  located  at  ^Vhite  Creek,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1861,  and  practiced 
his  profession  there  for  two  years.  He  then 
removed  to  Catlin,  Vermilion  coun,ty,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  practiced  one  year.  He  was 
then  offered  the  position  of  general  agent 
for  the  state  of  Kansas  of  the  Northwestern 
Life  Insurance  Company.  He  held  this 
position  for  five  years  and  then  became  the 
representative  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company  in  the  state  of 
Texas  and  others  of  the  southwestern  states, 
and  he  continued  in  this  capacity  until  his 
death.  lie  died  August  5,  1874,  at  War- 
ren, Ohio,  among  strangers.  His  remains 
were  conveyed  to  St.  Charles,  Illinois,  where 
his  family  resided  at  that  time. 

William  Fisher  was  married  September 
14,  1861,  to  A.  Josephine  Reed,  daughter  of 
Calvin  E.  and  Sarah  (Twist)  Reed,  of 
Nunda,  Livingston  county,  New  York. 
Mention  of  Mrs.  Fisher's  parents  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  To  this 
union  four  children  were  born,  named  in 
order  of  birth  as  follows:  Ennis  E.,  now 
living  at  \\'au\\atosa,  Wisconsin;   \\'illiam 


COMPEXDIi'M   OF  BIOGRAPHY 


AV..  nrw  in  Ccv^radC':  Eiigene  B..  state  in- 
specii:--  f;-  Wisconsin  Telephr-ne  Company: 
and  Joim  J.,  graduate  in  Eeloit  CoJlege. 


SALMON  BROW  X. 

Salmon  Brown,  one  of  tbe  most  ex- 
tcBsave  pirodsce  dealers  o£   ihe   Dorthwest. 

itadine  in  Kilbccini.  Colmnbia  coanJy. 
"\V:s:     -  -    '  isi  can  be 

£cc; ::       -    -  -  •trsisreat  ef- 

ic-iT.  vfcij  coTccie^j-     iiic  iikttSi  C'l  persever- 
;.r.r;  :s  t"::;  srrcessfal  inan  in  whaiever  tc- 
and  333  diis  geade^rcm  are 

_.: 1     ,;     caits   of   cJiaracier  ^^ ":; ;!: 

are  booad  to  psodnce  the  best  and 
lesiiks. 

Mr.  BrowTs  isas  bom  in  Hndsos,  Snm- 
nsi  cc'-nnfr.  OIjjo,  FdjiBaiy  13.  1&5S,  aiid 
is  the  son  of  Fiedeikk  Brown,  a  BaliTe  of 
tbe  sEiDc  place,  irbo  was  bom  Fdimaiy  13, 
1S07-  ^?r.  Brown  is  a  Hr>pa3  desosadaTit 
r  i  P :  :  caaae  to  Anaenca  in 

iht  I  -  r^g  ai  PljHDomh  Reck, 

Deoemiier  30,  loja  Tbe  fadaer  of  osr 
subject  iras  a  farnaer  br  ooagjatiim  aad 
dealr  escreBsrelT  in  siock.  iiscindii^  bosses 
and  caifl-e.  He  wem  10  Sank  coeEirr.  W  35- 
caaosan,  in  1870,  aiid  icr  a  time  liTed  on  a 
fim:  near  Ree.ds.'bnrg'.  He  was  a  Isroil^er  of 
jrin  BrC'im-  d  AboiiBon  fanje.  He  nar- 
r^ei   '  '-— iaizn.  in  Obio.  wbo  was  a 

— -■!—  ;  -rrScirt.  ^"d^ere  she  lired  nnii! 

gT:-s—   ;.  -en  she  renaovef 

as  the  Wesrem  iveserre.     Sbe  niS'ie  : 

tine  rrrp  in  tbe  saddJe.  and  was  ihe  nrs:  r 

lieacber  in  xhai  secr^':xi.  Sbe  dkd  in  Hnd- 
s^::!n,  OMg.  in  2S63.  Tbe  txthe^  of  oar 
scLject  daed  ia  Reedsbairg.  WlsooGisia.  in 
2S7-      ,    "    -  jeais.     Six    djiJdien 

werr  "Jo*  conpiSe.  our  snbject 

being  '"'^-  j       ^^'      Two  01  bis  In^sbeis, 


frederidc  and  Owen,  enlisted  at  the  Dreil-:- 
ing  ont  of  the  Gvil  war.  Tbe  first  nar::ed 
was  bom  in  Ohio,  in  1828.  and  was  a  grad- 
uate of  tbe  Western  jReserre  CoDege.  He 
si'&di&d  law  and  sensed  in  Pecaioojca,  IBi- 
n:is.  and  was  a^jiinted  postmaster  at  the 
beginning  of  Lincoln's  first  admimstrariou, 
bni  iip'3n  ibe  call  for  three  mcaiihs'  serricje 
be  esilisied.  and  at  the  es^ratioa  otJns  time 
re-enlisted  for  three  years,  asm  agairi  for  one 
year,  tins  serving  for  foor  years  and  three 
months  under  three  enHsHDems.  He  oya- 
sianily  refused  prccncdc^n,  preferring  to 
fight  in  tbe  ranks,  au-i  dirrrng  the  peric^d  in. 
which  he  "-z?  ^  rbe  aimy  be  was  engaged 
innacr:  ---battles.  His -wife  Jocfed 

ir'tr  -  ~- re  during  fn^  entsre  ^  ''j*^ 

He  is  &yv  liriag  in  Anrosa, 

;.  - is  Qigaged  in  tbe  pjaciioe  of 

!aw,  and  is  jnsiice  of  the  peace.  He  -sras 
posHnasiEr  at  Pecaicsfica  imtil  ihe.  beginning 
of  Giant's  first  term  as  pressdeot,  wben  he 
fifsigned,  naTing  filled  tis  oSoe  absul  eight 
years.  Tbe  c»tber  broihex,  nanoed  Owen 
Brown,  was  also  a  najxre  of  the  Buckeye 
state,  ha-fii^  bees  hoai  in  1830.  He  re- 
oareJ  a  good  euncat33n  and  resn-jTed  to 
sombem  IIiii»is  in  185S,  ba-dng  preriogisJy 
nsarried  in  C&io.  In  1862  be  eniiised  in  die 
Eighty-Hesghih  ITIjtcjqs  VolamBss-  Infamrr, 
and  died  in  tbe  bogEtal  at  XashriHe,  Ten- 
nessee, FcSjraaTy  2,  1863. 

Saincm  Bro"sra  lired  in  his  nairre  S32le 
mail  187^.  where  be  was  ^agaged  in  lartn- 
ii^  and  fmir  grcwing.  Upcm  Jearing  Ohio 
be  went  direci  t;'  DeDcma  township.  Sank 
rr^TTT-.  ""srC'Xisin.  azid  ssetJed  on  a  farm 
r-d  ic'-  ihirDeea  years.     He  ea- 

__^ -— ig-  pTTTTig  tTtp  ■=.! ,  "'i:  I  tf~  -TTVtn .Ik; 

and  ^jent  tbe  balance  of  his  vn>t  shiTfcng 
pffodooe.  Here  be  laid  -ays.  fc^ndaiian  iss 
his  preseni  inHnense  produce  bnsrsss,  wijacb 
He  m jved  to 


ry,  2SS6,  and  now 

aiad  sells  in  nacse 


SALHOH  BROWH. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


259 


than  twenty-five.  His  trade  extends  from 
Boston  on  the  east  to  the  Missouri  river  on 
the  west,  and  the  vohime  of  his  trade  has 
been  so  extensive  of  late  that  it  reached 
eighteen  hundred  car  lots  in  the  last  fifteen 
months.  He  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
extensive  clover  seed  dealers  in  the  state, 
and  is,  at  this  time,  engaged  exclusively  in 
the  wholesale  business. 

Our  subject  was  married  at  Put-in-Bay 
Island,  Ohio,  October  28,  1869,  to  Mrs. 
Belle  M.  Brown,  a  native  of  the  Empire 
state,  who  was  born  in  1848.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brown  are  the  parents  of  two  children :  Jen- 
nie B.,  born  October  6,  1870,  who  married 
Dr.  O.  H.  Browm,  and  is  now  a  resident  of 
Belvidere,  Illinois;  and  Lydia  H.,  born  Sep- 
tember 12,  1873,  who  married  C.  H.  Croth- 
ers,  who  is  connected  with  Mr.  Brown's  office 
at  Kilbourn.  j\Ir.  and  ^Irs.  Brown  have 
four  grandsons  and  three  granddaughters. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent  Order   of   Odd    Fellows^    and   the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America.     He  has  al- 
ways been  a  stanch  Republican,  and*is  now 
a  member  of  the  county  central  committee. 
He  has  no\y  served  two  terms  as  chairman 
of  the  Columbia  county  board  of  supervisors, 
and  has  been  a  member  from  Newport  town- 
ship for  six  continuous  terms.     He  was  one 
of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  celebrated  fight 
of    Columbia  county  against    the    famous 
tramp  nuisance  case,  in  which  the  county  was 
engaged  a  short  time  since.     This  case  was 
the  first  to  be  tried  in    the    state,  and  the 
county  was  victorious,  mainly  throug'h  the 
great  efforts  which  Mr.  Brown  with  others 
put  forth  with  that  end  in  view,  thereby  sav- 
ing to  the  county  many  thousands  of  dollars. 
He  is  ever  ready  to  defend  the  people  against 
the   encroachment   of   evil    doers,    and    the 
community  in  \\hich  he  resides  may  well  be 
proud  to  number  him  among  the  influential 
and  public-spirited  citizens.     So  well  known 
and  active  a  character  necessarily  has  many 


friends  throughout  the  land,  and  all  will 
fully  appreciate  the  portrait  of  him  shown 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


REVEREND  JAMES  H.  McCHESNEY. 

Reverend  James  H.  McChesney,  an  aged 
resident  of  the  township  of  New  Chester, 
has  a  very  comfortable  home  on  section  4, 
near   the   postoffice  of   Grand   Marsh,   and 
commands  the  respect  and  veneration  of  a 
wide  circle  of  friends  and  neighbors.     He 
was  born  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  February 
12,  1825,  and  has  lived  a  long  and  active  life. 
James  McChesney,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of   this   writing,    was   born   in   county 
Monaghan,  Ireland,  June  4,  1798,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  when  about  seventeen 
years  old.     When  he  was  three  years  older 
he  traveled  through  the  country  with  Lor- 
enzo Dow  and  Francis  Williams,  preaching 
the  gospel  at  country  school  houses,  and  any 
place  where  a  congregation  could  be  gath- 
ered.      A  little  later  he  became  associated 
with  D.  D.  Beach  in  the  publication  of  a 
religious  paper  with  an  office  in  New  York 
City.       He  was  engaged  in  this  work  for 
many  years,  and  when  he  reached  the  ma- 
ture age  of  forty-two  was  ordained  a  min- 
ister in  Dr.  Wallace's  church  in  New  York. 
He  had  various  settlements  and  after  several 
years  brought  up  in  Glenn  Ellyn,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  one  of  thirteen  to  organize  the 
Chicago   Congregational   Association.     His 
pure  character,  lofty  soul  and  loving  spirit 
commanded  reverence  and  esteem,    and    in 
whatever  work  he  was  engaged  his  sterling 
worth  was  at  once  recognized.     He  died  at 
Glenn  Ellyn  when  over  ninety-six.     He  was 
married  to  Matilda  Davis,  April  4,   1824. 
She  was  born  at  Flempstead  Harbor,  Long- 
Island,  New  York,  April  4,  1806,  and  proved 
herself  in  every  way  a  worthy  associate  of 
her  husband. 


2G0 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


The  Reverend  James  H.  McChesiiey,  the 
subject  of  this  writing,  lived  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  twenty-five  years  old.  He 
studied  much  and  read  deeply  and  wisely 
under  his  father's  direction.  In  1850  he 
left  home  and  went  to  Sparta,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  remained  for  some  four  years.  At 
that  time  he  moved  to  Adams  county,  and 
secured  a  home  in  New  Chester,  where  he 
has  continued  to  reside  to  the  present  time. 
He  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
in  1869  at  Westfield,  Marquette  county,  in 
the  Congregational  church.  He  preached 
for  over  thirty  years  and  owned  a  farm  in  the 
meantime.  He  is  still  called  upon  to  offici- 
ate at  the  funeral  services  of  the  old  resi- 
dents, and  has  tender  and  touching  words 
for  those  with  whom  he  has  been  so  closely 
associated  for  so  many  years.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  B.  Hull,  April  3,  1845,  '"  the 
city  of  Brooklyn.  She  is  a  native  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  where  she  was  born  November 
8,  1829.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McChesney  are  the 
parents  of  eleven  children.  Three  of  these 
died  in  infancy.  Those  now  living  are : 
Josephine  May,  Margaret  M.,  Jane  E., 
Samuel,  Joseph,  James  J.,  Mark  H.,  and 
Myrtle  A.  It  is  a  goodly  family,  and  all 
its  members  have  won  a  good  standing  in 
the  great  world.  Their  venerable  father  is 
much  revered  and  loved,  and  he  is  still  the 
center  of  their  thoughts  and  ambitions. 


CLARENCE  CLAYTON  EATON. 

Clarence  Clayton  Eaton,  editor  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  "Columbus  Democrat,"  at 
Columbus,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  is 
a  gentleman  of  the  highest  character,  and 
popular  throughout  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try. He  is  a  native  of  Whitewater,  Wis- 
consin, and  was  born  August  7,  1861,  and 
was    the    son    of    Sephrenas    and    Eleanor 


(Green)  Eaton.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Leeds,  Ontario,  and  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
P'rancis  Eaton,  who  came  to  America  on  the 
Mayflower.  His  descendants  in  direct  line 
follow:  Francis,  Benjamin,  Benjamin, 
Jr.,  Francis  H.,  Jabez,  Jabez,  Jr.,  Al- 
mon  Ranson,  Sephrenas.  Francis  Ea- 
ton II  wedded  Thankful  Alden,  grand- 
daughter of  John  and  I'riscilla  Alden, 
and  James  Edison  Eaton,  brother  of 
Almon  R.  Eaton,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Columbus,  and  served  as  the  first  postmasier 
and  justice  of  the  peace  and  was  later  county 
clerk.  Almon  R.  Eaton  came  to  Wisconsin 
and  settled  at  Hebron,  Jefferson  county, 
where  he  died  aged  over  seventy  years.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  served  as 
one  of  the  first  justices  at  Hebron  and  was 
a  man  of  good  judgment  and  business  ability. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  by  trade  a 
mechanic,  and  worked  in  the  Esterly  Reaper 
Factory  at  Whitewater  as  a  wood  worker. 
In  his  early  life  he  was  a  sailor  on  the  great 
lakes,  and  he  is  now  a  manufacturer  at 
Watertown,  in  which  city  he  has  served  sev- 
eral years  in  succession  as  alderman.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin 
with  her  parents  at  an  early  day,  and  the 
family  settled  on  a  farm  at  Hebron. 

Clarence  C.  Eaton  attended  public  school 
at  Fond  du  Lac  and  Watertown,  and  later  La 
Borveau  Academy  at  Watertown,  and  after 
completing  a  course  there  entered  the  office 
of  the  "Watertown  Democrat."  L^pon  the 
death  of  its  editor,  Thomas  Jones,  in  187^, 
he  took  charge  of  the  paper  for  a  few  months, 
after  which  he  became  foreman  of  the  news 
and  job  department  of  the  "Eau  Claire  Free 
Press,"  and  also  acted  as  correspondent  to 
Chicago  papers.  He  went  to  Madison  in 
1884  to  accept  a  jxisition  on  the  "Democrat," 
and  in  1887  purchased  the  "Columbus 
Democrat,"  which  he  has  since  published, 
with  much  success.  It  has  been  the  policy  of 
the  paper  to  agitate  the  subject  of  public 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


261 


improvements,  and  it  is  largely  due  to  its 
influence  that  the  town  has  an  excellent  sys- 
tem of  street  lighting  and  water  works,  and 
a  city  hall  which  would  do  credit  to  a  much 
larger  town.  Mr.  Eaton  has  been  active  in 
many  public  improvements,  and  helped  to 
organize  a  Fourth  of  July  American  Asso- 
ciation, which  raised  two  hundred  dollars 
for  public  improvements. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  January, 
1884,  to  Julia  J.  Ford,  daughter  of  John  and 
Martha  ( Maciritchie)  Ford,  of  Watertown, 
Wisconsin.  Two  sons  have  been  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eaton,  bearing  the  names : 
Sumner  Ford  and  Roswell  Carlisle.  Mr. 
Eaton  has  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  two 
years,  and  one  year  as  superintendent  of 
city  schools,  and  in  1897  was  elected  alder- 
man in  the  first  ward,  the  first  Democratic 
candidate  elected  in  that  ward.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Gold  Democratic  state  central 
committee.  He  is  a  gentleman  whose  work 
is  extended  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  men, 
and  he  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem.  He 
is  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  possesses  a 
naturally  fine  baritone  voice,  which  he  has 
greatly  improved  under  excellent  instruction, 
and  aside  from  taking  a  leading  part  in  the 
choirs  of  the  local  churches  is  solicited  to 
sing  in  other  towns  on  public  occasions. 


ARTHUR  MARSDEN,  M.  D. 

Arthur  Marsden,  M.  D.,  and  who  has 
also  won  the  degree  of  Ph.  D.,  is  located  at 
Rio,  Columbia  county,  and  is  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  He  has  rapidly 
won  the  favor  of  the  public  both  by  his  pro- 
fessional skill  and  stability  of  character,  and 
his  friends  expect  for  him  a  long  and  use- 
ful career  in  the  great  work  to  which  he  has 
devoted  himself.  He  was  born  at  Albion 
Prairie,  Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  May  15, 


1869,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Margaret 
Marsden.  The  Marsden  family  traces  its 
lineage  back  to  Normandy,  and  to  adven- 
turous spirits  who  crossed  the  Channel  with 
William  the  Conqueror.  Henry  Marsden 
was  a  native  of  Derbyshire,  England,  and  in 
1844  he  was  brought  by  his  parents  into  Wis- 
consin when  only  thirteen  years  old.  He 
lived  on  the  farm  with  them  until  1880  when 
he  located  in  Edgerton,  and  dealt  in  lumber 
and  building  material  in  that  city.  Mrs. 
Marsden  comes  of  an  illustrious  line.  She 
was  born  in  Perthshire,  Scotland,  and  her 
grandmother  was  a  sister  of  the  Earl  of 
Dumbarton. 

Dr.  Marsden  attended  the  public  school 
at  Edgerton,  and  was  graduated  from  the 
local  high  school  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He 
spent  three  years  at  Albion  Academy,  devot- 
ing himself  to  general  and  philosophical 
studies,  and  entered  Rush  Medical  College 
at  Chicago  in  1891,  and  received  his  di- 
ploma in  1894.  He  also  spent  a  year  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  St. 
Louis,  and  received  a  diploma  from  that  in- 
stitution in  1895.  In  June  of  that  year  he 
opened  an  office  in  Rio,  and  soon  command- 
ed an  extensive  practice  in  Rio  and  the  sur- 
rounding country.  He  is  now  the  only 
physician  in  the  village.  He  is  an  atten- 
dant upon  the  services  of  the  Congregational 
church,  belongs  to  the  Masons,  is  the  camp 
physician  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  and  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 
He  is  a  Republican,  but  not  a  politician.  He 
reads  much,  and  has  an  office  fitted  out  with 
a  valuable  library. 


CHEBAR  FORBUSH. 

The  history  of  a  community  or  a  nation 
is  made  up  of  the  experiences  and  deeds  of 

individuals,   and    for   this   reason   it   would 


2G-2 


COMPEXDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


be  difficult  to  write  a  readable  narrative  of 
the  development  of  Adams  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, without  frequent  mention  of  the  name 
of  Chebar  Forbush.  He  is  one  of  the  pio- 
neers who  did  so  much  in  those  early  days 
to  shape  the  destinies  of  the  great  state  of 
Wisconsin,  and  to  make  for  her  a  career  of 
prosperity  and  greatness  rarely  paralleled 
in  the  world's  history.  The  subject  of  this 
review  has  been  a  resident  of  Adams  county 
practically  half  a  century  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  years  has  occupied  his  pres- 
ent home  in  New  Chester  township. 

Chebar  Forbush  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Starke,  Coos  county,  Xew  Hampshire, 
November  24,  1834.  His  parents  were 
Chebar  and  Elizabeth  (Graper)  Forbush. 
The  father  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  near 
Bloody  Brook,  and  the  grandfather  of  our 
subject  ser\-ed  through  the  Revolutionary 
war,  seven  years  in  all.  It  is  said  two  For- 
bush brothers  were  taken  prisoners  by  the 
great  Cromwell  in  Scotland,  and  were  ban- 
ished from  the  country  in  1655.  They  set- 
tled in  Massachusetts,  near  Springfield,  and 
their  descendants  have  scattered  throughout 
the  United  States,  many  of  them  still  living 
in  Massachusetts.  Chebar  Forbush,  Sr.,  re- 
moved to  North  Adams,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  was  employed  as  watchman  in  the 
factories  in  that  place  for  a  niunber  of  years. 
In  1848  he  went  to  Cook  county,  Illinois, 
V.  here  he  lived  three  3-ears.  He  then  moved 
to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  locating  in 
Pleasant  Prairie,  and  thence  to  Sharon,  Wis- 
consin. His  death  occurred  in  ]\Iinneapolis, 
jSIinnesota;  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years.  He  was  a  stanch  Whig  in  his 
earlier  days,  and  later  voted  with  the  Re- 
publicans. Our  subject's  mother  was  born 
in  1804  in  New  Hampshire,  and  died  in 
Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five  years.  Her  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  lived  and  died  in  New  Hampshire.  Her 
mother  was  a  descendant  of  the  Hollanders. 


Giebar  Forbush,  our  present  subject, 
was  a  small  lad  when  his  family  took  him  to 
North  Adams,  IMassachusetts,  where  he 
worked  five  years  in  a  cotton  factory.  He  ac- 
companied the  family  to  Illinois,  and  thence 
to  Wisconsin.  He  took  up  his  residence  in 
Adams  county  in  1851,  and  a  few  years 
later  purchased  his  present  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He  has  placed 
many  valuable  and  convenient  improvements 
upon  it,  and  has  made  it  in  every  sense  a 
home,  where  genuine  hospitality  and  good 
cheer  are  extended  to  all  who  cross  itS: 
threshold. 

Mr.  Forbush  enlisted  February  11,  1862, 
in  Company  G,  Nineteenth  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  His  first  two  years  of  ser- 
vice were  in  eastern  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  He  was  later  transferred  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  took  part  in  the 
siege  of  Norfolk,  the  battles  of  Drury's 
Blutf,  Fair  Oaks,  and  the  sieges  of  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond.  He  was  mustered  out 
and  discharged  May  4,  1865,  having  been  in 
the  ranks  almost  continuously  during  his  en- 
tire sers'ice. 

Chebar  Forbush  was  married  November 
5,  1856,  to  Sarah  Foster,  of  New  Chester 
township,  Adams  cotmty,  Wisconsin.  She 
died  January  8,  1859,  aged  twenty  years. 
Sophia  C.  Stewart,  daughter  of  James 
Stewart,  of  Waukesha,  Wisconsin,  became 
the  wife  of  our  subject,  IMarch  19,  i860. 
Mrs.  Forbush  was  born  in  Martha's  \'ine- 
yard,  Massachusetts.  To  this  union  three 
children  w^ere  born,  namely:  Clara  Sophia, 
now  Mrs.  Peter  Johnson,  of  Hancock, 
Wisconsin ;  Sarah  Agnes,  now  Mrs.  William 
DeMott,  of  Westfield,  Wisconsin,  and  Wal- 
ter U.,  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Forbush  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church  of 
New  Chester,  of  which  INIr.  Forbush  is  a 
deacon  and  trustee.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  Badger  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Friendship.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  political  views,  having 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


263 


voted  for  Fremont  in  1856,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  support  the  men  and  measures  of 
the  "grand  old  party"  ever  since.  He  has 
been  chosen  supervisor  of  Xew  Chester 
township  several  times,  always  serving  his 
community  with  fidelit}-  and  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  men  of  all  shades  of  political 
faith. 


GOTTLIEB    LOHR. 

A  brilliant  example  of  a  self-made 
American  citizen  and  a  grand  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  progress  that  an  ambitious 
foreigner  can  make  in  this  country  of  un- 
bounded opportunities,  is  shown  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Lohr,  one  of  the  leading  German- 
American  residents  of  Sauk  City,  Wisconsin. 
For  many  years  he  was  actively  identified 
with  the  agricultural  interests  of  Sauk 
county,  but  two  years  ago  he  gave  up  busi- 
ness life  and  removed  to  the  village,  where 
ho  is  now  living  retired. 

Mr.  Lohr  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
June  7,  1835,  and  acquired  a  limited  educa- 
tion in  his  native  land.  In  1854,  in  company 
with  his  parents  and  seven  other  children, 
he  emigrated  to  America,  where  they  hoped 
to  improve  their  financial  condition.  By 
close  economy  and  careful  management  they 
saved  enough  to  pay  their  passage,  and  bid- 
ding good  bye  to  friends  and  native  land, 
embarked  at  Bremen  on  a  sailing  vessel, 
which  was  sixty  days  in  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic. They  landed  at  New  York,  August  30, 
1854,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  where  they  secured  work  at 
whatever  they  could  find  to  do. 

Our  subject  found  employment  working 
with  a  threshing  machine,  and  receive.l  fifty 
cents  per  day  and  his  board,  which  seemed 
to  him  at  that  time  very  good  wages,  as  it 
was  much  more  than  he  had  ever  earned  be- 
fore. This  brought  before  him  visions  of 
wealth  and   fortune  quickly  secured.        He 


next  worked  for  a  farmer  at  $5  per  month, 
and  the  following  winter  made  for  him  oak 
shingles  which  were  used  in  covering  a  new 
granary  which  the  farmer  built  and  which 
was  soon  afterward  destroyed  by  fire.  Later 
he  was  employed  by  another  farmer  at  $144 
per  year  and  remained  with  him  three  years 
and  a  half,  during  which  time  he  saved  all 
liis  money,  being  steady,  industrious  and 
economical,  and  spending  nothing  for  beer 
and  luxuries.  At  the  end  of  twelve  years 
spent  in  the  employ  of  others,  he  managed  to 
save  considerable  money,  and  in  the  mean- 
time purchased  eighty  acres  of  raw  land  in 
Hone}^  Creek  township,  on  time,  and  his 
wages  went  to  pay  the  interest  and  complete 
the  purchase.  He  then  located  upon  his 
land  and  turned  his  attention  to  its  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Lohr  married  Aliss 
Helena  Hartmann,  and  together  they  worked 
night  and  day  until  they  had  one  of  the  best 
improved  farms  of  the  locality.  x\t  times 
Mr.  Lohr  also  worked  for  others  and  as 
his  financial  resources  increased  he  added  to 
his  land  until  he  now  has  a  fine  farm  of  192 
acres,  which  is  operated  by  his  son.  Our 
subject  erected  thereon  a  nice  stone  house 
20x30,  with  a  kitchen  18x24,  all  two  stories 
high;  a  barn,  40x70  feet,  and  good  outbuild- 
ings, all  of  which  he  keeps  in  excellent  re- 
pair. His  place  is  supplied  with  all  kinds 
of  farm  machinery,  and  he  also  has  a  fine 
threshing  machine  outfit,  purchased  at  a  cost 
of  $2,400;  a  sorghum  mill,  which  cost  $350; 
and  a  saw  mill,  where,  during  the  winter 
season,  from  75,000  to  125,000  feet  of  lum- 
ber are  manufactured. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lohr  have  five  children: 
John,  a  farmer  of  Troy  township,  Sauk 
county,  whose  place  cost  $8,000;  Chris,  who 
lives  on  the  home  farm;  Amelia,  wife  of 
William  Wenzel,  b\'  whom  she  has  three 
children;  Herman,  a  school  teacher;  and 
Emma,  at  home.     All  of  the  children  have 


264 


COMPEXDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


been  given  good  educational  advantages,  and 
the  family  are  meml>ers  of  the  Lutheran 
church.  In  his  political  views  j\lr.  Lohr 
is  a  Republican.  His  word  in  business 
transactions  is  considered  as  good  as  his 
bond,  and  when  purchasing  his  threshing 
machine  he  would  not  sign  a  contract  but 
said  he  would  pay  the  amount  in  so  many 
days,  and  he  did  pay  it  before  that  time.  He 
is  a  man  of  excellent  judgment  and  good 
business  ability,  is  upright  and  reliable  in  all 
things,  and  is  justly  recognized  as  one  of 
the  most  energetic  and  representative  citi- 
zens of  Sauk  Citv. 


JOHN  RICHMOND  DECKER. 

John  Richmond  Decker,  publisher  of  the 
"Columbus  Republican,"  enjoys  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  oldest  editor  in  Columbia 
county.  He  is  also  connected  with  other 
business  interests,  including  a  prosperous 
furniture  business  at  Pittsville,  Wood  coun- 
ty, and  since  1886  had  been  local  mana- 
ger of  the  Wisconsin  Telephone  Company 
until  about  one  year  ago. 

Mr.  Decker  was  born  in  Sinclairville, 
Chautauqua  county.  New  York,  February 
28,  1842,  and  was  the  son  of  Stephen  and 
Sylvania  (Richmond)  Decker.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  Troy,  New  York,  and  was 
of  Holland  descent,  his  ancestors  having 
located  on  the  Hudson  river,  and  were  neigh- 
bors of  the  Van  Rensselaers,  and  other  prom- 
inent Knickerbocker  families.  The  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  Christopher  Decker, 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  his  mother, 
Phoebe  Cushman,  was  a  relative  of  the 
famous  actress,  Charlotte  Cushman.  Our 
subject's  father  learned  the  trade  of  wagon- 
maker  in  Bennington,  Vermont,  and  later 
conducted  a  large  factory  at  Sinclairville, 
New  York,  and  about  1845  "loved  to  Erie 


county.  New  York,  and  in  1855  to  Waupun, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  carried  on  a  wagon 
factory,  and  his  death  occurred  there  in 
1886,  aged  seventy-eigiit  years.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  was  born  in  Bennington, 
Vermont,  and  was  the  daughter  of  John 
and  Sarah  (Truman)  Richmond.  Her  fa- 
ther represented  the  sixth  generation  of  that 
family  in  America.  The  first  was  John 
Richmond,  who  settled  at  Taunton,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1635.  His  grandson,  Sylvanus 
Richmond,  married  a  descendant  of  John 
Alden.  John  Richmond,  the  fifth  in  line 
of  descent,  served  under  General  Wolfe  at 
the  battle  of  Quebec.  He  was  seventy- 
three  years  of  age  when  the  Revolutionary 
war  began,  and  although  too  old  to  take 
active  part  espoused  the  patriot  cause.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  died  at  Columbus, 
Wisconsin,  in  1888,  aged  eighty-five  years. 

John  R.  Decker  attended  Waupun  high 
school,  and  in  1859  spent  one  year  in  the 
office  of  the  "Waupun  Times,"  and  finished 
his  trade  in  the  job  office  of  Edward  Beeson, 
one  of  the  veteran  printers  and  editors  of 
the  state,  now  deceased.  Mr.  Decker  returned 
to  Waupun  in  1867  and  purchased  the 
"Times,"  wdiich  he  published  one  year,  and 
in  1868  established  the  "Columbus  Republi- 
can," which  he  has  since  published.  He  is 
the  oldest  editor  in  the  county  and  one  of 
the  oldest  in  Wisconsin. 

Our  subject  was  married,  in  1866,  to 
Miss  Harriet  E.  Shelmadine,  daughter  of 
Abram  and  Lucy  Shelmadine,  of  Waupun, 
Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Decker  was  born  in 
Elmira,  New  York,  and  died  in  1869, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years,  leav- 
ing two  children,  Minnie  J.  and  Ray,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  four  and  one-half  years. 
Mr.  Decker  married  Miss  Susan  Hawx- 
hurst,  of  Columbus,  daughter  of  Mrs. 
Penelope  Hawxhurst,  in.  1870.  Mrs.  Decker 
died  three  years  later,  aged  thirty-two  years. 
Her  only  child,  Myrta,  died  the  day  follow- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


265 


ing  her  mother's  death,  aged  two  and  a 
half  years.  Mr.  Decker  married  Emma  L. 
Kolmes,  of  Portage  City,  Wisconsin,  in 
1875.  Mrs.  Decker  was  born  in  West 
Point,  New  York,  and  was  tlie  daugliter  of 
Joshua  Holmes,  who  died  at  Columbus, 
aged  ninety-three  years.  Both  our  subject 
and  wife  are  members  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  Mr.  Decker  is  a  member  of  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  and  the 
blue  lodge,  chapter  and  Eastern  Star,  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  was  appointed 
postmaster  of  Columbus  by  President  Har- 
rison and  served  from  1890-94.  He  was 
justice  of  the  peace  eight  years  at  Columbus, 
and  chairman  of  the  county  board  of  super- 
visors in  1877,  '78  and  '79.  He  is  well 
and  favorably  known  and  well  merits  his 
success  and  prominent  position. 


ANDREW  OLESON  HOLM,  Deceased. 

For  more  than  a  score  of  years  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  was  the  home  of  the 
gentleman  above  nametl  and  his  public 
career  was  one  of  which  his  community 
could  always  boast.  He  was  an  ex-soldier 
and  a  liberty  loving  citizen  and  enjoyed 
the  esteem  of  his  fellow  men.  He  was  an 
active  business  man  and  displayed  ability 
and   enterprise. 

Mr.  Holm  was  born  in  Skeen,  Norway, 
March  5,  1831,  the  son  of  Ole  and  Anna 
Holm.  His  mother  died  in  Norway,  and 
he  and  his  father  came  to  America  in  1849, 
and  his  father  died  the  day  following  their 
arrival. 

Our  subject  attended  school  in  this 
country  but  little,  but  was  well  read  in  his 
native  language.  He  resided  at  Palmyra 
until  1859,  when  he  went  to  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  settled  in  Strong's  Prairie 
township,  where  he  lived  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  entered  the  United  States  army 
September  26,  1864,  and  became  a  member 


of  Company  F,  Third  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry.  He  was  stationed  at  Nashville 
for  some  time  and  took  part  in  General 
Thomas'  battle  with  Hood  and  subsequent 
march  through  Alabama.  He  received  no 
wounds,  but  his  health  was  much  impaired 
by  the  service.  He  was  discharged  June 
9,  1865,  and  about  two  years  after  his  re- 
turn to  Wisconsin  he  was  elected  county 
clerk  and  removed  to  Friendship,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death.  He  did  consider- 
able insurance  business,  and  also  filled  the 
office  of  county  clerk  continuously  until  his 
death. 

Mr.  Holm  was  married,  Alarch  24,  1857, 
to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Peter  U.  and 
Louise  Barnson.  Mrs.  Holm  was  born  near 
Farsund,  Norway,  and  came  to  America 
with  her  parents  in  1849.  The  family  re- 
sided four  years  in  Dane  county,  Wisc<in- 
sin,  and  moved  from  thence  to  Adams  coun- 
ty, where  her  father  engaged  in  farming 
in  Strong's  Prairie  township  until  his  death, 
in  April,  1872,  aged  seventy-one  years. 
Mrs.  Holm's  mother  died  in  December, 
1880,  aged  seventy-four  years.  Ten  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  were 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holm,  as  follows: 
Louise,  now  IMrs.  James  Power,  of  Port- 
land, North  Dakota;  Marie,  now  the  wife 
of  J.  E.  Fladeland,  of  North  Dakota;  Peter 
L'.,  a  teacher  of  Farmington,  Washington ; 
Tillie,  a  teacher  at  Jefferson,  Wisconsin; 
Ella,  now  Mrs.  E.  E.  Smith,  of  Friendship; 
Clara,  now  Mrs.  Bennett,  of  Wyoming; 
and  Ada,  a  resident  of  Friendship.  Mrs. 
Holm  has  eleven  grandchildren.  She 
resides  in  Friendship  and  her  home  is 
one  of  culture  and  refinement.  Mr.  Holm 
died  in  Friendship  September  9,  1882.  Pie 
was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church  of  Strong's  Prairie,  and  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  excellent  characteristics.  He  was 
a  life  long  Republican,  and  stood  firmly  for 
the  prinoi[)les  of  his  party. 


266 


COMPIiXDlUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


WILLIAM    McLEISH. 

William  McLeish,  deceased,  was  num- 
bered among  the  honored  pioneers  of  Co- 
hiipbia  county,  who  located  in  Caledonia 
township  when  this  region  was  wild  and  un- 
improved. In  the  work  of  development  he 
took  an  active  part  and  aided  in  opening  up 
the  country  t(j  ci\-ilization.  As  the  years 
passed  he  faithfully  performed  his  duties  of 
citizenship,  and  his  interest  in  the  welfare 
and  progress  of  the  community  never  abated. 
Becoming  widely  and  favorably  known  he 
made  many  friends,  and  his  death  was  a 
joss  to  the  entire  community.  A  portrait 
of  this  respected  citizen  and  influential  mem- 
ber of  the  county  is  presented 'on  another 
page  in  this  volume. 

Air.  jMcLeish  was  born  in  the  parish  of 
Mythel,  Perthshire,  Scotland,  January  12, 
1824,  a  son  of  William  and  Margaret  (Car- 
michael)  AIcLeish.  The  mother  died  in 
that  country,  leaving  five  children,  three  sons 
and  two  daughters,  of  whom  only  two,  Will- 
iam and  Charles,  came  to  America.  The  fa- 
tlier.  an  agriculturist  of  Perthshire,  was  a 
representative  of  a  family  who  were  farm- 
ers in  Scotland  for  many  generations.  In 
185 1  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  joined  our 
subject  in  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  died  in  1854. 

It  was  in  1847  that  William  McLeish, 
Jr.,  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  af- 
ter spending  one  year  in  New  York  state, 
came  to  \\'isconsin  and  purchased  a  soldier's 
claim  in  Caledonia  township,  Columbia 
county,  where  he  made  his  home  until  his 
death,  July  18,  1878.  He  was  a  thrifty,  in- 
dustrious farmer,  and  succeeded  in  accumu- 
lating several  hundred  acres  of  land.  He 
was  distinguished  for  a  spirit  of  sociability 
and  genuine  Scotch  hospitality,  and  w^as 
held  in  high  esteem  by  his  neighbors,  who 
honored  him  with  several  local  positions  of 
public  trust. 


In  December,  1851,  Mr.  McLeish  mar- 
ried Miss  Jane  Thompson,  a  native  of  New 
Monkland  parish,  Sterlingshire,  Scotland, 
and  a  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Elizabeth 
(W^addell)  Thompson.  Her  father  was  a 
building  contractor  and  also  operated  stone 
quarries  near  Airdree  some  years.  He  met 
with  success  in  his  undertakings,  and  be- 
came proprietor  of  considerable  property. 
To  our  subject  and  his  wife  were  born  seven 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The 
others  are :  Eliza,  wife  of  Thomas  Mc- 
Lean, of  Nobles  county,  Minnesota ;  Will- 
iam, who  lives  on  the  home  farm  in  Cale- 
donia township;  Margaret,  wife  of  James 
Towers,  of  the  same  township;  Andrew,  a 
farmer  near  White,  South  Dakota;  and 
Jc.hn,  a  farmer  of  Rock  county,  Minnesota. 

During  her  girlhood  Mrs.  McLeish  was 
given  fair  educational  advantages  for  those 
days.  In  1850  she  came  to  the  United 
States  on  a  sailing  vessel,  the  Buena  Vista, 
which  made  the  voyage  in  four  weeks  and 
two  days,  and  after  spending  one  season  in 
New  York  City,  she  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
185 1.  For  almost  half  a  century  she  has 
made  her  home  in  Columbia  county,  and 
although  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  she  is 
still  active  in  mind  and  body.  She  is  a 
lady  of  hospitable  instincts  and  cultivated 
tastes,  and  has  numerous  friends  through- 
out the  community  in  which  she  lives.  She 
was  reared  in  the  Baptist  faith,  her  hus- 
band in  the  strict  Presbyterian  form.  They 
never  united  with  any  church  here,  but  led 
conscientious  and  exemplary  lives,  and 
sought  to  gi\-e  their  children  the  best  ad- 
vantages in  every  respect. 


JOSEPH  L.  GREEN. 

Joseph  L.  Green,  fleceased,  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  citizens  of  Reedsburg,  as  well  as 
one  of  its  leadingand  successful  business  men. 


WILLIAM  McLEISH.    (Deceased. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


269 


He  was  identified  witli  some  of  the  most 
important  industries  of  tlie  community, 
and  liis  connection  with  tliese  various  busi- 
ness enterprises  was  of  decided  advantage 
to  tliis  section  of  tlie  county,  promoting  its 
material  welfare  in  no  uncertain  manner. 
Mr.  Green  was  born  in  Cairo,  Greene 
county,  New  York,  June  6,  1827,  and 
died  at  Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  July  8, 
1885.  His  parents,  James  and  Lodimma 
(Pitts)  Green,  were  also  natives  of  Greene 
county,  New  York.  Our  subject  passed 
his  boyhood  and  youth  upon  the  home 
farm  in  New  York,  and  in  1843  ''^" 
moved  with  the  family  to  Racine  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  and  five  years  later  to  Reeds- 
burg, when  that  village  consisted  of  only  a 
few  log  cabins.  For  several  years  he  worked 
in  a  sawmill  owned  by  David  C.  Reed,  and 
later  lived  on  a  farm  near  the  village.  In 
1853  he  embarked  in  merchandising  in 
Reedsburg,  and  carried  on  business  along 
that  line  until  1864,  when  he  removed  to 
Sparta  and  engaged  in  hop  culture  for  a  few 
years.  About  1870  he  went  to  Rudd's, 
Monroe  county,  becoming  a  partner  of  Rudd 
Brothers,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rudd 
&  Green.  They  built  a  sawmill,  which 
they  operated  until  1881,  when  they  sold 
the  plant,  and  Mr.  Green  returned  to  Reeds- 
burg, where  he  purchased  an  interest  in  a 
flouring  mill.  He  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  Reedsburg"  Woolen  Mills, 
and  retained  an  interest  in  that  concern  un- 
til his  death.  He  was  also  one  of  the  in- 
corporators of  the  Reedsburg  Bank,  and 
was  a  direct(.)r  of  that  flourishing  institu- 
tion throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
The  Republican  party  found  in  him  a  stanch 
supporter  of  its  principles,  and  for  a  time 
he  held  the  office  of  postmaster  in  Reeds- 
burg. He  was  a  member  of  the  Good 
Templars  Society,  and  took  an  active  in- 
terest in  advancing  the  cause  of  temperance. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  highest  respectability. 


and  those  who  were  most  intimately  asso- 
ciated W'ith  him  speak  in  unqualified  terms 
of  his  sterling  integrity,  his  honor  in  busi- 
ness and  fidelity  to  all  the  duties  of  public 
and  private  life. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  Mr.  Green 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Lavina 
Reed,  also  a  native  of  Cairo,  Greene  county, 
New  York,  and  a  daughter  of  Alanson  C. 
and  Mary  (Roberts)  Reed,  who  in  1845 
removed  with  their  family  to  Lake  Geneva, 
\Valvvorth  county,  Wisconsin,  and  remained 
there  five  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
they  came  to  Reedsburg,  and  located  on  a 
farm  near  the  village.  The  father,  who  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  died  in  Sparta,  in 
October,  1867,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years, 
and  the  mother  died  at  the  same  place,  in 
June,  1877,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  His 
cousin,  David  C.  Reed,  came  to  what  is  now 
Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  about  1849,  and  built 
the  first  sawmill  in  the  place.  The  village 
was  afterward  named  in  his  honor.  The 
paternal  grandparents  of  Mrs.  Green  were 
Adam  and  Rebecca  (Chichester)  Reed,  na- 
tives of  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  and  the 
former  w^as  of  Welsh  and  the  latter  of 
Dutch  descent.  The  Reed  family  was  rep- 
resented in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

Mrs.  Green  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth 
in  a  family  of  six  children,  the  others  being 
as  follows:  Rebecca,  who  died  in  1853,  at 
the  age  of  twenty  years;  Mary,  widow  of 
John  Coughran,  and  a  resident  of  Grand 
Rapids,  Michigan;  George,  a  resident  of 
Greene  county,  Iowa ;  Martha,  widow  of 
Samuel  Coughran,  wdio  is  represented  else- 
where in  this  volume;  and  Francis,  who 
died  in  Reedsburg,  in  1856,  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green  w'as  born  a 
daughter,  Mary  Evelyn,  who  died  July  13, 
1888,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years.  Mrs. 
Green  still  makes  her  home  in  Reedsburg, 
where  she  is  surrounded  by  a  large  circle 


270 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


of  friends  and  acquaintances  who  esteem 
her  highly  for  her  sterhng  worth.  She  at- 
tends the  Preshvterian  church. 


SAMUEL  COUGHRAN. 

Samuel  Coughran,  deceased,  was  one  of 
the  early  settlers  and  honored  citizens  of 
Sauk  county,  where  he  made  his  home  for 
many  years.  He  was  born  in  Vermont, 
May  8,  1828,  and  was  a  son  of  Samuel  and 
Elizabeth  Coughran.  The  father,  who  was 
a  native  of  Ireland,  was  drowned  while  a 
resident  of  Vermont,  but  the  mother  died 
in  Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  where  she  spent 
her  last  years. 

About  1845  our  subject  came  to  Wis- 
consin and  first  located  in  Racine  county, 
but  in  1853  came  to  Sauk  county,  locating 
on  a  farm  in  Excelsior  township,  where  he 
lived  for  five  years.  He  then  went  to  Idaho, 
by  way  of  the  overland  route,  and  for  some 
time  was  engaged  in  gold  mining  in  Idaho, 
Washington  and  Oregon.  On  his  return  to 
this  state  he  became  interested  in  hop  culture 
at  Sparta  in  company  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Joseph  L.  Green.  In  the  fall  of  1890 
he  went  to  California,  and  later  became  a 
resident  of  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota, 
where  he  died  in  November,  1891,  hon- 
ored and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  was  a  Knight  Templar  Mason,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Commandery  at  Sparta,  and  was 
a  supporter  of  the  Repulilican  party  and  its 
principles. 

In  1855  Mr.  Coughran  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Martha  A.  Reed,  a  na- 
tive of  Greene  county.  New  York,  and  a 
daughter  of  Alanson  C.  and  Mary  (Rob- 
erts) Reed,  who  are  mentioned  more  fully 
in  the  sketch  of  Joseph  L.  Green  on  an- 
other page  of  this  volume.  By  this  union 
two  sons  were  born  :  Eugene  W.,  a  real  estate 


dealer  of  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota;  and 
Frank  R.,  now  postmaster  of  Worthington, 
]\Iinnesota.  Mrs.  Coughran,  who  is  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Congregational 
church  and  a  most  estimable  lady,  still 
makes  her  home  in  Reedsburg,  Wisconsin. 


REV.    JOHN    HAMILTON    RITCHEY, 
D.  D. 

Rev.  John  Hamilton  Ritchey,  D.  D., 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Port- 
age, Wisconsin,  was  born  in  Ganges,  Ohio, 
June  26,  1840,  a  son  of  Hamilton  and  Jane 
(McAllen)  Ritchey.  The  Ritchey  family  is 
of  Scotch-Irish  lineage,  and  among  its 
representatives  have  been  a  number  of  pro- 
fessional men  of  prominence.  The  pater- 
nal grandfather  of  our  subject  came  to 
this  country  from  County  Armagh  and  set- 
tled in  Mercersburg,  Pennsylvania.  There 
the  father,  Hamilton  Ritchey,  was  born 
and  reared,  but  in  November,  1839,  re- 
moved to  Ganges,  Ohio,  where  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  as  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Columbus  &  Sandusky 
stage  line.  He  was  active  in  political  af- 
fairs, first  as  a  Whig  and  later  as  an  Abo- 
litionist. The  maternal  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  John  McAllen,  was  a  farmer  of 
Mercersburg,  Pennsylvania.  His  ancestors 
came  from  Scotland  to  the  United  States 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Profes- 
sional men  were  also  numerous  in  this 
family. 

John  H.  Ritchey,  of  this  review,  attend- 
ed Vermillion  Institute,  of  Hayesville,  Ohio, 
for  two  years  and  then  entered  the  sopho- 
more class  of  Jefferson  College,  Canons- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  completed  the 
regular  course  and  was  graduated  in  1865. 
He  then  became  a  student  in  the  W^estern 
Theological     Seminary,     Allegheny     City, 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


271 


Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1868.  In  August  of  the  same  year  he 
took  charge  of  a  mission  at  Cambria,  Wis- 
consin, but  nine  months  later  was  called  to 
the  Presbyterian  church  of  Portage,  where 
he  was  ordained  and  installed  June  i,  1869. 
He  remained  in  charge  here  until  the  4th 
of  July,  1874,  when,  owing  to  failing  health, 
he  resigned  with  the  intention  of  spending 
some  time  in  recuperation. 

On  the  way  to  visit  his  relatives  in  Ohio, 
Mr.  Ritchey  preached  at  Ouincy,  Michigan, 
and  in  response  to  an  invitation  from  that 
congregation  he  remained  there  fifteen 
months.  A  change  of  climate  proving  ben- 
eficial and  his  health  having  somewhat  im- 
proved, he  accepted  a  call  from  West- 
minster church,  Rockford,  Illinois,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1875,  and  remained  there  three  years. 
The  following  year  was  mainly  spent  in  rus- 
ticating through  the  west,  holding  oc- 
casional services.  On  the  27th  of  June, 
1880,  he  assumed  pastoral  charge  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  church  of  Independence, 
Iowa,  one  of  the  leading  congregations  of 
that  state,  and  continued  at  that  place  for 
six  and  a  half  years,  which  was  a  period 
of  transition  from  the  old  stationary  condi- 
tion to  one  of  active  progress  and  develop- 
ment in  spiritual  affairs  there.  In  1886  he 
returned  to  Portage,  where  he  has  since 
been  in  charge  of  his  original  congregation 
and,  although  there  have  been  many  changes 
in  the  membership,  the  society  has  stead- 
ily increased  in  numbers  and  strength.  A 
new  church  has  been  built  and  was  dedicated 
October  15,  1893.  It  is  a  model  building, 
designed  by  Volk  &  Son,  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  and  will  compare  favorably  with  the 
best  churches  for  all  the  uses  of  a  modern 
congregation. 

On  the  1 8th  of  May,  1871,  Dr.  Ritchey 
married  Miss  Ella  L.  Moor,  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Peter  and  Mary  M.  (Taylor)  Moor, 
of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  and  four  children 


bless  this  union:  Frederick  C,  connected 
with  the  "Chicago  Record ;"  Romney  M., 
now  a  student  in  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  Iowa;  Miriam  J.;  and 
John  H. 

Dr.  Ritchey  is  a  man  of  unusual  energy 
and  enthusiasm,  but  his  ambition  is  more 
or  less  curtailed  by  his  physical  frailty. 
Possessing  lofty  ideals,  he  is  nevertheless 
endowed  with  unusually  fine  discernment 
and  business  ability,  and  is  exceedingly 
practical  in  all  his  undertakings.  All  of 
the  congregations  over  which  he  has  pre- 
sided are  conspicuous  for  the  harmony 
which  prevails  among  their  members,  who 
often  speak  of  the  permanent  effect  of  his 
labors  and  influence.  On  the  ist  of  June, 
1 89 1,  Gale  College,  Galesville,  Wisconsin, 
conferred  the  degree  of  D.  D.  upon  him. 
He  is  trustee  of  several  literary  institutions ; 
is  a  member  of  the  Phi  Kappa  Psi  frater- 
nity of  the  United  States;  and  is  often  in- 
vited to  deliver  addresses  and  baccalaureate 
sermons  for  the  different  colleges.  For 
some  time  he  was  president  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  Downer  College,  and  was 
active  in  securing  its  consolidation  with  Mil- 
waukee College,  by  which  its  usefulness  has 
been  greatly  increased.  He  is  now  vice- 
president  of  the  Milwaukee-Downer  Col- 
lege. 


GEORGE  VOLNEY  BACON,  Dece.vsed. 

Spring\'ille  township,  Adams  county, 
had  no  better  representative  farmer  during 
his  life  than  the  gentleman  whose  name 
heads  this  personal  history,  and  who  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Wisconsin.  His 
estate  was  conducted  with  the  greatest 
care,  and  he  showed  a  progressive  spirit 
commendable  to  him,  and  was  respected  by 
his  entire  community. 

Mr.    Bacon    was    born    in    Livingston 


272 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


county,  New  York,  December  12,  1826,  and 
was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Achsah 
(Terry)  Bacon.  His  father  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, but  when  a  young  boy  his  family 
moved  to  New  York,  leaving  him  to  the 
care  of  others.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years  he  removed  to  Livingston  county, 
New  York,  where  he  married.  His  death 
occurred  December  13,  1878,  at  Hanover, 
Michigan. 

Of  a  family  of  twelve  children,  six  sons 
and  six  daughters,  our  subject  was  the  sec- 
ond child.  Until  about  seventeen  years  of 
age  he  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm.  His 
eyesight  was  affected  and  he  could  not  at- 
tend school,  but  obtained  a  fair  education. 
In  June,  1845,  1''^  went  to  Beaver  Dam, 
Wisconsin,  and  was  em])loyed  in  different 
works  for  about  three  years,  when  he  re- 
turned to  Allegany  county,  New  York, 
and  engaged  in  farming.  He  located  in 
Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin,  in  1850,  remaining 
there  until  1856,  when  he  went  to  Spring- 
ville,  Adams  county.  He  took  government 
land  and  a  few  years  later  purchased  a  farm 
in  the  same  township,  which  he  occupied  un- 
til his  death.  He  was  thorough  and  prac- 
tical and  conducted  a  model  farm.  In  No- 
vember, 1864,  he  entered  the  army  and  was 
away  about  three  months  at  Madison,  but 
was  discharged  at  the  end  of  that  time  on 
account  of  defective  sight. 

Mr.  Bacon  wias  married  November  9, 
1848,  to  Mary  Jane  Hay,  daughter  of  Jona- 
than and  Julia  (Collins)  Hay,  of  Living- 
ston county.  New  York.  Mrs.  Bacon's  fa- 
ther was  of  Scotch  descent  and  was  born 
in  Vermont,  where  he  resided  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-six  years.  Five 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bacon, 
as  follows :  George  Mansfield,  born  June  30, 
1852,  died  at  Springville,  June  22,  1873; 
Frances  E.,  born  March  21,  1850,  married 
J.  W.  Cummings,  of  Springville,  Novem- 
ber 9,  1872;  Helen  E.,  born  March  24,  1861, 


married  A.  D.  Billings,  of  Springville,  Oc- 
tober 15,  1884;  Charles  E.,  born  August 
14,  1863,  now  residing  on  the  old  home- 
stead; and  Anna  L.,  born  October  29,  1872, 
married  A.  E.  Richardson,  of  New  Lisbon, 
April  13,  1898.  Mr.  Bacon  departed  this 
life  in  Springville  township,  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin.  July  5,  1882.  He  left  a  loving 
family  and  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances 
and  friends  to  mourn  for  him.  He  was 
respected  wherever  he  was  known,  and  lived 
an  honest  man,  ever  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  his  associates.  He  served  for  sev^ 
eral  terms  on  the  town  board,  and  in  all 
matters  of  a  public  nature  gave  his  support. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  political  faith,  but 
did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the  affairs 
of  liis  party.  He  kept  posted  on  important 
public  questions,  and  was  keenly  awake  to 
the  needs  of  the  hour.  Mrs.  Bacon  has 
erected  a  fine  residence  on  the  estate  of  her 
son-in-law,  A.  D.  Billings,  near  the  old 
homestead,  where  she  lives  in  comfortable 
circumstances.  She  is  a  lady  of  refinement 
and  good  taste,  and  her  home  is  a  model  of 
convenience  and  neatness. 


LEWIS  EDMINSTER. 

Lewis  Edminster,  a  resident  of  Poynette, 
Columbia  county,  bears  an  honorable  repu- 
tation, the  result  of  a  long  and  useful  life, 
largely  spent  in  this  part  of  Wisconsin,  and 
overflowing  with  a  kindly  spirit  and  humane 
impulses. 

Mr.  Edminster  was  born  at  Big  Flats, 
Chemung  county,  New  York,  January  16, 
1830,  and  his  parents  were  Aaron  and  Mary 
(Davenport)  Edminster,  both  of  English 
nativity.  They  came  into  New  York  from 
New  Jersey  at  an  early  day,  when  the 
region  they  sought  was  on  the  frontier,  and 
dangerously  close  to  the  savage  and  the  wild 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


273 


beast.  To  David  Edminster,  the  grandfa- 
ther, were  born  four  sons :  Nathan,  Lewis, 
Aaron  and  William.  Aaron  Edminster 
silent  the  greater  part  of  his  boyhood  at 
Itliaca,  New  York,  and  when  he  became  a 
man  engaged  in  farming  many  years  in 
Chemung  county.  Alwut  1854  he  ex- 
changed his  eastern  lands  for  a  tract  of 
as  quite  desirable  farm  land  in  the  town 
of  Lowville,  Columbia  county.  He  moved 
west  to  occupy  it,  and  after  his  arrival  in 
Wisconsin  divided  it  among  his  sons.  He 
saw  them  well  established,  and  in  the  pos- 
session of  an  ample  competence,  and  then 
went  to  Hamilton,  Missouri,  where  he  spent 
his  remaining  years  and  djied  March  18, 
1865,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety  years  and 
over.  He  was  a  man  of  rugged  physicjue, 
and  an  active  temperament,  a  hard  working 
and  upright  citizen  of  the  community.  He 
w^as  an  earnest  and  enthusiastic  adherent  of 
the  Baptist  church,  and  helped  in  the  erec- 
tion of  a  house  of  worship  for  that  denom- 
ination wherever  he  was  living.  His  widow 
died  May  28,  1876,  aged  eighty-three.  She 
was  born  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  and  her  fa- 
ther, John  I.  Davenport, was  of  Dutch  extrac- 
tion, and  came  to  Ithaca  from  Morris  coun- 
ty. New  York.  Aaron  Edminster  was  the 
father  of  the  following  children:  Rachel, 
Catherine,  Cornelius,  Horace,  Charles, 
Nancy,  Lewis  and  Jackson. 

Lewis  Edminster  spent  his  boyhood  in 
New  York,  and  in  1853  came  to  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  bought  and  im- 
proved a  fann  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  acres  in  Lowville.  He  put  up  ample 
farm  buildings,  brought  the  place  into  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  in  1880  moved 
into  Poynette,  where  for  several  years  he 
was  engaged  in  business  as  a  hardware 
merchant,  giving,  also,  considerable  atten- 
tion to  agricultural  implements,  carriages, 
and  other  goods  in  demand  among  a  farm- 
ing people.     He  has  bought  and  sold  con- 


siderable real  estate  and  at  different  times 
has  erected  several  buildings,  which  seemed 
to  be  needed  in  the  village.  A  busy  life 
has  been  his,  and  throughout  he  has  pre- 
served an  enviable  reputation  as  an  hon- 
orable and  upright  man  of  the  strictest  in- 
tegrity and  the  most  generous  spirit.  He 
has  been  a  lifelong  Democrat,  and  has  filled 
the  different  town  offices  of  Lowville  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  people  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact. 

Lewis  Edminster  and  Miss  Mary  Teeter 
were  married  October  8,  1853.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Whit- 
lock)  Teeter.  Jacob  Teeter  was  born  in 
Canada,  to  which  country  his  father  re- 
moved during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Later 
on  he  took  the  side  of  the  liberty  party  in 
Canada  and  was  obliged  to  flee  to  the  United 
States,  sacrificing  much  of  his  property  in 
Canada  on  account  of  his  patriotic  princi- 
ples. From  New  York  Jacob  Teeter  and 
his  wife  moved  to  Illinois  in  1853,  and  two 
years  later  came  to  Lowville,  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin.  Later  still  the  family 
went  to  Blue  Earth  City,  Minnesota,  where 
the  husband  and  father  died  in  1872,  aged 
over  seventy  years.  His  widow  survived 
him  a  number  of  years,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four.  She  was  of  English  par- 
entage. To  Jacob  Teeter  and  wife  were 
born  the  following  children :  Eliza,  Jesse, 
Lucinda,  John,  Mary,  Reuben,  Rebecca, 
Catherine,  Christina,  Watson  and  Benijah. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edminster  are  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  and  are  dis- 
tinguished for  their  kindness  to  people  in 
trouble  and  distress.  Having  no  children 
of  their  own  they  have  reared  several  or- 
phans. Helen  Teeter,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Ed- 
minster, was  an  inmate  of  their  home  sev- 
eral years,  and  became  the  wife  of  Byron 
Kinnear,  now  the  treasurer  of  Columbia 
county.  She  died  in  August,  1882,  when 
only  about  thirty  years  of  age.     Her  only 


274 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


surviving  child,  Lewis  Reuben,  has  been 
reared  by  the  Edminsters,  given  a  hberal 
education,  including  a  course  at  Wisconsin 
University.  He  is  now  an  expert  account- 
ant and  stenographer,  and  is  employed  in 
Stroud's  bank,  Kilbourn  City.  George 
Kinnear,  another  foster  son,  now  lives  in 
the  state  of  Washington. 


WILLIAM  WILSON  RATHBUN. 

William  Rathbun,  deceased,  was,  for  a 
period  of  over  forty  years,  one  of  the  most 
widely  known  and  respected  citizens  of  the 
town  of  LaValle,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin. 
He  was  a  man  of  unusual  energy  and  per- 
severance, and  was  enabled  to  overcome 
obstacles  which  might  have  seemed  unsur- 
mountable  to  a  person  of  less  character  and 
determination.  Although  almost  constant- 
ly occupied  in  the  discharge  of  extensive 
business  operations,  he  found  time  to  ful- 
fill his  duties  as  a  citizen,  and  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  town 
and  county,  and  his  counsel  was  frequently 
sought  by  his  associates  concerning  mat- 
ters of  both  public  and  private  interest. 

Mr.  Rathbun  was  born  in  Addison, 
Steuben  county.  New  York,  September  29, 
1824,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Nancy 
(Vroman)  Rathbun,  who  became  residents 
of  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1855.  The 
father  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  and  he 
and  his  descendants  have  displayed  many 
of  the  sterling  characteristics  for  which  the 
people  of  that  lineage  have  always  been  dis- 
tinguished. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  our  sub- 
ject came  to  Wisconsin  and  made  his  home 
for  a  time  in  Madison.  For  a  number  of 
years  thereafter  he  was  employed  on  the 
Wisconsin  and  Mississippi  rivers  as  rafts- 
man, and  eventually  becoming  a  competent 


pilot;  the  transportation  of  large  quantities 
of  lumber  for  the  St.  Louis  markets  was  in- 
trusted to  his  care.  While  thus  engaged 
he  met  with  numerous  adventures,  and  also 
gained  a  w<ide  acquaintance  and  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  business  transactions.  In 
1855  he  came  to  Sauk  county  and  purchased 
the  farm  at  the  mouth  of  Big  creek,  which 
was  his  home  throughout  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  invested  quite  extensively  in 
timber  land  along  that  stream  and  for  a 
nimiber  of  years  did  considerable  lumbering 
on  his  own  account.  He  conceived  the  idea 
of  damming  the  creek  near  his  residence, 
and,  in  conjunction  with  his  father,  built 
a  saw-mill,  which  he  continued  to  operate 
until  his  death.  He  was  also  interested  in 
a  steam  saw-mill  in  Juneau  county,  and 
shipped  considerable  quantities  of  lumber 
and  cord  wood. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1858,  Mr.  Rath- 
bun married  Miss  Julia  A.  Perry,  who  was 
born  in  Middletown,  Vermont,  and  in  1852 
came  to  Wisconsin  with  her  parents,  Israel 
and  Calista  (Mosier)  Perry,  who  located 
first  in  Whitewater,but  in  1857  came  to  Sauk 
county.  Of  the  four  children  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Rathbun,  two  sons,  Adelbert  and 
James,  died  in  childhood,  and  the  other  two, 
William  and  Julia,  reside  on  the  old  home- 
stead, the  former  having  succeeded  to  his 
father's  business  interests. 

On  the  22nd  of  January,  1899,  while 
working  in  his  saw-mill,  Mr.  Rathbun's 
clothing  became  caught  in  the  gearing, 
which  drew  his  body  upon  the  saws,  pro- 
ducing instantaneous  death.  This  sad  ca- 
tastrophe was  a  severe  shock  to  his  many 
friends  as  well  as  his  immediate  family. 
Being  a  man  of  decided  views  on  all  public 
questions,  he  was  naturally  chosen  by  his 
fellow  citizens  to  execute  numerous  official 
trusts.  For  a  number  of  years  he  served  as 
chairman  of  the  township  board  of  supervi- 
sors, and  also  filled  the  offices  of  justice  of 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


275 


the  peace  and  postmaster  of  LaValle.  He 
was  reared  in  the  Methodist  faith,  but  was 
not  identified  with  any  church  after  coming 
to  Sauk  county.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  FeUows.  His  business  integrity  was 
unquestioned,  and  his  many  excellent  quah- 
ties  of  mind  and  heart  won  him  the  admira- 
tion and  respect  of  all  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact.  To  his  family  he  was  kind  and 
considerate,  and  he  was  ever  mindful  of  the 
comfort  and  well  being  of  his  friends  and 
associates. 


GUNDER  OLSEN   UNDERDAHL. 

Gunder  Olsen  Underdahl,  a  prominent 
tobacco  farmer  of  the  town  of  Hampden, 
Columbia  county,  was  born  June  lo,  1851, 
in  the  town  of  Otsego,  of  the  same  county. 
He  is  a  son  of  01e*0.  and  Ingeborg  (Gun- 
derson)  Underdahl,  both  natives  of  Nor- 
way, who  came  to  this  country  in  1850. 
The  senior  Underdahl  had  served  five  years 
in  the  Norwegian  army,  and  was  glad  to 
pitch  his  home  in  a  land  where  military  duty 
was  not  a  necessity  for  the  sons  of  the  soil. 
He  settled  in  the  town  of  Otsego  after  living 
a  year  and  a  half  in  Dane  county.  He  died 
April  24,  1 89 1,  after  a  long  and  useful  life 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  Mrs.  Ole  O. 
Underdahl  is  still  living,  and  is  the  mother 
of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are  living  to 
comfort  her  declining  years.  They  are: 
Hans,  Lewis,  Ole  and  Martin,  all  residents 
of  Rice  county,  Minnesota;  Gunder  O.  is 
the  subject  of  this  writing,  and  Aleck  and 
Mary  are  still  under  the  home  roof. 

Mr.  Underdahl  received  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  town  of  Otsego,  and  in  1873 
attended  the  commercial  college  at  Madi- 
son. He  began  a  business  career  for  him- 
self by  becoming  a  bookkeeper  for  a  firm  in 


Madison.  He  held  this  position  until  his 
parents  called  him  home,  as  his  older 
brothers  had  gone  to  Minnesota.  He 
helped  his  father  through  the  summer's 
work,  and  then  entered  the  store  of  Jacob 
Smith  at  Columbus  as  a  bookkeeper.  He 
did  not  find  city  life  agreeing  with  him,  and 
after  a  few  months  he  bought  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  in  the  town 
of  Hampden.  To  this  he  has  since  added 
fifty  acres,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  a  choice 
farm,  and  in  its  cultivation  he  has  attained, 
if  not  riches,  certainly  a  competency.  He 
has  given  much  attention  to  the  raising  of 
tobacco,  and  following  this  line  through  the 
years  he  has  made  considerable  money.  He 
uses  the  most  advanced  methods,  keeps  him- 
self informed  as  to  all  the  new  ideas,  and 
every  year  puts  by  a  liberal  profit.  Two 
years  ago  he  built  a  fine  residence,  having 
all  the  modern  improvements,  including  a 
hot  water  heating  system.  He  has  a  fine 
lot  of  barns,  and  all  the  buildings  needed, 
both  for  general  and  tobacco  farming. 

Mr.  Underdahl  and  Miss  Emily  H. 
Vangsnes  were  married  July  23,  1876.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  Hans  and  Annie  Vangsnes, 
natives  of  Norway.  She  was  born  Septem- 
ber 14,  185 1,  and  is  the  mother  of  four  chil- 
dren: Ida  married  Frank  Bridges  and 
lives  in  the  town  of  Hampden;  Henry, 
Clara  and  George  are  still  under  the  par- 
ental roof.  Mr.  Underdahl  is  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  character,  and  com- 
mands the  confidence  and  respect  of  the 
community  to  an  unlimited  degree.  He  is 
a  Republican,  and  at  one  time  or  another 
has  filled  nearly  all  the  town  offices,  and  es- 
pecially been  much  interested  in  school  mat- 
ters. He  is  a  member  of  the  Otsego  Luth- 
eran church,  and  every  effort  for  the 
improvement  of  the  community  finds  in  him 
a  ready  helper.  He  is  American  through 
and  through,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
county's  best  citizens. 


27G 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


JOHN  VON  GONTEN. 

John  Von  Gonten  is  one  of  the  oldest  citi- 
zens of  Portage,  and  long  ago  won  the  re- 
spect of  his  associates  by  his  industrious 
habits  and  exemplary  life.  The  years  have 
only  served  to  strengthen  early  impressions, 
and  by  general  confession  he  stands  among 
the  most  upright  and  honorable  members 
of  the  local,  community.  He  was  born  near 
Thun,  Canton  Berne,  Switzerland.  April 
17,  1824,  and  is  a  son  of  .Jacob  and  Susan 
(Opliger)  Von  Gonten.  Jacob  Von  Gon- 
ten was  a  dealer  in  lumber,  and  the  proprie- 
tor of  a  small  saw  mill.  He  lived  and  died 
at  Thun,  reaching  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-six.  He  served  in  the  Swiss  army, 
and  took  part  in  the  war  of  1847,  though  too 
old  for  active  duty  in  the  field.  He  was  a 
man  of  character  and  influence,  and  was 
highly  regarded.  His  wife  died  when  over 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  his  father,  Nicho- 
las Von  Gonten,  passed  away  when  he  was 
one  hundred  and  two  years  old.  John  Von 
Gonten  and  his  sister,  Susan,  who  married 
Ulrich  Von  Gonten,  were  the  only  members 
of  their  immediate  family  to  come  to  this 
country.  For  many  centuries  the  name  has. 
been  a  familiar  one  in  Switzerland,  and  Can- 
ton Gonten  was  largely  settled  by  members 
of  the  family,  where  they  have  long  re- 
sided. 

John  Von  Gonten  received  a  very  fair 
education  in  German,  and  was  also  in- 
structed in  French,  which  was  the  prevail- 
ing tongue  of  his  native  community.  His 
first  business  venture  was  in  burning  lime 
and  brick,  and  about  1850  he  removed  to 
Neufchatel  and  dealt  in  dairy  products.  Five 
years  later  he  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  found 
employment  on  the  Erie  canal  for  some  two 
years.  In  1857  he  came  to  Portage  and  at 
once  went  into  the  manufacture  of  lime  and 
brick.  He  sold  wood,  and  soon  developed 
an  extensive  business.     Later  he  sold  this 


out,  and  dealt  in  ice  for  some  twent3'-five 
years.  In  1877  he  opened  a  cemetery  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  city_,  to  which  he  gave 
his  own  name.  It  consists  of  forty  acres, 
and  is  a  handsome  and  picturesque  spot. 
Success  has  crowned  this  as  it  has  other 
enterprises  of  his,  and  his  last  years  are  full 
and  running  over  with  honor  and  comfort. 
In  1897  he  built  a  handsome  residence  in 
Portage,  and  is  far  removed  from  the  finan- 
cial difficulties  that  attended  his  entrance 
into  the  state,  when  he  was  so  much  in  debt 
that  he  had  to  sell  his  watch  and  that  of  his 
v.ife  to  pay  board  bills. 

John  Von  Gonten  and  Susan  Bichsel 
were  married  in  Switzerland,  June  14,  1851. 
Her  father,  John  Bichsel,  was  a  black- 
smith who  was  born,  lived  and  died  in 
Switzerland.  She  was  born  in  Canton 
Berne,  and  is  the  mother  of  twelve  chil- 
dren. Her  oldest  daughter,  Lizzie,  is  Mrs. 
William  Law,  and  lives  at  Stillwater,  Min- 
nesota. Mary  is  the  wife  of  the  Reverend 
Edward  Theel,  and  lives  at  Germania,  Mar- 
quette county,  Wisconsin.  John  is  in  the 
service  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  Railroad  at  Portage.  Fred  lives  at 
Milwaukee,  and  is  an  engineer  of  the  same 
road.  Emma  married  Frank  Rusch,  and  is 
a  resident  of  Portage.  Nellie  is  Mrs.  Gus 
Foogman,  and  has  her  home  in  Grafton, 
North  Dakota.  Clara  and  Alwina,  at  home. 
George  died  when  seventeen  years  old,  and 
three  other  children  passed  away  in  infancy. 
Mrs.  Von  Gonten  died  May  18,  1900.  Mr. 
Von  Gonten  has  twenty-one  grandchildren 
living,  and  five  who  died  in  infancy.  There 
is  also  one  great-grandchild.  The  home  of 
the  family  is  one  of  culture  and  refinement, 
and  all  the  children  have  had  the  best  social 
and  educational  advantages  that  the  times 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  business  in 
which  the  husband  and  father  was  engaged 
would  permit.  Clara,  who  was  educated 
at  the  Portage  high  school  and  the  Oshkosh 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


279 


Normal  School,  has  taught  in  the  Portage 
schools  for  eleven  years.  They  are  all  as- 
sociated with  the  German  Lutheran  church, 
of  which  Mr.  Von  Gonten  was  one  of  the 
original  founders,  and  is  now  the  only  one 
of  the  first  membership  living  in  the  city. 
He  has  been  a  liberal  contributor  to  its 
funds,  and  has  served  from  the  first  as  an 
elder.  He  has  been  a  Republican  for  many 
years,  and  has  served  the  city  as  an  alder- 
man. He  has,  however,  had  jio  political 
aspirations,  and  has  been  content  to  be 
known  as  an  honorable  and  upright  business 
man. 

Portraits  of  Mr.  Von  Gonten  and  his  la- 
mented wife  are  shown  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 


DANIEL  De  \MTT  CAMPBELL. 

Daniel  De  Witt  Campbell,  a  farmer  re- 
siding in  Jackson  township,  Adams  county, 
is  a  pioneer  settler  of  that  region  and  a  rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  influential  families 
of  central  Wisconsin.  He  is  now  the  owner 
of  considerable  land  in  that  vicinity,  and  en- 
gages in  general  farming. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  born  in  Binghamton, 
Broome  county,  New  York,  January  3, 
1844,  and  was  the  son  of  William  and  Jane 
(Walker)  Campbell  His  father  was  of 
Scotch  lineage,  and  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade.  He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1847,  'U' 
eating  at  Fountain  Prairie,  Columbia  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  also 
v.-orked  at  his  trade.  He  removed  to  Adams 
county  in  the  fall  of  1855,  and  resided  in 
Jackson  township  until  his  death  about  1885, 
aged  over  seventy  years.  He  was  a  pros- 
perous farmer  and  owned  over  two  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born 
in  Broome  county,  New  York,  and  was  of 
English  and  German  descent.       Her  death 


occurred  about  1880,  aged  over  fifty  years. 
By  a  former  marriage  our  subject's  father 
was  the  father  of  seven  children,  among 
them  John  Perry,  Rhinelander,  \\  isconsin ; 
Eunice,  now  Mrs.  Ed.  Starling;  Olive,  now 
Mrs.  William  Ward,  residing  in  Springville 
township,  Adams  county;  and  William  De 
Loss,  Stevens  Point,  Wisconsin.  Our  sub- 
ject was  one  of  seven  children  as  follows : 
Daniel  D.,  our  subject;  Hiram  Eugene,  re- 
siding in  Jackson  township;  Alcina,  now 
Mrs.  J.  Stanfler,  of  Jackson  township ;  Ed- 
ward, of  Missouri;  Delia,  now  Mrs.  Joseph 
Tunison,  Warren's  Mills,  Wisconsin ;  Ida ; 
and  Henry. 

Daniel  D.  Campbell  enlisted  in  Company 
D,  Thirty-eighth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, March  15,  1864.  He  was  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  at  the  battle  of  Cold 
Harbor,  and  from  thence  went  to  Petersburg, 
where  he  was  wounded  in  the  left  leg  by  a 
bullet  June  17,  1864.  He  was  in  the  hos- 
pital at  Willard's  Point,  Long  Island,  five  or 
six  months,  and  after  his  recovery  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Twelfth  Regiment,  Veteran  Re- 
serve Corps,  and  was  discharged  July  31, 
1865.  He  spent  the  two  years  following 
traveling  through  the  west,  and  then  located 
in  Adams  county,  since  which  time  he  has 
resided  on  the  old  homestead  farm,  of  which 
he  now  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
and  also  possesses  land  adjacent,  amounting 
to  two  hundred  and  five  acres.  He  has 
erected  a  comfortable  residence  and  large 
basement  barn,  and  his  farm  bears  every  evi- 
dnce  of  a  well  improved  estate.  He  gives 
the  raising  of  stock  considerable  attention, 
and  has  been  successful  in  all  his  under- 
takings. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  married  July  4,  1866, 
to  Elizabeth  Lewis,  daughter  of  Admiral 
and  Miranda  Lewis,  of  Easton,  Wisconsin. 
Mrs.  Campbell's  father  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and  followed  the  same  in  Portage  be- 
fore the  war.     He  served  in  the  Tenth  Wis- 


280 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


consin  \'oIunteer  Infantry,  and  died  from 
injuries  received  while  shoeing  mules.  )tlrs. 
Campbell's  mother  is  still  living.  Mrs. 
Campbell  ^\■as  born  in  New  York  and  came 
with  her  parents  to  Wisconsin  in  an  early 
day.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Campbell,  as  follows:  Miranda 
Maude,  now  j\lrs.  Thomas  Webster,  of 
Birnamwood,  Wisconsin;  Gertibella;  Rose- 
man  Alberta,  and  Edith  Myrtle.  Roseman 
and  Edith  are  teachers.  They  have  adopted 
a  son  of  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Webster, 
named  Earl.  J\Ir.  Campbell  is  a  member  of 
Oxford  Lodge,  No.  91,  .\.  F.  &  A.  .M.  He 
has  done  much  to  advance  educational  af- 
fairs and  has  served  as  school  treasurer  for 
the  past  twenty  years,  and  has  gained  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  has  made  his  home  for  forty-five 
years.  He  has  been  a  Republican  in  politi- 
cal views  from  his  youth,  and  stands  firmly 
for  the  principles  of  his  party.  He  is  a 
gentleman  who  keeps  abreast  of  the  times, 
and  in  all  matters  of  importance  takes  an  ac- 
tive interest. 


THEODORE  GLOECKLER. 

Theodore  Gloeckler,  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  skilled  dairyman  of  Fort  \\'innebago 
township,  well  deserves  a  pronnnent  place  in 
the  annals  of  thrift  and  industry  of  Co- 
lumbia county.  In  the  very  prime  of  life, 
whatever  he  undertakes  is  pushed  to  success, 
and  his  business  tact  and  general  good  sense 
aid  him  to  keep  his  standing  securely. 

The  Gloecklers  are  of  an  ancient  German 
family,  which  was  long  situated  near  Ulni, 
Wirrtemberg.  There  at  the  little  village  of 
Neiblingen,  Barnard  Gloeckler,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  July  20, 
1829,  and  there  he  remained  until  1851. 
That  year  he  entered  this  country,  and  for  a 
time  w^as  employed  at  Pittsburg,   Pennsyl- 


vania, by  his  mother's  brother,  Bernard 
Straul).  He  did  not  long  remain  in  the  east, 
and  was  presently  found  in  this  state  work- 
ing in  a  lime  kiln  at  Milwaukee.  At  this 
time  the  ^Milwaukee  &  Portage  Railroad 
was  under  construction,  and  soon  com- 
manded his  services.  After  the  comple- 
tion of  the  road  he  went  into  the  Heartile 
brewery,  and  was  engaged  there  for  the  next 
seven  years.  He  spent  a  year  in  Minneapo- 
lis in  charge  of  a  brewery,  and  in  1865 
bought  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Fort  Winne- 
bago. He  devoted  himself  to  its  cultiva- 
tion with  much  enthusiasm,  but  still  followed 
his  trade  in  the  winter  season.  In  1872  he 
bought  the  brewery  now  owned  by  H.  Ep- 
stein, and  conducted  it  for  three  years.  He 
was  also  employed  two  years  in  a  brewery  at 
Austin,  Minnesota. 

Bernard  Gloeckler  was  married  to  Mary 
Nauer,  June  22,  1859.  She  was  a  daughter 
of  Kasper  and  Veronica  (Duer)  Nauer,  and 
was  born  at  Hohensstadt,  Wurtemberg.  She 
came  to  this  country  in  1850  with  her  par- 
ents, and  settled  in  the  town  of  Fort  Winne- 
bago. Her  father  bought  a  farm  on  section 
30  and  lived  there  until  the  day  of  his  death, 
July  30,  1885.  He  was  over  seventy-five 
and  had  lived  a  long  and  active  life.  Born 
in  Switzerland,  he  removed  to  Wurtemberg 
in  early  life  and  was  long  employed  in  a 
dairy. 

Mrs.  Veronica  Nauer  was  born  in  Ho- 
hensstadt December  12,  1819,  and  notwith- 
standing her  great  age  is  still  active  and 
vivacious.  Her  father,  Joseph  Duer,  came 
to  this  state  and  died  at  Fort  Winnebago 
when  over  eighty-five.  He  was  a 
coachman  in  the  old  country,  and  was 
everywhere  known  as  an  honest  and 
hardworking  man.  Mrs.  Nauer  still 
retains  possession  of  all  her  faculties 
to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  in  the  sum- 
mer frequently  walks  to  the  city  of  Portage, 
some  two  miles  away.       Through  her  long 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


281 


and  active  life  she  has  endeared  herself  to 
tile  entire  community  by  her  constant 
thought  and  care  for  the  sick  and  the  needy. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bernard  Gloeckler  were 
born  nine  children,  one  dying  in  infancy. 
Thodore  is  the  subject  of  this  writing ;  Jose- 
phine married  James  Miller,  and  lives  in 
Portage;  Otto  (Adolpb) ;  Charles  is  at  Mt. 
Pleasant,  Iowa;  Elizabeth  is  Mrs.  Herman 
Schiefelbeim,  and  has  her  home  in  Portage; 
Matilda  married  John  LeFleur,  and  is  at 
Beaver  Dam,  where  also  her  sister  fiertrude 
may  be  found ;  Mary  is  at  home. 

Theodore  Gloeckler  spent  his  boyhood 
days  at  Portage,  grew  up  under  the  parental 
roof,  and  attended  the  public  schools  until 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  Leaving 
school  he  entered  a  blacksmith  shop  to  learn 
the  trade.  In  1881  he  removed  to  Tomah  to 
take  a  position  in  the  shops  of  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway.  He  held 
a  place  there  for  nearly  six  years.  He  was 
industrious,  careful  and  frugal,  and  by  the 
expiration  of  that  time  had  accumulated 
a  very  comfortable  sum  of  money.  With 
this  in  hand  he  returned  to  Columbia  county, 
and  bought  the  homestead  farm  of  his  grand- 
father, Kasper  Nauer,  and  here  he  has  since 
maintained  his  residence.  The  farm  con- 
tained one  hundred  and  seventy-one  acres, 
and  sixty-five  are  under  thorough  culti- 
vation. He  has  greatly  enlarged  the 
buildings',  and  improved  the  place  in  every 
way,  and  renamed  it  "The  Hillside  Dairy." 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  the  dairy  business, 
and  gives  not  a  little  attention  to  the  breed- 
ing of  Jersey  and  Guernsey  cattle,  and  for 
eight  years  has  supplied  milk  and  other  farm 
products  to  Portage  families. 

Mr.  Gloeckler  and  Emma  Bahl  were  mar- 
ried September  27,  1897,  ^i^d  the  union  has 
proved  an  unusually  happy  one.  The  lady 
was  born  at  Dodgeville,  Iowa  county,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Anne  Mary  (Eul- 
berg)    Bahl.     She   is   the   mother  of  three 


bright  and  promising  children,  Louis,  Clara 
and  William.  The  home  is  an  interesting 
one.  gives  an  unusual  contrast  of  four  gen- 
erations dwelling  under  one  roof.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gloeckler  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
church,  and  are  highly  regarded  by  all  who 
know  them.  He  is  a  Democrat,  but  has 
not  of  late  taken  a  \ery  active  interest  in 
political  affairs. 


GEORGE  GOODRICH. 

Among  the  better  and  more  prominent 
class  of  agriculturists,  whose  pleasant  farm 
graces  Lavalle  township,  Sauk  county,  may 
be  placed  the  name  of  the  gentleman  whose 
life  history  is  presented  to  the  readers.  He 
has  made  a  success  of  his  vocation,  and  is 
one  of  the  intelligent  and  enterprising  men  of 
his  vicinity.  His  home  has  been  in  Wis- 
consin for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  he 
has  gathered  around  him  a  host  of  friends, 
who  know  him  as  a  gentleman  of  the  high- 
est character.  His  estate  is  one  of  the  first 
in  the  community  and  it  is  through  persever- 
ance, honesty,  and  industry,  his  three  watch 
words,  that  he  has  gained  a  comfortable 
competence. 

]\Ir.  Goodrich  was  born  in  Orleans,  Jef- 
ferson county.  New  York,  in  1845,  ^"d  was 
the  son  of  Nelson  and  Catherine  (Snell) 
Goodrich.  His  father  was  born  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  New  York,  in  March,  18 16, 
and  his  mother  was  born  in  Manheim  town- 
ship, Herkimer  county.  New  York,  in  181 6. 
Both  reside  on  the  farm  which  has  been  their 
home  for  many  years,  in  Orleans,  Jefferson 
county.   New  York. 

Our  subject  was  afforded  liberal  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  made  the  most  of  his 
opportunities.  He  was  an  apt  scholar  and 
studious,  and  received  good  training.  Until 
twenty   vears   of   age   he   resided   at   home 


282 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


with  his  parents,  and  in  December,  1866, 
decided  to  turn  his  way  westward,  and  ac- 
cordingly came  t<i  Wisconsin,  and  after  a 
few  years  si)ent  in  travel,  located  on  his 
present  farm,  which  comprises  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres.  He  worked  with  a  will  and 
in  the  labors  of  farm  life  t(.)ok  pleasure, 
and  is  to-day  one  of  the  well-to-do  men  of 
that  community.  He  operates  a  steam 
thresher  in  connection  with  his  farm  work, 
and  all  machinery  used  in  lessening  labor 
incident  to  rural  life  is  of  modern  make.  His 
buildings  are  good,  and  he  is  surrounded 
by  more  than  usual  comforts. 

Mr.  Goodrich  was  married  July  7,  1872, 
to  Emmerette  Gray,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Elizabeth  Gray.  Mrs.  Goodrich  was 
born  in  Vernon  county,  Wisconsin.  One 
son  has  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodrich, 
upon  whom  they  bestow-ed  ,the  name  of 
Nelson,  named  after  his  paternal  grandfa- 
ther. He  was  born  May  12,  1873,  and  is 
at  pre'sent  working  on  the  home  farm. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Reedsburg 
Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  stanch  ad- 
vocate of  temperance  and  the  rights  of  the 
people,  and  is  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  economic  questions  of  the  day.  He  has 
made  a  study  of  public  Cjuestions,  and  is  a 
forcible  speaker,  entertaining,  and  impresses 
upon  his  listeners  his  own  convictions.  He 
progresses  with  the  world  and  keeps  pace 
with  the  new  discoveries  and  methods,  and  is 
a  man  whose  work  is  in  keei)ing  with  his 
ideas.  He  is  more  practical  than  theoretic 
and  adopts  new  methods  only  wdien  their 
utility  is  clearly  demonstrated. 


JOHN  ROBERTSON. 

John  Robertson  is  a  well-known  citizen 
of  Rio,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  whose 
inventive  genius  is  so  much  above  the  or- 


dinary that  it  has  attracted  considerable  at- 
tention. Some  of  his  ideas  are  very  radical 
and  will  lead,  so  his  friends  say.  to  very 
decided  impro\'ements  in  the  world  of  me- 
chanics. He  is  a  scion  of  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  families  of  Columbia  county, 
and  was  born  in  Warren,  Monroe  county, 
August  6,  1874.  His  father,  David  Rob- 
ertson, is  the  subject  of  a  sketch  which  ap- 
pears on  another  page  in  this  work.  He 
was  about  four  years  old  when  his  parents 
removed  their  home  to  Manneville,  Mara- 
thon county,  and  from  there  to  Rio,  where 
he  completed  the  public  school  course  of  in- 
struction. He  was  a  student  at  Wayland 
Academy  for  a  short  time,  and  for  a  year 
at  the  Milwaukee  Spencerian  Business  Col- 
lege. He  studied  designing  for  nine  months 
at  the  Chicago  Art  Institute,  and  re- 
turned to  Rio  to  assist  his  father  in  his 
limiber  business  until  its  sale  in  1898.  Since 
April,  1899,  he  has  been  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  telephones  and  the  sale  of 
telephone  supplies.  He  is  developing  an  ex- 
tensive business,  and  has  ecjuipped  telephone 
offices  for  individuals  and  corporations  in 
all  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  Peer- 
less Electric  Telephone  Company,  of  which 
he  is  manager,  has  introduced  a  number  of 
novelties  in  this  line,  and  its  trade  is  rapidly 
increasing.  Mr.  Robertson  is  almost  con- 
stantly engaged  in  experimenting  in  im- 
provements in  electrical  apparatus.  He  has 
perfected  and  patented  a  telephone  trans- 
mitter which  is  considered  the  finest  in  the 
world.  Mr.  Robertson  and  Miss  Nettie 
Thompson  were  married  October  20,  1894. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  the  Honorable  Thorn- 
ton Thom|)son,  of  Rio,  and  is  a  lady  of  most 
charming  character.  She  is  the  mother  of 
three  children :  Ethelyn  L.,  Carroll  D., 
and  Esther  M.  She  is  a  native  of  Columbia 
county,  and  considers  her  home  the  most 
interesting  spot  in  the  state.  Mr.  Robert- 
son is  a  Republican,  and  a  most  genial  gen- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


283 


tleman.  He  is  much  interested  in  fraternal 
societies,  and  holds  membersliip  in  several. 
He  is  a  Mason,  a  Modern  Woodman,  and 
a  member  of  the  Equitable  Fraternal  Aid. 


CHARLES  F.  XINMAN. 

Charles  F.  Ninman,  who  was  for  sev- 
eral years  one  of  the  leading  educators  in 
this  section  of  the  state  and  is  now  success- 
fully engaged  in  journalistic  work  as  editor 
and  publisher  of  the  "Wisconsin  Workman," 
at  Sauk  City,  was  born  in  Dodge  county, 
December  14,  1847.  '^'i*'  is  the  fifth  in  order 
of  birth  in  a  family  of  eight  children  whose 
parents  were  Frederick  and  Dorothea 
(Struck)  Xinman.  The  father,  who  was  a 
farmer  by  occupaticm,  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many and  emigrated  to  America  in  1844. 

Until  twenty  years  of  age  our  subject 
spent  his  life  upon  a  farm  and  became  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  all  the  duties  which 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agriculturist.  His  pri- 
mary education  was  acquired  in  the  country 
schools  and  later  he  attended  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  by  his  own  efforts  and 
studious  ]ial)its  acquiring  an  excellent  edu- 
cation. At  the  age  of  twenty  he  commenced 
teaching,  first  in  the  country  schools  and 
later  at  W'atertown.  Wisconsin,  and  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  followed  that  pro- 
fession, meeting  with  most  excellent  suc- 
cess as  an  instructor.  For  two  years  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  schools  at  Water- 
town,  and  in  1884  came  to  Sauk  City  to 
accept  the  position  of  principal  of  the  high 
school,  which  he  continued  to  fill  for  five 
years. 

Desiring  a  broader  field  of  labi;)r,  Mr. 
Ninman  abandoned  educational  work  in 
1890  and  turned  his  attention  to  the  news- 
paper business,  in  which  he  has  al.so  met  with 
marked  success,  lie  was  editor  of  the  "Sauk 


City  Presse,"  a  German  paper,  until  1897, 
and  consolidated  with  it  the  "Pioneer  Wis- 
consin." which  he  purchased,  changing  the 
name  to  the  "Sauk  City  Pioneer  Presse."  He 
formerly  was  editorof  the  "Wisconsin  Work- 
man," the  official  organ  of  the  Ancient  Order 
of  United  Workmen,  published  at  Sauk 
City,  monthly.  He  takes  an  active  and 
commendal)le  interest  in  public  affairs,  is  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  is 
the  present  police  justice  and  clerk  of  Sauk 
City,  haxing  filled  the  latter  office  for  three 
years.  He  also  served  as  assessor  three 
years,  and  has  been  justice  of  the  peace  for 
the  past  ten  years.  Socially  he  is  a  promi- 
nent member  of  Eureka  Lodge,  No.  133, 
F.  &  A.  M. ;  Sauk  City  Lodge,  No.  62,  A. 
O.  U.  W. ;  and  Sauk  City  Camp,  No.  1210, 
M.  \\\  A. 

At  Watertown,  Jefferson  county,  Wis- 
consin, Mr.  Ninman  was  married,  May  10, 
1870,  to  Miss  Sophia  Stoevhase,  and  to 
them  have  been  born  four  children :  Eddie, 
Theodore,  Max  and  Ella,  who  have  all 
learned  the  printer's  trade  and  are  home  with 
the  exception  of  the  eldest  son,  who  is  now 
engaged  in  the  newspaper  business  in  Da- 
kota. 


HH^AM   HILAND   MASON. 

Hiram  Hilancl  Mason,  the  efficient  oxer- 
seer  of  the  Adams  county  poor  farm,  is  a 
native  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  where  he  was 
born  September  10,  1836.  The  Masons 
were  of  English  descent,  and  the  parents 
of  our  suljject  were  Boomer  and  Sarah 
(  Ripley)  Mason,  both  natives  of  Rutland 
county,  V'ermont.  Boomer  Mason's  father 
died  at  an  early  age.  and  his  wife,  Deborah 
(Boomer)  Mason,  who  was  born  in  the 
Isle  of  Man,  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years,   in   the  village  of   Ira,   Vermont. 

Our  suliject  accompanied  his  parents  to 


284 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Jllinois  in  1847,  wliere  his  father  fa-rmed 
for  six  years  near  Aunira,  Kane  county.  In 
1853  the  family  moved  to  Lowville,  Colum- 
bia county,  Wisconsin,  and  in  1865  to  Adams 
county,  locating  in  the  town  of  Lincoln, 
where  the  father  died,  at  Big  Springs,  April 
29,  1889,  aged  eighty-seven  years.  The 
mother  died  in  the  town  of  Lincoln  in  1886, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  Her  fam- 
ily were  natives  of  England  and  settled  at 
Tinmouth,  Vermont,  at  an  early  date. 

Hiram  Hiland  Mason  enlisted  July  5, 
1 86 1,  in  Company  D,  Tenth  Wisconsin 
Volunteers.  His  regiment  was  attached  to 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  he  partic- 
ipated in  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  After 
this  engagement  he  was  detailed  as  ambu- 
lance driver  at  General  Thomas'  headquar- 
ters, and  continued  in  that  capacity  during 
the  remainder  of  the  service,  until  dis- 
charged, November  3,  1864.  After  the  war 
he  returned  to  Adams  county,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming.  He  also  worked  sev- 
eral years  at  the  car^jenter's  trade.  Since 
March  i,  1894,  he  has  been  overseer  of  the 
Adams  county  poor  farm.  This  farm  con- 
sists of  five  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  the 
institution  cares  for  an  average  of  fourteen 
inmates.  The  buildings  have  been  greatly 
improved  and  conveniences  enlarged  and  ex- 
tended under  his  management,  and  as  a 
public  institution  reflects  much  credit,  by  its 
able  management,  both  upon  the  county  and 
its  efficient  superintendent. 

Mr.  Mason  was  married,  in  1857,  to 
Emeline  Bump,  a  daughter  of  Moses  and 
Phoebe  Bump,  of  Pacific,  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin.  Seven  children  were  born  to 
this  union,  three  of  whom  are  living :  Her- 
bert L.,  Cyrus  C.  and  Nellie  A.  Our  sub- 
ject was  married  to  his  present  wife,  who 
was  formerly  Mrs.  Sarah  Jane  See,  in  1876. 
Mrs.  Mason  is  the  daughter  of  Francis  and 
Phoebe  Mason,  and  was  born  in  Ohio.  Of 
the  three  children  born  to  this  union,  but 


one,  Nina  B.,  is  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Mason  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  at  Big  Springs,  of  which  Mr. 
Mason  is  a  trustee.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
J.  W.  Iversham  Post,  No.  188,  G.  A.  R.,  at 
Briggsville,  of  which  he  has  been  adjutant 
and  quartermaster  at  various  times.  He 
has  been  a  stanch  Republican  since  i860, 
and  has  always  taken  an  intelligent  interest 
in  public  affairs.  He  has  filled  several  offices 
in  the  county,  having  served  as  deputy  sheriff 
two  terms,  and  was  also  a  constable  and  a 
justice  of  the  peace  at  different  times.  He 
has  always  merited  and  held  the  confidence 
of  his  fellowmen,  and  no  one  enjoys  in  a 
higher  degree  the  esteem  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. 


JAMES   MORRIS  CROTHERS. 

James  Morris  Crothers,  a  prominent  and 
influential  farmer  and  stock  raiser,  of  New 
Haven  township,  Adams  county,  was  born 
in  Montreal,  Canada,  September  14,  1847, 
and  was  the  son  of  James  and  Ann  (Briggs) 
Crothers. 

Our  subject's  father  was  a  native  of 
Belfast,  Ireland,  and  came  to  America  in 
the  spring  of  1841.  He  was  a  linen 
weaver  at  Belfast,  and  upon  coming  to 
America  engaged  in  farming  at  Montreal, 
Canada.  He  settled  in  Jackson  township, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1856,  where 
he  still  resides  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years.  He  is  a  successful  farmer  and  re- 
spected citizen,  and  renowned  for  physical 
and  mental  activity  far  bej-ond  most  men  of 
his  age.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  Isle  of  Jersey,  England,  and  died  in 
Wisconsin  October  16,  1890,  in  the  seven- 
tieth year  of  her  age.  Her  father,  Robert 
Briggs,  served  twenty-seven  years  iin  the 
British  army,  retiring  as  a  corporal  of  the 
Royal  Artillery.     For  twenty  years  he  was 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


285 


the  strong'est  man  in  iiis  battery.  His 
death  occurred  in  Ireland. 

Ovu-  subject  was  one  of  ten  children, 
two  of  whom  died  in  childhood,  those  who 
grew  to  maturity  being  as  follows :  Mar- 
garet, who  married  Abner  H.  Flook,  and 
who  has  now  passed  away;  James  M.,  our 
subject;  Robert  Briggs,  a  resident  of  New 
Haven  township;  Anna,  now  Mrs.  Henry 
Kabaugh,  residing  in  Jackson  township; 
Elizabeth,  now  Mrs.  Edward  Wyl'ie,  of 
Thorp,  Wisconsin;  Samuel  H.,  residing  in 
Cass  county,  North  Dakota;  George,  an 
attorney  at  Neilsville,  Wisconsin ;  and  Will- 
iam A.,  residing  on  the  homestead  in  Jack- 
son towjiship. 

James  M.  Crothers  was  but  a  small  boy 
when  the  parents  mo\ed  to  Wisconsin,  and 
he  attended  the  district  school,  and  at  the 
age  of  se\enteen  years  began  \vork  in  a 
saw  mill  in  Grand  Rapids,  Wisconsin,  as 
a  sawyer.  Uixin  reaching  his  majority  he 
began  farming  on  his  present  farm,  which 
he  then  rented,  but  three  years  later  pur- 
chased the  land.  He  added  to  his  posses- 
sions from  time  to  time,  and  his  present  es- 
tate comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
about  one  hundred  acres  of  which  is  tillable, 
and  the  balance  furnishes  abundant  timber 
and  pasture  land.  He  engages  principally 
in  the  raising  of  live  stock  and  has  some 
high  grade  stock  and  has  made  a  success  in 
that  branch  of  agriculture.  For  several 
years  he  dealt  in  live  stock  and  is  a  man 
who  is  well,  versed  on  values. 

Mr.  Crothers  was  married  August  15, 
1866,  to  Julia  M.  \Vard,  daughter  of  Ira 
C.  and  Ursula  Ward,  of  New  Ha\en  town- 
ship. Mrs.  Crothers  was  born  in  Jefferson 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  her  parents  were 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Adams  county, 
locating  on  the  farm  which  is  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Crothers.  Mr.  and  IMrs.  Ward  now 
reside  at  Big  Spring.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Crothers  eight  children  Iiave  been  born,  as 


follows :  Herbert  Stillman,  engaged  in  the 
banking  business  in  Davenport,  North  Da- 
kota; Clifford  Elarris,  produce  dealer  of 
Kilbourn,  \Visconsin ;  Bertha  \'iola,  now 
Mrs.  Charles  George,  of  Plainfield,  Wis- 
consin ;  Nellie  Ma)-,  now  Mrs.  F.  J.  Dur- 
ham, of  Alilwaukee,  Wisconsin;  Asa  Eve- 
lyn, now  residing  in  Sjjencer,  Iowa ;  Cora 
Irene,  Ethel  and  Archie  Raymond,  the 
last  three  named  residing  at  home.  Mr. 
Crothers  has  given  his  children  good  edu- 
cational advantages,  and  is  interested  in  edu- 
cational matters.  The  family  attend  the  Con- 
gational  church  at  Big  Springs  and  Mrs. 
Crothers  is  a  member  of  the  same.  Mr. 
Crothers  is  a  gentleman  who  exerts  a  marked 
interest  in  local  affairs,  and  has  been  a  dele- 
gate twice  to  the  state  congressional  conven- 
tion. He  has  filled  the  principal  township 
oftices,  and  always  has  the  welfare  of  his 
community  at  heart.  He  has  been  a  Repub- 
lican in  political  sentiment  since  his  youth, 
and  adheres  to  the  principles  of  his  party. 


GEORGE  ACERS. 

George  Acers,  a  well-known  and  pop- 
ular conductor  on  the  Chicago,  IMilwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Railroad;  who  has  been  in  the 
employ  of  that  corporation  for  over  thirty 
years,  now  makes  his  home  in  Port- 
age, Wisconsin.  He  was  born  in  Page- 
ville,  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  October 
12,  1852,  a  son  of  William  and  Roxa 
(Clark)  Acers.  also  natives  of  the  Keystone 
state.  The  father  was  by  trade  a  carpenter, 
but  he  also  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  carried  on  farming  in  Erie  county. 
In  1857  he  came  to  Wisconsin  and  located 
on  a  farm  in  Juneau  count}-,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  follow  the  three  occupations  pre- 
viouslj'  mentioned  until  1883,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Broken  Bow,  Xeliraska.     He  died 


286 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


at  that  place  January  9,  1886,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  In  his  pohtical  views  he 
was  always  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  for  many 
years  he  acceptably  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace  in  Juneau  county,  Wisconsin.  His 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  Jabez  Clark,  a  farmer 
of  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  who  was  from 
New  England.  She  died  at  Lyndon,  Wis- 
consin, September  10,  1868,  aged  fifty-one 
years. 

The  suljject  of  this  sketch  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  Lyndon,  and  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years  entered  the  service  of 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road Company  as  brakeman,  was  afterward 
conductor  on  a  construction  train,  and  since 
1886  has  been  a  conductor  on  a  passenger 
train,  making  two  trips  daily  between  Port- 
age and  Aladison.  Since  1880  he  has  made 
his  home  in  Portage  with  the  exception  of 
four  years  spent  in  Madison,  and  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  city  he  takes  a  deep  and  com- 
mendable interest. 

Mr.  Acers  was  married,  October  i,  1877, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Rachel 
Hambleton,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  D.  and 
ALiry  A.  Hambleton,  of  Kilbourn,  W^iscon- 
sin,  where  her  father  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile business,  also  dealt  in  grain,  and 
owned  a  farm  near  that  place.  He  died 
in  Delton,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin.  To 
Mr.  and  ]Mrs.  Acers  were  Ijorn  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  Eva  Pearl,  who  died  in 
July.  1893,  '^t  tlie  ;ige  of  fifteen  years; 
Paul  Duane  and  Irene,  who  are  still 'living. 
The  family  attend  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  occupy  an  enviable  position  in  the  best 
social  circles  of  the  community.  Fratern- 
alh'  ^Ir.  Acers  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of 
Railroail  Conductors,  the  Masonic  Order, 
and  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  while  politically 
he  is  a  Republican,  though  reared  in  the 
Democratic  faith.  As  a  business  man,  his 
long  retention  in  the  service  of  one  com- 
pany mainly   indicates   his  fidelity   to  duty 


and  the  confidence  and  trust  reposed  in  him 
by  his  employers,  and  as  a  citizen  he  is  highly 
esteemed  by  all  who  have  the  pleasure  of 
his  acquaintance. 


HANS    A.    HANSON. 

Hans  A.  Hanson  is  one  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  Rio,  and  has  probalily  con- 
tributed as  much  as  any  single  citizen  to  the 
general  commercial  prosperity  of  this  grow- 
ing village.  His  name  is  well  known 
throughout  this  part  of  Columbia  county  as 
that  of  an  uprigiit  and  capable  business  man, 
and  he  enjoys  a  wide  circle  of  friends.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Otsego,  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  February  12,  1861,  and 
is  now  in  the  prime  of  life.  He  is  a  son  of 
Anon  and  Emma  (Gunderson)  Hanson. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Norway,  and 
came  to  this  country  when  c^uite  a  young 
man.  He  spent  a  few  years  in  Michigan, 
and  in  Washington  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
then  took  up  a  quarter-section  of  govern- 
ment land  in  Otsego  township.  Columbia 
county,  a  part  of  which  he  still  owns.  Since 
1887  he  has  ceased  acti\-e  work,  and  is  liv- 
ing in  the  village  of  Rio.  Hans  Hanson, 
the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  writ- 
ing, was  a  farmer  and  a  school  teacher  in 
Norway,  and  he  li\ed  and  died  in  that  coun- 
try. His  widow  crossed  the  ocean  to  spend 
her  last  days  with  her  son  in  Rio,  and  died 
in  that  village  when  over  seventy  years  of 
age.  Her  father,  Levi  Gunderson,  was  one 
oi  the  piniieers  of  Columbia  county,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  His  widow, 
Mrs.  Trena  Gunderson.  li\-ed  until  1878. 
Anon  Hanson  and  wife  were  the  parents  of 
two  sons  and  three  daughters :  Hans  A. 
and  Levi,  partners  in  business  in  Rio;  An- 
nie ;  Trena,  who  is  Mrs.  Charles  Isaacson, 
living  at  Rio;  Christina,  Mrs.  Ed  Isaacson,  is 
a:  Hazel  Run,  Minnesota. 

H.  A.  Hanson  received  \erv  good  edu- 


HAHS  A.  HAHSOH. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


289 


catioual  advantages.  He  attended  tlie  pulj- 
lic  schools  and  the  Monona  Academy  at 
Madison,  where  he  pursued  a  business 
course.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  left 
the  farm,  and  entered  a  general  store  at  Rio, 
v.diere  he  u"as  engaged  as  a  clerk  for  some 
years.  In  1892  he  went  to  Hazel  Run,  Min- 
nesota, and  engaged  in  business  for  himself 
as  a  dealer  in  lumber  and  agricultural,  im- 
plements. He  was  not  very  well  satisfied 
with  the  surroundings,  and  sold  out  in  about 
a  year  and  came  back  to  Rio,  where  he  be- 
came manager  of  the  extensive  estate  of  T. 
W.  Thompson,  deceased.  In  1894  he  built 
a  large,  double,  brick,  two-story  building.  In 
this  he  opened  a  large  department  store  with 
Thomas  Sampson  as  his  partner.  He  ter- 
minated the  partnership  two  years  later  by 
buying  out  all  Mr.  Sampson's  interest,  and 
the  business  was  carried  on  for  a  time  under 
the  firm  name  of  Anon  Hanson  &  Sons,  his 
father  and  brother  Levi  being  associated 
with  him.  September  15,  1900,  the  firm  was 
changed  to  that  of  Hanson  Bros.  &  Dun- 
ham. They  carry  an  immense  stock  of  gen- 
eral merchandise,  and  have  one  of  the  most 
complete  and  perfect  establishments  of  the 
kind  in  the  county.  Mr.  Hanson  has  many 
and  important  investments  outside  the  store, 
one  of  the  most  exacting  being  a  considerable 
interest  in  the  Rio  State  Bank,  of  which  he 
is  one  of  the  directors  and  vice-president.  He 
carries  two  large  farms,  and  gives  much  at- 
tention to  tobacco  and  potatoes.  His  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Mena  Thompson  occurred 
June  7,  1893.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Thorn- 
ton Thompson,  of  Rio,  and  is  the  mother  of 
one  child,  Evelyn  Cornelia.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  church  of  Rio,  and  the 
family  is  much  respected  in  all  social  rela- 
tions. He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  has 
represented  the  village  on  the  county  board 
several  times. 

A  portrait  of  Mr.  Hanson  is  presented 
on  another  page  in  this  volume. 


HARRY    H.    CURTIS. 

Harry  H.  Curtis,  a  well-known  and 
highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Wyocena,  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  represents  two 
of  the  most  prominent  pioneer  families  of 
Columbia  county.  He  is  a  native  of  that 
county,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Low- 
\ill.e,  October  24,  1872,  and  was  a  son  of 
Elbridge  and  Mary  E.   (Bennett)  Curtis. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  John 
C.  Curtis,  spent  most  of  his  life  on  a  farm 
in  Broome  county.  New  York,  attaining 
the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  He  was  a 
cousin  of  Frederick  C.  Curtis,  of  Rocky 
Run,  and  sprang  of  the  same  distinguished 
ancestors,  a  record  of  whom  may  be  found 
in  the  sketch  of  the  life  of  Frederick  C.  Cur- 
tis elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  father 
of  our  subject  was  born  in  Broome  county, 
New  York,  and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1849. 
He  spent  about  two  years  lumbering  on  Lake 
Superior  and  on  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
then  entered  claim  to  government  land  in 
sections  seven  and  eighteen,  in  Lowville 
township,  and  there  tilled  the  soil  during  the 
remainder  of  hiis  life.  He  became  *inter- 
ested  in  breeding  Merino  sheep,  and  made  a 
success  of  his  farm  work,  leaving  to  his 
heirs  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
acres.  He  was  a  man  of  prominence  and 
was  deservedly  esteemed  and  respected.  Po- 
litically he  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
during  his  career  filled  various  offices  of 
trust  in  his  township.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  still  resides  in  Wyocena.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Telman  N.  and  Sarah  Ann 
(Beardsley)  Bennett,  and  sprang  of  one  of 
the  pioneer  families  of  Big  Flats,  Chemung 
county,  New  York.  Her  ancestors  came 
from  Germany  and  her  grandfather,  Abram 
Bennett,  represented  the  third  generation  of 
the  family  in  America.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  Telman  N. 
Bennett,  served  as  cajitain  of  the  New  York 


290 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


militia  in  early  life.  About  1852  he  traded 
an  improved  farm  of  riiuety-six  alcres  at 
Big  Flats  for  four  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  wild  land  in  Lowvilie,  and  came  to  his 
new  home  to  reside,  never  having  seen  the 
land  until  he  took  up  his  residence  thereon. 
About  twenty  acres  of  the  same  had  been 
broken  and  a  log  cabin,  10x16  feet,  had 
been  erected.  The  cabin  is  still  standing 
on  the  premises.  It  at  one  time  sheltered 
twenty-six  people,  some  of  his  neighbors 
sharing  his  hospitality.  The  farm  became 
valuable,  and  Mr.  Bennett  resided  there  un- 
til his  death  in  1892,  aged  eighty-two  years. 
He  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  enjoyed  the  highest  esteem  of 
his  associates.  His  wife  was  born  in  New 
Jersey,  of  Scotch  lineage,  and  reached  the 
age  of  sixty-two  years.  Our  subject  was 
one  of  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four 
daughters,  seven  of  whom  grew  to  matu- 
rity, and  are  as  follows:  Irene,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Harry  Cutsforth,  of  Pa- 
cific township,  and  is  now  deceased ;  Alma, 
who  became  Mrs.  James  F.  Robinson,  and 
died  in  Colorado  in  February,  1891 ;  John 
C,  residing  in  Chicago;  Telina  B.,  now 
Mrs.  Samuel  Curtis,  of  Ft.  Pierre,  South 
Dakota;  Lewis  B.,  of  Denver,  Colorado; 
Harry  H.,  our  subject;  and  Edgar  F.,  liv- 
ing on  the  homestead  farm  in  Lowvilie. 

Harry  H.  Curtis  attended  high  schools 
at  Portage  and  Poynette,  and  graduated 
from  the  latter  institution  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years.  He  then  spent  four  years 
teaching,  being  successively  principal  of  the 
graded  schools  of  Wyocena  and  Rio.  He 
was  appointed  United  States  railway  postal 
clerk  in  May,  1898,  and  has  spent  most  of 
the  time  since  on  the  route  between  Chicago 
and  Minneapolis  on  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railroad. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  8, 
1897,  to  Lillith  M.  Lawn,  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  James  and  Isabel  Lawn,  nf  Wyocena. 


Mr.  Curtis  erected  a  modern  residence  in 
Wyocena  in  1899,  and  now  occupies  one  of 
the  most  attractive  homes  in  the  village.  He 
is  a  gentleman  of  much  force  of  character, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  cluvrch. 
In  political  faith  he  is  a  Republican,  but 
takes  little  part  in  party  affairs.  He  holds 
membership  in  the  National  Association  of 
Railway  Postal  Clerks.  He  is  one  of  the 
administrators  of  the  estate  of  the  late  Dr. 
James  Lawn,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work. 


JAMES    LAWN,  M.    D. 

James  Lawn,  M.  D.,  deceased.  In  the 
death  of  James  Lawn  Columbia  county  lost 
a  most  worthv  citizen  and  able  and  conscien- 
tious practitioner.  Mr.  Lawn  had  followed 
the  practice  of  medicine  for  over  a  cjuarter 
of  a  century  in  that  locality,  and  was  widely 
known  and  deeply  mourned  at  his  demise. 
He  resided  in  Wyocena,  and  the  family  now 
reside  in  Portage. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Utica,  New 
York,  October  2J,  1850,  and  was  a  son  of 
Hugh  and  Jane  (Duncan)  Lawn,  who  were 
natives  of  Scotland.  The  father  lived  in 
Ireland  during  his  early  life,  and  about  1848 
came  to  America,  and  was  employed  as 
dyer  in  a  cloth  factory  at  Utica,  New  York. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  employed 
in  the  same  institution  as  weaver.  The 
family  removed  to  Kingston,  Wisconsin, 
about  1855,  where  the  father  died  on  his 
farm  in  his  seventy-first  year. 

Our  subject  began  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  William  Meacher,  of  Portage,  and 
he  also  attended  Bennett  Medical  College, 
Chicago,  graduating  from  that  institution 
in  1873.  -^^  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Kingston,  and  in  August,  1875, 
located  in  Wyocena,  where  he  continued  un- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


291 


til  his  death,  with  the  exception  of  five  years, 
from  1886-91,  which  he  spent  in  Kingston. 
He  built  up  an  extensive  practice,  and  met 
with  remarkable  success,  and  was  devoted 
to  his  work,  so  much  so  that  the  constant 
vigil  undermined  his  health  and  he  passed 
away  at  \V3'ocena.  Wisconsin,  December  29, 
1898. 

]\Ir.  Lawn  was  married  December  30, 
1875,  to  Miss  Isabella  Peters,  of  Kingston, 
a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Isabella  (Mur- 
phy) Peters.  Mrs.  Lawn's  father  was  born 
in  Connecticut,  and  her  mother  was  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland.  The  family  located  in  Wis- 
consin in  1857  and  engaged  in  farming  near 
Kingston.  The  mother  died  October  18, 
1898,  aged  sixty-eight  years,  and  the  father 
makes  his  home  in  Kingston,  and  is  aged 
seventy-two  years.  The  family  was  among 
the  first  members  of  the  Methodist  church 
of  Kingston.  Mrs.  Lawn  was  born  in  Can- 
andaigua  county,  New  York.  Four  chil- 
dren were  born  to  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lawn,  who  are  named  as  follows :  Lillith 
M.,  now  Mrs.  Harry  H.  Curtis,  of  Wyo- 
cena ;  Ella  May,  Violet  lone  and  Hugh  Ed- 
ward. 

Mr.  Lawn  was  a  member  of  the  Colum- 
bia County  Medical  Society,  and  was  censor 
for  three  years.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  State  Medical  Association.  He  was 
reared  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  and  in  po- 
litical sentiment  was  a  stanch  Republican. 
Mrs.  Lawn,  in  November,  1899,  removed 
to  Portage  so  that  she  might  have  better 
educational  advantages  for  her  children. 


THOMAS  W.  DONNELLY. 

Prominent  among  the  enterprising  and 
successful  young  farmers  who  till  the  fertile 
soil  of  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  is  the  sub- 
ject  of   this   review,    who   now   owns   and 


operates  a  good  farm  of  eighty  acres  in 
Dellona  township.  He  is  a  native  of  this 
state,  born  in  Valley  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, February  13,  1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Hugh 
D.  and  Mary  Donnelly,  of  whom  more  ex- 
tended mention  is  made  on  another  page  of 
this  volume.  He  received  a  good  common- 
school  education  which  has  well-fitted  him 
for  life's  responsible  duties,  and  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  left  home  and  started  out  to 
make  his  own  way  in  the  world,  following 
various  occupations  for  some  time. 

On  the  ist  of  April,  1897,  Mr.  Donnelly 
married  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Capron,  of  Par- 
deeville,  Wisconsin,  a  daughter  of  Cornelius 
and  Elizabeth  (Crosby)  Capron.  She  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Wausau  high  school  and 
an  accomplished  musician.  They  have  one 
child,  Elizabeth  C,  born  December  29,  1897. 

On  the  nth  of  October,  1897,  Mr.  Don- 
nelly located  in  Dellona  township,  Sauk 
county,  where  he  purchased  what  is  known 
as  the  Pat  Howlett  farm,  and  now  has  sixty 
acres  of  the  eighty-acre  tract  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  There  is  a  good 
orchard  upon  the  place,  and  the  neat  and 
thrifty  appearance  of  the  farm  testifies  to 
his  careful,  supervision.  He  carries  on  di- 
versified farming,  and  is  also  in  the  employ 
of  the  McCormick  Harvesting  Company,  as 
an  expert,  doing  business  over  the  western 
part  of  the  state.  His  faithful  service  has 
won  him  promotion  at  the  company's  hands. 

Mr.  Donnelly  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  its  principles,  and 
takes  quite  an  active  interest  in  public  af- 
fairs, especially  educational  matters,  and 
has  been  elected  chairman  of  the  investiga- 
tion committee  for  District  No.  7,  Dellona 
township.  He  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Woodmen  of  the  World,  and  is  consul 
commander  of  Tourist  Camp  at  Kilbnurn, 
and  also  state  deputy.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Home  Forum,  No.  18 13,  at  Kil- 
bourn,  and  is  orator  of  the  same. 


292 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ALLEN    TIMOTHY    CORLISS,  M.    D. 

Allen  Timothy  Corliss,  ]\I.  D..  a  young 
medical  practitioner  of  Loganville,  Sauk 
county,  has  in  a  few  years  firmly  established 
himself  as  a  skilled  physician  among  the 
fraternity  of  his  profession.  Not  only  do 
the  members  of  the  medical  world  accord 
him  prominence,  but  the  citizens  of  the  en- 
tire community  in  which  he  has  chosen  to 
make  his  home  readily  give  him  worthy 
praise  for  his  efforts  and  success.  He  is 
thoroughly  practical  and  conscientious  and 
enjoys  an  ever  increasing  patronage. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Sutton,  Cale- 
donia county,  Vermont,  December  17,  1868. 
and  was  the  son  of  Jewett  and  x^melia 
(Wheeler)  Corliss.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  Sutton,  Vermont,  and  was  a  con- 
tractor and  builder  at  St.  Johnsbury,  Ver- 
mont, for  some  years,  and  is  now  residing  in 
California.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  Brownington,  Vermont,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Silas  Wheeler,  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, wdio  removed  to  Illinois  about 
1890.  and  now  resides  at  La  Grange,  Cook 
county,  aged  nearly  eighty  years.  Her 
grandfather  came  from  England  and  settled 
in  Massachusetts. 

Allen  T.  Corliss  attended  the  public 
schools  and  later  St.  Johnsbury  Academy, 
and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  went  to  La 
Grange,  Illinois,  where  he  was  employed  in 
a  grocery  store.  He  entered  Rush  Medical 
College  in  the  fall  of  1891,  working  in  the 
store  during  his  vacations  to  obtain  means 
to  continue  his  studies,  and  graduated  from 
that  college  in  1894.  He  established  him- 
self in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  and  after  one  year 
located  in  Loganville,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
has  since  pursued  a  general  practice. 

Our  subject  was  married  June  20,  1894, 
to  Miss  Eva  Gregory,  daughter  of  John  and 
Armena  (Smith)  Gregory,  of  La  Grange, 
Illinois.     Mrs.  Corliss'  father  was  a  native 


of  Ohio,  and  was  an  early  settler  of  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin.  He  lived  on  a  farm  in 
\\'infield  township  for  several  years,  and 
was  a  mason  by  trade.  He  erected  the 
original  Sauk  County  Poor  House,  and 
many  of  the  first  brick  buildings  in  Reeds- 
burg.  His  death  occurred  at  Denver,  Colo- 
rado, in  1883.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Corliss 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  Smith,  who  lived  in  Sauk 
county  for  a  number  of  years  and  died  in 
Loganville.  Two  children  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corliss,  as  follows:  Mar- 
guerite F.  and  Allen  G.  Mr.  and  Mis.  Cor- 
liss embrace  the  Baptist  faith  and  are  held 
in  the  highest  regard  by  their  acquaintances. 
Mr.  Corliss  is  a  member  of  Hillside  Camp, 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  at  Logan- 
ville, and  is  medical  examiner  for  the  camp. 
He  also  holds  membership  in  Forest  Lodge, 
No.  116,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, at  Lime  Ridge.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Central  Wisconsin  Medical  Society,  and 
the  State  Medical  Society  of  Wisconsin.  He 
is  a  man  of  intelligence  and  true  worth  and 
his  prosperity  is  assured. 


MRS.   HARRIET   THOMPSON. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Thompson,  whose  home  is 
on  section  31,  Lincoln  township,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  has  spent  almost  her  en- 
tire life  on  the  frontier,  and  has  witnessed 
the  entire  growth  and  development  of  this 
section  of  the  Union.  She  was  born  at 
Mackinac,  Michigan,  September  18,  1828, 
when  this  region  was  an  unbroken  wilder- 
ness inhabited  only  by  the  red  men,  and 
abounding  in  wild  game  of  all  kinds.  She 
early  became  familiar  with  all  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  pioneer  life,  but  with  the 
advancing  white  man  all  the  comforts  of 
civilized  life  have  been  brought  to  her  door. 

\\^illiam  Svlvester,  the  father  of  our  sub- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


293 


ject,  was  born  in  Hanover,  Massachusetts, 
October  28,  1793,  and  for  twenty- four  years 
was  employed  as  blacksmith  by  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company  at  Mackinac,  Michigan.  In 
1835  he  removed  to  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  followed  farming  for  about  thir- 
teen years,  and  was  then  appointed  by  the 
government  as  blacksmith   for  the   Indians 
at  Point    Bois,    Wood    county.        He  was 
granted  a  permit    to    build    on    the    Indian 
lands,  and  in  1845  erected  the  first  house  in 
Adams  county,  it  being  known  as  the  Marsh 
house,   into   which  the   family   moved   that 
fall.     After  the  land  came  into  market,  he 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and 
rented  his  house  to  our  subject,   while  he 
moved  to  Portage  in   1848,  and  served  as 
the  first  mayor  of  that  city.     He  also  con- 
ducted a  grocery  store  at  that  place,  which 
he  afterward    sold.        He    returned  to  the 
Marsh  house,   Adams   county,   making   his 
home  there  for  a  number  of  years.        He 
then  sold  the  Marsh  house  farm  to  Silas  C. 
Fletcher  and   then  moved   to   Ripon,   Wis- 
consin, where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life.     He  was  one  of  the  minute  men  from 
Massachusetts  in  the  war  of  181 2,  and  was 
the  first  postmaster  in  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin.    On  the  3d  of  May,  1820,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Nancy  J.  Alien,  who  was  born  in 
Detroit,  Michigan,    March     17,    1805,   and 
died  at  the  Marsh  house  January  12,  1848. 
Eleven  children  were  born  of  that  marriage : 
Edwin  J.,  William,  Charles,  Harriet,  Clar- 
issa A.,  Amanda  F.,  Nancy  Jane,  Mary  M., 
Delia  S.,  Eliza  P.  and  Emma  A.,  all  born  in 
Mackinac  except  the  three  youngest.     For 
his  second  wife  he  married  a  Mrs.  Bates,  of 
Rockford,  Illinois,  who  died  some  years  later, 
and  afterward  he  married  Harriet  Westcott, 
of  Sheboygan,  who  still  survives  him.     By 
his  last  marriage  two  children  were  born  at 
the  Marsh,  named  as  follows :     Lillian  and 
Willis. 

On  the  1 2th  of  May,   1848,  Miss  Har- 


riet Sylvester  gave  her  hand  in  marriage  to 
Sila^  C.  Fletcher,  who  after  living  in  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  for  a  few  years,  moved 
to  California,  where  they  made  their  home 
for  about  thirteen  years.     On  their  return 
to  Adams  county  Mr.  Fletcher  purchased  his 
father-in-law's  farm,  which  he  successfully 
operated  until  his  death,  June  2,  1890.     Mrs. 
Fletcher  was  again  married  May  28,  1899, 
her  second  union    being    with   Charles   R. 
Thompson,   who  came  to  this  state  in  the 
spring  of   1845,  ^"^  ^^'st  settled  in  Dodge 
county,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
1 89 1.     In  1892  he  came  to  Adams  county, 
which  has  since  been  his  home.     For  one 
year  he  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Union 
army  during  the  Civil  war,  enlisting  as  a 
private   in   Company   I,   Forty-eighth   Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  but  on  the  24th 
of  March,   1865,  he  was  promoted  to  cor- 
poral.    Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  are 
highly  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  who 
know  them,  and  ha\'e  many  warm  friends 
throughout    Adams    county.      George    W. 
Fletcher,   the   only   child   born   to   Silas   C. 
and    Mrs.     Fletcher,   was  born   March    16, 
1849.     He    is    the    present    owner    of    the 
Marsh   House  and   farms  about  two   hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Adams  county.     He 
was  married,  October  6,  1868,  to  Miss  Mary 
A.  Crane,  a  nati\-e  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis- 
consin.    They  were  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren ;  those  living  are  Minnie  May,  Silas  C. 
and  Mabel  R.     Mrs.  Fletcher  died  Novem- 
ber  12,    1881,  aged    thirty.     Mr.    Fletcher 
was    married,    October    3,    1882,  to  Clara 
Jones,  born  April  9,  1861,  at  Cambria,  Wis- 
consin.    They  have  five  children:  Hazel  I., 
Jane,   Edwin   W.,    Hattie   L.   and   Ella   M. 


ALBERT  W.  NEHLS. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  character- 
istic energy  and  enterprise  of  the  typical 
German-American  citizen  can  be  found  than 


294 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


tliat  afforded  by  the  career  of  this  mercliant 
tailor,  now  a  well-known  resident  of  Kil- 
bourn  City,  Wisconsin.  Coming  to  this 
country  with  no  capital  except  his  abilities, 
he  has  made  his  way  to  success  through 
wisely  directed  effort  and  he  can  now  look 
back  with  satisfaction  upon  past  struggles. 

A  native  of  Germany,  Mr.  Nehls  was 
born  in  FreienWalde,  Pomerania,  December 
12,  1859,  and  is  a  son  of  Ferdinand  and 
Fredericka  (Knappt)  Nehls,  natives  of  the 
same  place;  the  father  was  born  in  1824, 
the  mother  in  1830.  There  the  father  died 
in  1872,  but  the  mother  is  still  living  and 
now  makes  her  home  in  Milwaukee,  Wis- 
consin. 

Our  subject  attended  both  public  and 
private  schools  in  his  native  land,  and  after 
coming  to  this  country  took  up  the  study  of 
bookkeeping.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
learned  the  tailor's  trade,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty  entered  the  German  army,  where  he 
served  for  three  years.  On  the  15th  of 
April,  1885,  he  sailed  for  America,  and 
landed  in  this  country  thirteen  days  later. 
He  first  located  in  Wausau,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  tailoring  busi- 
ness until  December  2,  1890,  and  then  came 
to  Kilbourn  City,  where  he  has  since  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  operations  along  the 
same  line.  In  May,  1896,  he  bought  a  lot 
in  block  No.  47,  on  Broadway,  where  he 
now  conducts  his  business,  and  where  he  also 
carries  a  good  stock  of  ready  made  clothing. 

Mr.  Nehls  was  married,  January  13, 
1891,  to  Miss  Minnie  Wanderer,  who  was 
born  January  11,  1866,  in  Portage,  Wis- 
consin, a  daughter  of  Joseph  W.  and  Maggie 
Wanderer,  natives  of  Germany.  Mr.  Nehls 
belongs  to  the  Catholic  church  and  is  high- 
ly respected  by  all  who  know  him.  He  is 
a  man  of  exceptional  business  ability,  is 
strictly  honorable  in  all  his  dealings,  and 
through  his  6wn  unaided  efforts  has  achieved 
success. 


EDWARD  CLINTON  GOTTRY. 

Edward  Clinton  Gottry,  a  popular  and 
successful  attorney  of  Reedsburgj  Wiscon- 
sin, was  born  June  29,  1864,  at  Hamilton, 
Canada,  a  son  of  Anthony  S.  and  Eliza- 
beth (Kilgour)  Gottry.  The  father  was 
born  in  Haganeau,  Lorraine,  then  a  province 
of  France,  but  now  a  part  of  Germany. 
His  ancestors  doubtless  went  there  from 
the  south  of  Scotland  during  Cromwell's 
invasion.  About  1827,  when  a  lad  of  ten 
years,  Anthony  S.  Gottry  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Utica,  New  York,  where  his  father  carried 
on  the  trade  of  a  stone  mason.  After 
reaching  manhood  he  conducted  a  hotel  in 
Hamilton,  Canada,  for  a  time,  and  about 
1854  came  to  Wisconsin,  being  engaged  in 
the  same  business  at  Stevens  Point  for  a 
number  of  years.  Subsequently  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  two  years  in  Canada  for  his 
health,  and  on  his  return  to  Stevens  Point, 
in  1866,  he  engaged  in  merchandising  for 
a  time.  In  1893  he  removed  to  Pine  City, 
Minnesota,  where  he  is  now  living  retired, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  His  wife 
was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  was 
eight  years  old  when  she  came  with  her  par- 
ents to  the  new  world,  locating  first  in 
Providence,  Rhode  Island.  Later  the  fam- 
ily removed  to  Hamilton,  Canada.  Her  fa- 
ther, William  Kilgour,  had  held  a  position 
in  the  police  department  at  Glasgow.  His 
two  sons,  J.  and  R.  Kilgour,  became  manu- 
facturers and  importers  of  pianos  and  mu- 
sical merchandise  at  Hamilton,  Canada. 

Edward  C.  Gottry,  of  this  review,  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Stevens 
Point,  Wisconsin,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  began  learning  the  printer's  trade  in 
the  office  of  the  "Stevens  Point  Journal," 
of  which  he  later  became  foreman.  In  1 884 
he  went  to  Cloquet,  Minnesota,  where,  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Page  &  Gottry,  he 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


295 


edited  and  published  the  "Pine  Knot,"  the 
first  issue  appearing  July  12,  1884.  The 
following  spring  he  bought  and  consolidated 
with  it  the  "Carlton  County  Press,"  and  in 
October  of  that  year  started  the  "Pine 
County  Pioneer,"  of  which  he  was  active 
manager  until  the  spring  of  189 1.  He  still 
owns  the  paper,  but  it  is  now  in  charge  of 
his  brother,  W.  P.  Gottry. 

In  June,  1889,  Mr.  Gottry  was  appointed 
register  of  the  United  States  land  office  at 
Taylor's  Falls,  Minnesota,  by  President  Har- 
rison, which  position  he  retained  until  the 
office  was  consolidated  with  the  St.  Cloud 
land  office  in  January,  1894.  In  the  mean- 
time he  purchased  the  "Rush  City  Post," 
which  he  edited  through  the  campaign  of 
1890.  In  the  fall  of  1887  he  bought  the 
"Pine  Tree,"  at  Hinckley,  Minnesota,  which 
he  consolidated  with  the  "Pine  County  Pio- 
neer." He  entered  the  law  department  of 
Minnesota  University  in  1892,  and  on  com- 
pleting the  course  in  1894  was  graduated 
with  high  honors.  On  the  8th  of  June,  of 
that  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
began  practice  at  Taylor's  Falls,  Minnesota. 
The  following  fall  he  was  elected  county 
attorney  of  Chisago  county  and  also  city 
attorney.  The  latter  position  he  held  un- 
til November,  1898.  While  county  attor- 
ney he  prosecuted  the  celebrated  "Wyoming 
murder  cases,"  and  secured  the  conviction 
of  George  Kelly,  who  was  executed  March 
23,  1897.  Another  important  case  was  the 
"McMillen  trial"  for  an  attempted  murder 
of  his  wife.  Mr.  Gottry  conducted  several 
cases  before  the  secretary  of  the  interior  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  one  of  which  was  the 
"Pat  Fox  case,"  involving  the  title  to  a 
tract  of  valuable  pine  land  on  the  Mille 
Lacs  Indian  reservation,  and  he  was  suc- 
cessful in  securing  the  title  for  his  client, 
Mr.  Fox.  In  December,  1898,  he  came  to 
Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  and  has  already  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  good  general  prac- 


tice. He  is  thoroughly  versed  in  the  law, 
is  a  man  of  deep  research  and  careful  in- 
vestigation and  his  mind  is  analytical,  log- 
ical and  inductive. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  1891,  Mr.  Gottry 
married  Miss  Cosette  Barlow,  a  native  of 
Barre  Mills,  La  Crosse  county,  Wisconsin, 
and  a  daughter  of  Oliver  S.  and  Mary  L. 
Barlow.  Her  father  was  a  miller  and  en- 
gaged in  milling  for  many  years,  after  which 
he  served  as  county  treasurer  of  La  Crosse 
county.  Our  subject  and  wife  have  one 
child.  Amy  Cosette,  born  in   1897. 

Mr.  Gottry  is  a  ready  and  versatile 
writer  and  has  contributed  some  very  in- 
teresting articles  to  the  "Northwest  Mag- 
azine." While  on  a  trip  through  Idaho  a  few 
years  since,  he  spent  some  time  among  the 
Nez  Perces  Indians  and  gleaned  some  in- 
teresting information  concerning  the  tra- 
ditions, customs  and  character  of  that  tribe. 
He  was  reared  in  the  Methodist  church, 
but  his  wife  holds  membership  in  the  Bap- 
tist church.  Socially  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Ameri- 
ca and  the  Phi  Delta  Phi,  a  college  frater- 
nity. His  political  support  has  always  been 
given  the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  He  has  always  taken  an  active 
and  prominent  part  in  the  campaigns  of  his 
party.  In  1888,  1892,  1894  and  1896, 
during  his  residence  in  Minnesota,  he 
"stumped"  the  state  as  a  speaker  for  the 
state  central  committee  for  the  candidates 
of  his  party. 


JAMES  HATTON. 

James  Hatton,  a  prominent  farmer  of 
the  town  of  Fountain  Prairie,  has  his  home 
not  far  from  the  village  of  Fall  River,  and 
has  been  for  many  years  prominent  among 
the  most  'successful   farmers  of  Columbia 


296 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


county.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
(  Robertsaw )  Hatton,  and  was  born  January 
19.  1830,  in  their  home  in  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land. His  parents  came  to  this  country  in 
1849,  Sid  located  on  a  quarter-section  of 
choice  land  in  the  village  of  Fountain 
Prairie,  which  remained  in  the  family  name' 
for  many  years.  Here  Mr.  Joseph  Hatton 
died  in  1850,  and  the  management  of  the 
farm  passed  into  the  hands  of  our  subject. 
He  had  two  brothers,  but  they  both  died 
early  and  he  became  the  sole  reliance  of  his 
widowed  mother.  She  made  her  home  with 
him  for  many  years  and  died  at  the  venerable 
age  of  eighty-three. 

Mr.  Hatton  disposed  of  the  family 
homestead  in  1887  and  bought  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  in  section  17  of  the 
same  township,  and  here  he  still  resides, 
keeping  the  acti\'e  charge  of  everything  in 
his  own  hands.  He  was  married  in  April, 
1866,  to  Miss  Anna  Waterworth,  a  daugh- 
ter~of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Waterworth,  both 
English  born  and  bred.  They  both  lived  to 
pass  the  age  of  eighty  years^  and  came  of 
a  hardy  stock.  Some  of  her  kindred  bear- 
ing the  family  name  are  now  residents  of 
P'ountain  Prairie,  and  are  among  the  most 
influential  people  of  the  community.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hatton  have  come  three  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  now  living  at  home. 
Joseph,  the  oldest  son,  assists  his  father  in 
the  management  of  the  large  farm;  Nettie 
lends  a  hand  to  the  domestic  cares,  and 
Harry  is  still  in  school.  They  live  in  an 
admirable  farm  house,  adapted  in  every  way 
to  the  situation.  It  crowns  a  small  eleva- 
tion, and  is  fronted  by  a  beautiful  grassy 
lawn,  and  backed  by  noble  shade  trees.  Mr. 
Hatton  takes  a  great  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  his  adopted  country,  and  thinking  the 
Republican  party  nearly  right,  gives  it  a 
warm  support.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in 
the  cause  of  popular  education,  and  has  often 
been  called  to  serve  as  a  member    of    the 


school  board.  He  has  been  a  farmer  of 
more  than  the  usual  abilit}-,  and  is  an  honest, 
deserving  citizen  universally  liked  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  know  him. 


ALBERT    FUHRMANN. 

Albert  Fuhrmann,  the  well-known  pro- 
prietor of  the  Reedsburg  Brewery,  a  view 
of  which  forms  one  of  the  illustrations  on 
another  page  of  this  volume,  and  an  influen- 
tial citizen  of  Reedsburg,  was  born  on  the 
9th  of  February,  1853,  at  Grupenhagen, 
Pommerania,  Germany,  and  is  the  only  male 
representative  of  the  family  in  America.  His 
parents  were  Ferdinand  and  Christina 
(Platk)  Fuhrmann.  The  father  was  a 
dealer  in  eggs  and  other  produce,  which  he 
shipped  to  Berlin,  and  he  served  for  three 
years  in  the  German  army.  He  died  at 
Baversdorf,  Pommerania,  in  1873,  at  the 
age  of  forty-four  years,  but  his  father,  a 
farmer  by  occupation,  reached  the  advanced 
age  of  ninety.  After  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band, the  mother  of  our  subject  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  died  at  Oshkosh,  Wis- 
consin, February  17,  1899,  aged  seventy 
years. 

In  his  native  land  Albert  Fuhrmann 
learned  the  brewing  business,  beginning  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  years  in  a  brewery  at 
Schlawe,  Pommerania,  where  he  continued 
to  work  until  his  emigration  to  America  in 
1882.  He  first  located  in  Neenah,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  was  employed  in  a  brewery 
for  six  months,  and  then  went  to  Oshkosh. 
In  1896  he  came  to  Reedsburg  and  purchased 
the  brewery  of  Geffert  &  Paul,  which  he  has 
since  conducted  with  marked  success.  The 
capacity  of  the  plant  is  three  thousand  bar- 
rels per  year,  most  of  which  is  marketed  at 
Reedsburg,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
beer  a  large  (|uantity  of  the  barley  grown  in 
this  vicinity  is  consumed. 


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COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


299 


In  1875  was  celebrated  tlie  marriage  of 
j\lr.  Fulirmann  and  Miss  Carolina  Jenrich. 
of  Carwitz,  Germany,  and  to  them  have 
been  born  five  children,  namely:  Al- 
bert, Otto,  William,  l-lsther  and  Char- 
lie. The  family  are  identified  with  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  chnrch.  of  Reeds- 
burg,  of  which  ^Ir.  Fuhrmann  is  a 
trustee.  He  takes  little  interest  in  political 
.agitation,  but  is  active  in  many  other  public 
affairs,  being  a  stockholder  in  the  Reeils- 
burg  Agricultural  Society  and  a  contributor 
ti  the  Public  Library.  He  is  widely  and 
favorajjly  known,  and  receives  and  merits 
the  respect  of  his  fellow  citizens. 


NEWEL  CARPENTER,  Sr. 

iMewel  Carpenter,  a  prominent  agricult- 
urist and  millwright,  residing  on  section 
thirty-five,  in  White  Creek  township,  Adams 
county,  has  been  a  member  of  the  farming 
community  since  1850,  and  has  been  a  po- 
tent factor  in  its  upbuilding.  He  has  a 
pleasant  estate,  and  is  engaged  in  general 
farming  and   raises   some  stock. 

Mr.  Carpenter  was  born  in  Sutton,  ]\las- 
sachusetts,  January  24,  1S23,  and  was  the 
.son  of  John  and  Abigail  (Healey)  Carpen- 
ter. The  family  resided  in  Massachusetts 
many  years,  and  the  father  of  our  subject 
was  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  five  children, 
and  was  a  wheelwright  by  trade. 

Until  eighteen  years  of  age  Newel  Car- 
penter resided  at  home,  attending  school 
and  assisting  his  father,  and  was  then  ap- 
prenticed to  V.  C.  Hooker,  of  Sutton,  to 
learn  the  trade  of  millwright.  He  received 
for  the  first  year's  work  forty  dollars  in 
money  and  three  months'  schooling,  and  the 
contract  was  for  three  years.  However,  his 
employer  accepted  a  contract  in  Mexico 
and  gave  our  subject  his  time  and  set  of 


tools,  most  of  which  he  still  has  in  his 
possession.  Pie  was  apt  and  showed  such 
competency  after  one  year's  work,  that  the 
well  know'n  contractor  and  millwright  of 
Sutton,  Jonathan  Dudley,  engaged  him  as 
overseer  of  his  workmen.  He  continued 
tluis  three  years,  and  then,  at  the  age  of 
twentv-two  \-ears,  worked  for  himself,  and 
was  engaged  on  mill  work  for  the  woolen 
and  cotton  mills  in  Worcester,  Massachu- 
setts, and  was  also  engaged  in  the  car  shops 
of  the  railway  company  at  that  place.  He 
v.-ent  t<.i  Skowhegan  Falls,  Maine,  at  the  age 
of  thirty  years,  and  was  employed  in  a 
numlier  of  factories,  and  was  proprietor  of 
a  sash  and  blind  factory  in  that  city,  and  was 
the  Ijuilder  of  several  starch  factories. \  -He 
also  emploved  a  number  of  hands  in-  the 
manufacture  of  pill  boxes,  and  Brown 
1  homson,  of  Boston,  bought  their  entire  out- 
put. In  the  spring  of  1850  Mr.  Carpenter 
went  to  A\'hite  Creek,  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  took  land  on  section  thirty-five, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  a  good 
residence  on  the  estate,  and  modern  conven- 
iences and  good  barns.  He  built  a  saw-mill 
on  the  farm  in  1862,  which  he  operated 
continuously  until  the  present  year,  when  in 
Februarv  the  mill  burned,  and  was  a  total 
loss,  including  planing  mill,  shingle  machine 
and  feed  mill.  He  contemplates  erecting  an- 
other sawmill  at  once.  He  removed  to 
Ableman,  Sauk  county,  in  1893,  where  he 
built  a  flour  and  grist-mill,  which  he  owned 
for  four  years,  and  afterward  returned  to 
White  Creek.  He  has  built  a  number  of 
nulls  around  the  country,  including  those 
at  Povnette,  Elroy,  Sumner,  and  Easton. 
Pie  is  a  lo\-er  of  horses,  and  for  many  years 
had  a  horse  which  could  shake  the  dust  into 
all  comers'  eyes,  and  has  had  great  fun  at 
the  county  fairs.  Mr.  Carpenter  is  pos- 
sessed of  much  mechanical  ingenuity,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  has  done  the  work 
i:)f  the  country,   from  repairing  watches  to 


300 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


guns  and  sulkies.  He  has  two  patent 
rights,  one  a  hop  press,  and  the  other  a  con- 
veyor for  a  hearse,  the  latter  bearing  patents 
under  date  of  December  28,  1897,  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada. 

Mr.  Carpenter  was  married,  January  15, 
1845,  to  Charlotte  T.  Arnold,  daughter  of 
Nathan  Arnold,  of  Sutton,  Massachusetts. 
Mrs.  Carpenter  died  November  12,  1845, 
leaving  one  child,  Charlotte  A.,  born  No- 
vember II,  1845,  now  residing  in  \\'orces- 
ter,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Carpenter  married 
Mary  Elizabeth  Maxfield,  daughter  uf 
James  Maxfield,  of  Mount  Vernon,  Kenne- 
bec county,  Ma'ine,  February  ji,  1847. 
Five  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Rfrs.  Carpenter,  as  follows:  Abner,  born 
July  13,  1858,  engineer  of  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railway;  Frank,  born  September 
18,  1854,  milhyright,  residing  at  Reeds- 
burg;  Alice,  born  October  25,  i860,  residing 
at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin;  Newel,  b(_n-n  July 
12,  1868,  residing  at  home;  Leonard,  born 
November  12,  1872,  employed  on  the  Chi- 
cago &  Northwestern  Railwa_\-.  Mr.  Car- 
penter is  a  genial,  cle\-er  man.  and  much 
respected  in  his  community.  He  is  a  stanch 
Democrat  in  political  sentiment,  Ijut  does 
not  seek  public  favor.  He  is  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  his  township  and  aids  in 
e\-ery  public  enterprise. 


HON.    DAVID    BARNES    FIULBURT. 

Hon.  David  Barnes  Hulburt,  of  Logan- 
ville,  Sauk  county,  \\'isconsin,  is  widely 
known  throughout  the  central  part  of  the 
state  as  a  man  of  unusual  character  and 
commanding  ability.  He  was  born  at 
Portland,  Chautauqua  county.  New  York, 
December  8,  1829,  and  is  a  son  of  James 
Harvey  and  Lydia  (Peters)  Flulburt,  whose 
familv  included   nine   children.     The   elder 


Hulburt  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  was 
reared  to  agricultural  ptirsuits.  While  a 
boy  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  from  there  to  Portland,  New 
York,  where  his  life  was  spent.  He  died 
when  over  eighty-two  years  of  age.  Rev. 
L^avid  Hulburt,  the  grandfather  of  the  gen- 
tleman whose  naiue  introduces  this  article, 
was  a  Baptist  clergyman  of  far  more  than 
ordinary  endowanents.  He  filled  promi- 
nent pulpits  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
and  other  states,  and  died  at  Portland,  New 
York,  when  ox-er  ninety-six.  After  he  was 
se\'entv-fi\'e  he  retired  from  actixe  pastoral 
work,  Ijut  ciintinuetl  to  preach  from  time  to 
time  for  many  years  thereafter.  His  wife, 
Elizalieth  Barnes,  died  when  o\er  seventy- 
five.  1  hey  reared  a  family  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, whose  average  age  at  death  was  over 
seventy-five  years.  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Hulbtirt 
was  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Phelps  Peters. 
wh(.)  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
army  and  who  ser\-ed  his  country  several 
\-ears  in  that  great  struggle. 

Da\'itl  B.  Hulburt  left  his  boyhcjod  home 
in  1857,  and  came  to  Loganville,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  settletl  on  a  farm,  which  is  now  in 
part  the  site  of  the  village.  Much  of  his 
original  investment  he  still  retains,  though 
many  acres  ha\'e  been  subdi\ided  and  dis- 
posed of  to  actual  settlers.  He  studied 
civil  engineering  and  navigation  at  Fredonia 
Academy,  the  old  and  famous  educational 
institution  that  has  immortalized  the  little 
New  York  village  of  that  name,  and  after 
graduating  from  the  normal  ilepartment  of 
the  -Vcademy,  engaged  in  teaching.  He 
taught  several  seasons  in  New  York,  and 
was  a  teacher  in  this  state  for  a  number  of 
v'ears.  On  coming  to  the  state  of  Wiscon- 
sin he  engaged  in  surveying,  and  has  al- 
ways done  considerable  business  in  that 
line,  his  most  important  labor  in  this  di- 
rection being  the  establishment  of  the  con- 
templated   Loganville    &    Narrows    Prairie 


COMTENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


801 


Railroad.  In  i860  he  was  elected  county 
sur\eyor,  and  for  twenty  years  or  more 
he  served  the  people  in  that  capacity. 

It  was  in  the  assembly,  however,  that 
Mr.  Hulburt  won  his  most  distinguished 
honors.  In  1874  he  was  elected  to  the  as- 
sembly, and  was  honored  with  two  re-elec- 
tions in  succession,  and  served  in  the  ses- 
sions of  1875,  1876  and  1877.  In  1884 
lie  was  chosen  senator,  and  for  four  years 
served  his  constituents  in  the  upper  house 
of  the  Wisconsin  legislature.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  education 
and  introduced  several  important  measures 
which  became  laws  and  are  still  <in  the  stat- 
ute books.  Among  other  measures  was  the 
famous  "one  mill-tax"  for  school  purposes, 
which  helped  increase  the  school  attendance 
of  the  state  over  ten  per  cent,  in  addition 
to  the  natural  increase.  He  also  worked 
diligently  in  behalf  of  the  biennial  sessions 
amendment  to  the  state  constitution.  In 
local  matters  he  has  served  his  community 
well,  for  he  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  seventeen  years,  and  was  chairman  of 
the  township  board  for  se\"eral  }-ears.  For 
many  years  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  at  Loganville,  and  in  1871  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  by  President  Grant.  He 
held  this  position  a  full  term,  and  retired 
from  it  in  1875  to  the  general  regret  of  the 
community,  whose  interests  he  had  carefully 
served. 

ilr.  Hulburt  was  married,  in  February, 
1856,  to  Josephine  M.,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Abigail  (Jones)  Van  Scoter,  of  Chau- 
tauqua county,  New  York.  Mrs.  Hulburt 
,was  born  in  Steuben  county,  New  York, 
where  her  father  was  a  practicing  physician. 
He  was  of  Holland  descent,  and  died  at 
F'redonia.  Mrs.  Hulburt  is  the  mother  of 
eight  children:  Alice  M.  (Mrs.  H.  Z. 
Westonhaver,  Madison,  Wisconsin)  ;  Frank 
D.,  a  practicing  physician  at  Reedsburg;  Jo- 
sephine M.    (Mrs.   August  Luherson,   died 


July  9,  1892,  in  her  twenty-sixth  year)  ; 
Hettie  (Mrs.  C.  \V.  Constantine,  of  Madi- 
son) ;  Arthur  D.,  dead;  Lena  B.  (died  June 
23,  1888,  at  the  age  of  nineteen)  ;  Harvey 
L.,  a  graduate  in  pharmacy;  and  Jessie 
(Mrs.  Albert  Williams,  Loganvihe).  There 
are  ten  grandchildren  in  the  family,  and  in 
their  old  age  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hulliurt  feel 
th.eir  lines  have  been  cast  in  pleasant  places. 


WARREN  I.   COLBY. 

The  pleasant  estate  on  which  this  gen- 
tleman now  makes  his  home  is  the  old  home- 
stead farm  of  his  father,  whom  he  assisted, 
and  became  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
best  methods  to  be  pursued  in  that  calling. 
The  management  of  the  estate  has  now^  fallen 
to  his  lot  and  he  has  taken  up  the  w'ork  and 
is  displaying  those  dominant  traits  of  char- 
acter which  are  destined  to  bring  the  best 
results.  He  is  a  man  of  much  worth  to  his 
community  and  is  interested  in  the  general 
v/elfare  of  Adams  county.  His  entire  life 
has  been  spent  in  Easton  township,  and  his 
home  surroundings  are  of  the  most  comfort- 
able nature.  Modern  machinery  is  used  for 
gathering  and  taking  care  of  the  grain 
products,  and  his  stock  is  well  provided  with 
shelter. 

Mr.  Colby  was  born  at  Easton,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  July  17,  1855,  and  was 
the  son  of  Jonathan  C.  and  Sarah  A.  (  Petti- 
grove)  Colby,  a  sketch  of  whose  lives  will 
appear  under  the  Ijiography  of  Thomas  P. 
Colby,  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Our  subject  attended  school  until  about 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  received  a  good 
education.  He  resided  at  home  and  after 
the  death  of  his  parents  came  into  possession 
of  the  homestead,  on  which  he  still  resides. 
He  has  alxnit  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres 
of  land,  one  hundred  acres  of  which  is  und:  r 


30i 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


cultivation.  He  enoages  in  general  farm- 
ing and   has  been   successful. 

Mr.  Giliiy  was  married,  June  21,  1892, 
to  Jennie  M.  Halstead,  daughter  of  Isaac 
F.  aiid  Lydia  Halstead,  of  Easton  township. 
Three  children  have  been  born  to  bless  the 
home  I  if  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colby,  as  follovys: 
Irene  F.,  born  March  30,  1893;  Floyd,  born 
September  4.  1895,  and  Dorothy  Ruth,  born 
August  18,  1899. 

Mr.  Colliy  has  been  called  upon  to  serve 
in  various  offxial  positions  in  his  township, 
and  is  at  present  chairman  of  the  township 
board.  He  is  non-partisan  in  politics  and 
casts  his  vote  for  the  man  which  in  his  opin- 
ion will  serve  his  community  best.  He  is 
public-spirited,  and  in  every  possible  way 
lends  his  influence  for  the  advancement  of 
his  community,  and  enjoys  the  respect  of  his 
fellow  men. 


JOSEPH  HENRY  RIDDLE. 

Joseph  Henry  Riddle,  a  leading  farmer 
and  stock  breeder  in  the  town  of  Lodi,  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  long  ago  took  a 
prominent  place  among  those  devoted  to  ag- 
riculture in  tlr's  comjnunity  and  this  is  easily 
his  standing  at  the  present  time.  He  has 
always  been  an  industrious  worker;  he  has 
maintained  a  high  character  for  honesty  and 
unswerving  integrity;  and  his  business  abil- 
ity is  attested  by  his  manifest  success  in  the 
enterprises  to  which  he  has  set  his  hands. 

Mr.  Riddle  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York  June  24,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert 
S.  and  Mary  (Dunning)  Riddle.  The  fa- 
ther was  a  native  of  Delaware  county.  New 
\'ork,  and  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  He 
came  to  New  York  while  still  a  young  man 
au-d  located  on  a  farm  in  Djclaware  coifnty. 
There  he  lixcd  to  lie  almost  one  hundred 
years  old.        His  wife  reached  an  extreme 


old  age.  R.  S.  Riddle  learned  the  carpenter 
trade  in  his  native  state,  and  followed  it  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
where  he  bail  many  im]3ortant  contracts. 
He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1851,  and  took  up 
government  land  in  Dane  county,  not  far 
from  Lodi,  and  devoted  himself  mainlj'  to 
farming  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  did  some 
wiirk  at  his  trade,  howe\'er,  in  the  }ears 
that  ini;ne<liately  followed  his  arrival  in  the 
state,  and  had  some  (|uite  extensi\'e  con- 
tracts. He  dietl  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 
Mrs.  Mary  Riddle  sur\-ived  her  husband 
se\'eral  years  and  lived  to  reach  the  age  of 
eighty-one.  She  was  born  in  New  Jersey, 
and  became  the  mother  of  seven  children, 
two  of  whom  died  in  early  childhood : 
Mary  Jane  died  in  Dane  county,  Wisconsin, 
arid  Frank  at  Los  Angeles,  California;  Ed- 
win enlisted  in  Company  H,  Twenty-third 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  died  at 
New  Orleans  while  in  the  service;  George 
is  li\'ing  in  the  town  of  Lodi. 

Josei)h  Henry  Riddle  has  li\'ed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lodi  since  he  was  twelve  years 
old.  \'\'hen  he  was  twenty-five  he  bought 
a  farm  in  Dane  county  and  three  years  later 
moved  into  the  town  of  Dodi.  Here  he 
is  now  the  proprietor  of  a  magnificent  rural 
estate  of  three  hundred  and  forty-eight 
acres,  eighty  acres  of  it  being  in  Dane  coun- 
ty. It  affords  a  variety  of  soil  and  is  well 
supplied  with  timber.  There  are  several 
large  li\ing  springs  upon  it,  and  it  is  tra- 
versed by  Spring  creek.  For  more  than 
thirty  years  Mr.  Riddle  has  made  a  specialty 
of  dairying,  and  at  the  present  time  has 
turned  his  cattle  very  largely  into  thor- 
oughbred or  high-grade  Jerseys.  He  has 
an  extensi\'e  milk  route  in  the  village  of 
Lodi,  where  he  finds  a  ready  market  for  his 
milk,  crc;fm  and  Imtter.  Mr.  Riddle  is  also 
deeply  interested  in  fine  driving  stock,  and 
at  the  present  time  has  over  twenty  horses 
and  colts  on  his  place,  some  of  which  have 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


303 


developed  noteworthy  speed.  He  has  a 
fine  herd  of  Sliropshire  sheep.  jMnch  of  his 
stock  lias  heen  on  exhibition  at  (hft'ercnt 
fairs  and  h'\'e  stock  shows,  and  wherever 
e.xhiliited  it  lias  repeatedly  taken  premiums. 
He  is  a  Mason,  and  a  lifelong  Democrat. 

]\[r.  Riildle  and  Miss,  Cornelia  Amerette 
Simons  were  married  in  March,  1864.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  Frederick  Hawley  and 
Roxana  (Hickox)  Simons,  and  was  born 
at  Canandaigua,  Ontario  county.  New  York. 
Her  parents  came  to  Wisconsin  at  an  early 
day,  and  were  the  first  settlers  in  the  tmvn 
of  Springfield,  their  nearest  neighbor  being 
nine  miles  away.  Her  father  died  in  1846, 
and  her  mother  remarried  and  li\ed  in 
Springfield  township  many  years.  One  of 
her  sisters,  Mrs.  IMicliael  Durand,  is  still 
living  in  Canandaigua,  New  York,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-four.  Captain  George  tlickox, 
the  father  of  Roxana  referred  to  above, 
won  his  title  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  came 
from  New  England  to  New  York  and  lived 
to  be  ninety-four.  His  father,  Levi  Hickox, 
served  in  the  Continental  army  under  Gen- 
eral Washington,  and  was  at  the  battle  of 
Trenton. 

To  ^Ir.  and  IMrs.  Riddle  five  children 
have  been  born.  Their  living  children  have 
received  excellent  educational  advantages, 
and  the  home  of  the  family  is  one  of  Ik^s- 
pitality  and  refinement.  Their  children  are: 
Arthur  Henry,  at  present  assistant  manager 
of  the  farm  at  home;  Ernest  Hawley  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Northwestern  Business  Col- 
lege at  Madison.  He  has  a  marked  me- 
chanical ability,  and  has  executed  some  very 
complicated  scroll  work  pieces,  a  noteworthy 
production  being  an  antique  clock  represent- 
ing a  feudal  castle.  He  is  interested  with 
his  father  in  l)reeding  and  training  Idooded 
horses,  and  he  seems  to  have  a  natural  gift 
for  handling  horses,  even  the  most  fractious 
responding  readily  to  his  contr(jl.  I'earlie 
died   June    16,    1876,   at   the   age  of  eleven 


months  and  seventeen  days.  Cora  Eliza- 
1;eth  is  a  graduate  of  the  Northwestern  Busi- 
ness College  in  stenography,  and  has  fol- 
lowed that  work  several  years.  .\ll)erta  De 
Estes  is  a  graduate  of  the  Lodi  high  school, 
and  is  now  a  student  at  the  Whitewater 
Normal. 


LYMAN  STRONG  SCOON. 

Lyman  Strong  Scoon,  a  leading  farmer 
of  Reedsburg  township.  Sauk  county,  and  a 
worth}'  representati\-e  of  one  of  the  promi- 
nent pioneer  families  of  this  section  (d"  the 
state,  was  born  in  Loganville,  Wisconsin, 
Jnlv  2Ti.  1859,  a  son  of  Alfred  Freeman  and 
Emilv  E.  (Strong")  Scoon.  'I  he  mother, 
who  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church  of  Loganville,  died  in  March, 
1865,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years.  She 
was  born  in  Cattaraugus  county.  New  York, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  John  Merrill  Strong, 
a  fanner,  who  died  in  Grand  Detour,  Illi- 
nois. 

Alfred  F.  Scoon.  the  father  cd'  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
\\'ashington  countw  New  York,  Julv  4, 
1829.  His  father,  who  was  born  near  Dum- 
fries. Scotland,  started  for  the  United  States 
during  the  war  of  1812  on  board  an  .Vmeri- 
can  \'essel,  but  was  ca])tured  and  pressed 
into  the  Piritish  na\al  service.  After  two 
years  he  managed  to  escape  by  concealing 
liimself  in  a  coil  of  ro|)e  in  New  York  har- 
bor, where  he  remained  for  tw;)  days  with 
onlv  one  sea  biscuit  to  eat.  Li  the  mean- 
time his  wife,  who  had  been  left  in  Scot- 
land, remarried.  su])posing  him  dead.  He 
settled  in  Washington  county,  New  York, 
and  there  married  Nancy  Pratt,  by  whom 
he  had  ten  children.  Alfred  F.  Scoon,  the 
youngest  of  this  i'amily,  left  home  at  the 
death  of  his  fatlicr,  when  he  was  fourteen 
vears  old  and  worked  in  the  woods  of  Can- 


304 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ada  until  1847,  when  lie  went  to  Grand  De- 
tour, Illinois,  where  he  married  the  mdlher 
of  our  subject.  For  several  years  he  was 
employed  as  a  salesman  for  the  John  Deere 
Plow  Company  of  that  place,  and  in  1856 
came  to  Loganville,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
worked  at  the  cooper's  trade  until  after  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1863.  he  enlisted  in  Company  B, 
Twelfth  Wisconsin  \'olunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  mustered  out  in  July,  1865,  after  a 
year  and  a  half  of  arduous  service.  He  was 
with  Sherman  all  through  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign and  on  the  march  to  the  sea.  Hav- 
ing contracted  heart  disease  and  other 
troubles,  he  was  in  a  hospital  at  Indianapolis, 
Indiana,  for  some  time,  and  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  the  \"eteran  Reserve  Corps,  in 
which  he  served  with  the  rank  of  sergeant 
until  the  war  was  over.  During  his  resi- 
dence in  Loganville  and  later  in  Reedsburg 
township  he  filled  the  office  of  justice  of 
the  peace  in  a  most  acceptable  manner.  On 
the  15th  of  April,  1863,  he  took  possession 
of  a  farm  on  section  31,  that  township, 
upon  which  few  improvements  had  been 
made,  and  to  its  further  development  and 
cultivation  devoted  his  energies  until  the 
spring  of  1895,  since  which  time  he  has  lived 
retired  in  New  London,  Wisconsin.  He 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who  made  money 
during  the  "hop  crash"  of  1S68,  and  he  was 
a  successful  dealer  in  that  and  other  prod- 
ucts, and  also  in  real  estate  to  some  ex- 
tent. He  is  a  well-read  man  of  decided 
views,  who  has  always  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  political  affairs  and  was  a  Demo- 
crat in  early  life,  but  since  1880  has  sup- 
ported the  Republican  party.  He  served  as 
assessor  of  Westfield  township,  Sauk  coun- 
ty, for  two  j^ears.  By  his  first  wife  he  had 
eightchildren,of  whom  three  died  in  infancy. 
The  others  are:  Frances  F.,  now  the  wife 
of  Albert  W^ager,  of  Reedsburg  township; 
Frederick,   who  died    in    1874,   at   the   age 


of  twenty-one  years;  Lyman  S.,  our  subject; 
Darwin  W'.,  a  resident  of  W^est  Superior, 
Wisconsin,  and  ex-sheriff  of  Douglas  coun- 
ty; and  Emma,  wife  of  William  E.  Carter, 
of  New  London.  For  his  second  wife,  Mr. 
Scoon  married  Louise  C.  Seamans.  who  died 
in  January,  1891,  when  nearly  si.\ty-t\vo 
years  of  age.  All  of  the  three  children  born 
of  this  union  died  in  infancy.  Thev  had  an 
adopted  son,  John  Duane.  now  a  resident  of 
West  Superior. 

Lyman  S.  Scoon,  of  this  review,  attend- 
ed school  at  Loganville  and  elsewhere  until 
sixteen  years  of  age,  since  which  time  he 
has  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits,  and  with  the  exception  of 
th.ree  years  has  spent  his  entire  life  on  the 
home  farm.  In  ^lay.  1886,  he  went  to 
Faulk  county.  South  Dakota,  where  he  took 
a  pre-emption  claim,  but  two  years  later  re- 
turned to  Sauk  county  and  has  since  carried 
on  the  old  homestead,  which  comprises  one 
hundred  and  fift}'  acres  of  land,  one  hundred 
acres  of  which  are  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  and  well  improved.  In  connec- 
tion with  general  farming,  he  gives  con- 
siilerable  attention  to  the  raising  of  Shrop- 
shire sheep  and  hogs;  has  speculated  more 
or  less  in  live  stock  and  for  some  years  con- 
ducted an  extensive  dairy. 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1881,  Mr. 
Scoon  married  Miss  Anna  B.  Cribben.  a  na- 
tive of  Walworth  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Isabel  (Troy) 
Cribben,  of  Sauk  county.  The  father  was 
born  near  Dublin,  Ireland,  and  came  to 
America  in  1847.  I"  W'alworth  county, 
Wisconsin,  he  married  Isabel  Troy,  also  a 
native  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1868  removed  to  Sauk  county,  their  home 
at  present  being  in  Lavalle.  ^Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Scoon  have  two  children  living,  namely: 
Alfred  Thomas,  born  in  July,  1885:  and 
Frankie  Belle,  Ijorn  in  May,  1890. 

Socially  Mr.  Scoon  is  a  prominent  mem- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


305 


ber  of  Hillside  Camp.  Xo.  J374,  M.  W.  A., 
at  Loganville,  in  which  he  has  filled  the 
chair  of  venerable  consul :  and  for  some 
years  he  was  a  memlier  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Good  Templars,  until  the  lodg-e  at 
Loganville  was  disbanded.  Roth  he  and 
his  wife  belong  to  Arbutus  Camp,  No.  47, 
Royal  Neighbors,  and  are  held  in  high  re- 
gard l)y  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances. Since  casting  his  first  presi- 
dential vote  for  James  A.  Garfield  in  1880, 
he  has  supported  the  Republican  party  on 
national  issues  and  he  has  filled  the  office 
of  constable  for  one  year  each  in  Reedsburg 
and  \\'estfield  towuiship,  and  has  most  cred- 
itably and  satisfactorily  served  as  justice  of 
the  peace  since  the  spring  of   1895. 


LEMUEL  S.  \\'RIGHT. 

Lemuel  S.  Wright,  a  venerable  farmer 
and  long  a  resident  of  the  town  of  Fountain 
Prairie,  Columbia  county,  is  .still  met  on  the 
streets  of  Fall  River,  bearing  himself  jaunt- 
ily and  well  despite  the  burden  of  years. 
He  has  done  much  in  making  Columbia 
county  a  garden  spot,  ant!  is  of  the  opinion 
that  search  through  the  world  as  }ou  will 
it  will  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  charming 
farming  region  than  the  beautiful  land  on 
which  he  has  pitched  his  home.  Air.  Wright 
is  a  son  of  Asa  and  Eunice  Wright,  and 
was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  county.  New  York, 
November  7,  1825.  His  jjcople  were  [ire- 
viously  of  X'ermont,  but  are  supposed  to  be 
descendants  of  the  Norse  who  entered  Eng- 
land in  the  early  centuries.  Asa  Wright 
died  about  1830,  ami  his  widnw  thirtv  years 
later.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve 
children:  Parkis  died  in  Ohio;  Abigail,  de- 
ceased ;  Sarah  is  Mrs.  Baldwin ;  IMinerva  is 
Mrs.  Erwin  and  lives  in  Belvidere,  Illinois: 
Pha-be  niarried   i'Jichmond   Danfurd,  and   is 


dead;  Asa,  deceased;  Riley,  deceased;  Ab- 
ner,  deceased ;  Cornelia,  deceased ;  Lemuel 
is  the  subject  of  this  writing:  and  Lucy, 
who  married  Hiram  Clark,  and  is  now 
dead. 

Mr.  Wright  remained  on  his  farm  in 
New  York  and  worked  as  a  carpenter  until 
1850,  when  he  came  to  Beaver  IJam,  in  this 
state.  Caught  up  by  the  gold  fever  in  1852 
he  went  to  California  for  the  purpose  of 
engaging  in  mining.  The  far  west  did  not 
pro\-e  an  attractive  proposition  and  he  soon 
came  back  to  Wisconsin,  and  settled  upon  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  the 
townshiiJ  of  Fountain  Prairie.  To  the  culti- 
vation and  development  of  this  beautiful  tract 
lie  has  devoted  his  life  and  still  makes  his 
home  here,  though  he  has  given  up  the 
actual  w^cirk  of  its  cultivation  to  other  hands. 
Mrs.  Lemuel  Wright  was  formerly  Sarah 
Ann  Waterlnu-y.  and  was  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut. Three  Ijrothers  came  from  Eng- 
land and.  settled  in  Connecticut,  and  one  of 
them  was  her  ancestor.  She  was  one  of  the 
following  family  :  Darrell,  who  died  in  Azta- 
lan,  Wisconsin:  Rebekah  married  Sylvester 
Hall  and  died  in  Minnesota ;  Andrew  died  in 
Lake  Mills,  \\'isconsin:  INlaria  married 
Jehiel  Stone :  Levi  died  in  New  Ym'k :  Lou- 
isa married  Alexander  Earl  and  died  in 
Aztalan.  Jefferson  county,  Wisconsin  ;  Sarah 
is  the  wife  of  our  subject;  Parks  died  in 
Jefferson.  Wisconsin ;  Henry  died  at  Au- 
gusta, Wisconsin ;  Scofield  is  a  resident  of 
Nashua.  Iowa ;  Electa  married  Smith  Red- 
dington.  and  died  at  Aztalan  :  Elwin  died  in 
Alinneapolis;  Sarah  Ne\ada  married  Ben- 
jamin Basham  and  has  her  home  in  Mitchell, 
South  Dakota.  The  children  of  ^^Ir.  and 
Mrs.  L.  S.  Wright  are:  Charles,  who 
married  Martha  Kellar  antl  lives  on  the 
home  farm,  and  has  a  family  of  seven 
bright  children — Leslie,  Charles  Parkis, 
Lyndon.  Anna.  Sidney  and  Lulu ;  Lot- 
tie,  a   milliner    of    West    Superior;    Cora, 


806 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


the  wife  of  Cliarles  Radabaugli;  and  Willie, 
who  was  accidental!}'  shot  when  but  thirteen 
3^ears  of  as^-e.  Mr.  and  ?^Irs.  Writ^iit  arc 
irembers  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  have 
been  devoted  and  faithful  workers  for  many 
years.  They  have  a  hne  farm,  a  comfort- 
able home  and  are  well  situated  in  e\  crv  re- 
spect. He  holds  the  respect  of  the  c  im- 
munit}-.  and  is  reg-arded  as  a  model  citizen. 


HON.   ANDREW  J.   TURNER. 

Hon.  Andrew  Jackson  Turner  has  been  a 
resident  of  Portage  for  more  than  two-score 
of  years,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  that 
time  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
public  affairs  of  that  city.  He  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  liest  informed  man  in  Co- 
lumbia county  on  matters  of  ],ocal  history, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  ablest  historians  in  the 
state  of  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Turner  was  born  at  Schu\-]er  I'alls, 
New  York,  Septemlier  24,  1832,  to  Abel  and 
Alary  Turner.  Abel  Turner  was  a  nati\-e  of 
Huntington,  N'ermont.  His  ancestors  came 
from  England  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  settling  at  Guilford,  Con- 
necticut. Thence  by  a  series  of  migrations 
members  of  the  family  moved  up  the  Con- 
necticut valley  to  Vermont.  Among  the 
early  representatives  of  the  family  were  a 
numlier  of  soldiers  who  took  part  in  the 
Revolutionary  conflict  and  the  war  of  1812, 
as  well  as  numerous  public  ofiicials  in  dif- 
ferent localities. 

While  a  young  man  Abel  Turner  went 
to  Clinton  county,  New  York,  \vhere  the 
balance  of  his  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm. 
He  passed  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years,  but  his  wife  reached  the  great  age  of 
ninety-three  years.  She  was  a  third  cousin 
of  her  husband,  and  the  first  female  white 
child  born  in  that  part  of  I"'lattsburg  smce 


known  as  Schuyler  Falls,  her  father,  Ezra 
Turner,  having  been  the  first  settler  at  that 
place.  The  last  named  was  born  at  Zoar. 
near  North  Adams,  Alassachusetts,  and  upon 
removing  to  Schuyler  Falls  built  and  oper- 
ated a  saw  mill  there. 

A.  J.  Turner,  the  subject  of  this  article, 
spent  his  boyhi.Hid  upon  the  home  farm)  and 
in  1S55  went  to  Crand  Rapids,  Michigan, 
where  he  worked  in  a  printing  office.  Two 
}'cars  later  he  came  to  Wisconsin  and  se- 
ciu'ed  employment  in  the  office  of  the  Port- 
age .Independent.  He  spent  the  next  few 
}'ears  in  the  offices  of  different  papers  at 
thiat  place,  Friendship  and  Madison,  de- 
veloping marked  ability  in  the  field  of  jour- 
nalism as  well  as  in  the  mechanical  work 
of  the  profession.  In  conjunction  with  S. 
S.  Brannan,  he  founded  the  \A'iscdns:in 
State  Register  at  Portage  in  i860,  and 
they  continued  to  publish  the  same  for 
seventeen  years,  making  it  one  of  the  lead- 
ing local  papers  of  the  state,  as  it  has  ever 
since  Iteen. 

]\Ir.  Turner  was  barely  established  in 
business  at  Portage  wlien  he  began  to  be 
called  upon  bv  the  citizens  ior  the  discharge 
of  important  public  duties.  In  i860  he  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  for  Colum- 
bia county,  and  he  represented  th;.  Portage 
tlistrict  in  the  Wisconsin  assembly  in  1862, 
1863,  1865,  and  again  in  1868.  The  ac- 
quaintar.ce  and  knowledge  of  parliamentary 
affairs  which  he  gained  in  the  discharge  of 
these  duties  amplv  fitted  him  for  the  office 
of  chief  clerk  of  the  senate,  to  which  he  was 
elected  in  1876.  He  filled  that  position  un- 
til 1878,  when  he  resigned  it  to  accept  the 
ap])ointment  of  Governor  Smith  to  the  office 
of  state  railroad  commissioner,  in  wdiich  ca- 
pacity he  ser\-ed  for  four  years.  In  1881 
he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  Portage, 
and  was  twice  re-elected.  He  has  taken 
an  acti\e  part  in  the  most  important  councils 
of  the  Republican  part}-,  ha\-ing  been  four 


HOH.  AHDRBW"  J,  TURHER. 


'Jt.-Wt^t'^A  £_   »»-  U^. 


r^mEBg  T^>g^  «a<T^  ^2£  gasdi  <)£  ^ie 


A.     X'"fft-    ■  ~3Q^t_     jJH. 


HIO 


(■(),i//'/;'.\7'/r.i/   ('/•'  /.■/{)(;a'.  1/7/1'. 


laul.i,  ;iinl  liM  iliri'i'  mmilli^  \\,i'.  in  llu'  vers 
luiil'.l  1. 1  ilir  wHi  k.  inihl  ilif  cipliii  r  d  \l 
I. ml, I.       Ill'    .u'ioui|i,iiiicil    Slu'i  111,111     on     liis 

111, lull    111    llu'    MM,    .111(1    W.IS    willl    llini    lllliMliMl 

all  his  cnnii.ii'.nis.  IK'  v\,is  lnn'^l^•l^■ll  nut 
<i|'  llu'  srivui'  lnl\  1(1.  iSd;,.  al  I  niusx  illr, 
l\i'iilihk\.  (  >ii  liilv  '  ',  iS(i|.  Ill'  snlU'ii'il 
Minsiinkc  wliiK'  .il  ilir  li.iliU'  .i|    \lknil.i,  ,iiul 

W.IS    C.ilirilU'il    111    llu'    111  i'.|ill.ll. 

Ml,  W.ilu'ili  \\,i'.  m.niu'il  \i  i\  I'liilu'i  .'u. 
iSdS,  111  iK'lii'.lii  \,  ,'<rliiiir.  ikiii-liU'i  111 
Jissi'  W  ,  ,111.1  M,ii  \  (  I'H'oin.iii)  S.-liiilT.  1"! 
Sl)rili;;\  illr  li  i\\  ii'-lii|i,  wlin  i,iiiii'  limii  Si, 
I  awu'iuo  ii'iiiiis,    W'w    Nmk,  in  llu'   I, ill  ol 

lSli|,  Mis      \\  .llu'lll''.    I.lllu'l     ilu'.l      XllLMlsl 

.';■,  iSdi  ,  .niil  lu'i  ninilu'i  ilu'il  \|iiil(i,  i  S;- 1 , 
I'lulli  iiasM'il  ,i\\,i\  111  .S|M  iiil;\  ilK'  low  n.-^liip, 
aiiil  wi'ii'  limioil  111  \\  liiU'  I. 'u'ok  I'omoU'iN . 
Xiiu'  I'hililion.  six  (i|  wliiim  .in-  li\  Ini;.  lia\i" 
lii-ni  Imiii  111  Ml,  .uiil  .Mis,  W.ilu'lli,  as  I'ol 
lows:  joliii  II,.  Imrn  ,M,iv  i,  iSr.s.  now 
rosiiliiis^  on  ,i  l.imi  in  .Spi  in;;\  ilU'  lownsliip; 
K'ssif  M,.  Iioiii  l'\'liru,ir\  -'s.  1 1^;' 1 .  now 
Mis,  I'',  I'l.  I''islu'i  ;  Kitlio,  horn  J,iiui.ir\  i_^, 
iS,-,^  now  Mis,  .■>;,  Ilowaiil,  ol'  W  liito 
(,'ri'ck;  \  ornio  A,,  liom  Juno  17,  iS~o,  10 
siiK's  at  lioino;  ,\,i^iu's  H.,  hmii  ,\l.irch  is, 
iSS^,  also  ii'siili's  al  homo;  ami  i.',il\in  J., 
horn  Oi'iolnT  o,  iSS,-,  li\os  al  homo.  .M  r 
aiiil  Mrs,  W.iholh  ailoiuoil  oiio  i^iil,  M.nv 
K.nki  I  illov,  iho  vl.m-htor  ol  ,\lis,  W  ,il 
lolh's  sish'i,  aiul  sho  li.is  m,iilo  hov  homo 
with  ihoiii  siiu'o  iSS|.  ,\li,  \\  .ilioth  is 
luuoli  iutovoslotl  in  oduoalional  manors,  and 
lias  j^ivon  hi.s  ohilihou  o\ory  oduoational  ad 
vaiita.ij'o.  and  ilio\  h,i\o  hooomo  inlolli,ij'cut 
mciuhoi's  ol  ihoii  oouummiiv.  llis  daiiijli- 
lors  ha\o  all  hoon  toaoho\s,  and  l\a\o  al 
taiuod  a  hij;h  dotjroo  ol'  soliolarshiii. 

,Mr,  \\  alroth  is  a  inoiiil>or  of  l'"uuis  Koovl 
I'osi.  No.  .-00.  c;,  .\.  K,,  of  Whito  (.rook, 
and  is  iho  prosoni  ooinmaiuloi  of  iho  posl. 
llo  is  also  a  monihor  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity and  tlio  (."onijrofiatiinial  ohnroh  at 
Whito  (."rook.      In  politio.d  faith  ho  is  a  Ko 


IMihlio.ni.  llo  li.is  lillod  \,iriiins  loojil  olTioos 
111'  Iriisl  failhlnlU  and  woll,  htil  duos  not 
•,00k  pnlilio  pioloi  iiioiil.  w  ishiiiL;  r.ilhor  |o 
sri  \  o  his  I'l  immninlx  in  ullior  w,i\s,  li  is  ;i 
lilo,isnro  111  moot  a  man  of  his  oharaoloris- 
lirs  .md  ,iliilil\  , 


I  >  Will      I'd' I  in    I'OI  I'M  \\. 

M,miol  I'liiild  (  nloiiKin.  iiiosi  l'.i\ :  ii'.ihK' 
known  ,is  .1  iilloi  111  iho  soil,  .iiid  .is  ,in  hmi 
osi  and  111001111^1  ihlo  man.  is  a  rosidoiil  '>\ 
h'.ill  Ki\oi.  I'olnmhi.i  ooimh.  and  llio  ow  nor 
ol  a  f.nni  jiisi  noiih  of  ilio  \iI1.il;o  limits. 
I  lo  is  a  son  oi  liislin.i  .md  Mi  .ihoili  (  Ihidd") 
I'olom.m,  .ind  w.is  lioni  al  llooloi.  \'ow 
^olk.  .\jiiil  1  J,  iS_'3.  llis  |i,ironis  woio 
nalixos  oi  .\ow  Joisoy,  and  his  L;i.md 
mullior  was  a  dan.i^hlor  i^\  I'lilonol  Ihidd  i'\ 
l\o\  olnl  ionar\  f, 11110.  llio  I'lulds  wi-io  of 
l''ioiioli  dosoonl.  wliilo  llio  (.'oloni.ins  oanio 
from  h'ns^land,  I'lioio  is  in  llio  famil\  a 
j;'onoalo!L;y  wliioli  .i^oos  hark  to  iimo.  and 
shows  a  woll  ostahlisliod  olaim  to  royal  hlnod 
in  iho  f.iniiK.  Josluri  (. 'olom.m  diod  Jimo 
5  iS|.'.  lull  his  wifo  sur\i\od  uulil  1  SSo 
ihoN  woro  iho  paronts  of  nino  ohildron.  ol 
whom  oiiK  two  aro  now  lixin^;.  mir  suhjool, 
and  (.'haiios  (,'olomaii.  a  losidoni  oi  (.'a\- 
wood.   Now    Nork. 

Maniol  (."olomaii  oamo  wosi  in  iS|_^.  and 
spoilt  iho  summoi-  in  K.ioino,  W  isooiisin. 
Iho  iio\i  \oai  ho  mo\  od  lo  hodi^o  ooniity, 
and  rom.iiiiod  ihoro  until  iSSS.  w  hou  ho 
oamo  to  hall  Ki\or.  takiui;  up  his  homo  in 
tlio  \  ilkii^o.  1  lo  still  luaiutains  his  residence 
here,  and  as  he  is  \ery  ooml\M-tal>ly  tixed 
expeots  no  farther  elianj^e  during;  the  re- 
mainder oi  his  life.  Mr,  C'oloman  and  Miss 
h'li.-a  W  ,  r>ond  were  united  iu  marriage  \o- 
\emher  _;.  iS|,~.  She  was  a  dans;liler  of 
Poaoon  Hoiul.  and  died  l'"ehruary  _'S,  181)5. 
She  was  tlie  niotlior  oi  iwo  ohildron  :  John, 
who  was  horn  January  j~.  1840.  ai\d  died 
laiui.ir\     I.'.    1S80;  ,iud   Sarah    In-okv.   who 


(OMI'h.NlilllM    <)/■     I'.Kii.l'.'.ll'IIV. 


V,\  I 


vv.'is  liorii  .Vl;iiili  I.',,  \''''-\i.  Mr.  ( 'i'|r-iii;iii 
was  married  a  m-imijiI  iimi'  \'>  Mi'.'i  Sarali  l'„ 
Rcyii'ildH,  a  daiii^lilcr  of  Ahraiii  and  Alhiiia 
('Siiiillij  Reynolds.  MrH.  Coleinaii  vva'i  Iiorn 
in  IvHscx,  New  York,  July  2'),  iK.|/(,  Her 
inollier  died  Mareli  ii,  1S54,  and  lier  fa- 
lliir  married  a^ain  and  lived  nnlil  Seplem- 
licr  I'l,  iKK,;.  jiy  jiin  (irHl  marria^'<!  lie  lie- 
came  llie  fallier  of  live  cliildren,  anfj  liy  liiH 
secoiul  a,  many  more:  I  hey  are;  Sarali 
IC. ;  Alhertiiie,  the  wife  of  William  r.i^felovv, 
fjf  VVillsi)oron).(h,  New  York;  William,  Uiil 
land,  Vermoiil ;  Henry,  l''nllcrtoii,  Nehran- 
ka;  Mary,  who  is  Mrs.  Anson  Smith;  l.iii- 
rohi  and  Stewart,  all  live  al.  ICssex,  New 
Y(yrk;  Amy  is  married  aiul  lives  at  Wills- 
boronj.fh;  Lonisa  married  Charles  Under- 
wood, aiul  lives  at  ICssex,  Mr,  f'olemaii 
has  always  voted  the  Ue|)nl)licaii  ticket,  and 
was  a  .soldirr  in  ilie  Union  nrniy.  He  en- 
listed al  Lowell,  Wiseoiishi,  I'Vhniary  27, 
iHf)5,  ill  ('om|iaiiy  Ii,  hifly  third  Wiseoii- 
soii  Volnnleer  Infantry.  He  was  ,  taken 
with  pleurisy  almost  immediately  after  liiH 
enlistment,  and  was  ,seiit  to  the  hospital  at 
Madison.  He  was  so  severely  ill  that  he 
was  once  ((iven  up  for  dead,  hut  jii.st  as  he 
was  hcin(.{  prepared  for  the  dead  house  some 
faint  sij(iis  of  life  were  discovered  and  he 
was  taken  hack  to  his  hed.  He  was  dis- 
char).;ed  June  6,  1S65,  He  is  a  memher  of 
the  (irand  Army  of  the  Ucpnhlic,  and  ha? 
heeii  commander  of  the  fjerjrge  J[.  Uraylon 
I'ost,  He  is  a  (.(oofi  citizen  and  an  lionor- 
ahlc  and  iiprij(ht  man  who  staixis  well  in 
his  own  eommniiily. 


Mi:XZO   WINNIR. 

,Mcnzo  Winnie,  deceased,  wh'>  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
i'rfinential  farmers  of  Sauk  county,  was  hf>rn 
\u   Schoharie  contilv.   New   York,   N'ovetti- 


licr  I),  I'^l'),  ;iiid  dii'l  ii|ii.ij  \w.  I;iiiii  iie;ir 
l>Iced'.l)m|',,  l'<-l>iii;iiy  1  |,  i^''>.',  Iioiioied  and 
rcsp(rcled  hy  all  who  knew  liiiii,  His  par- 
ents, f^orneliiis  W.  and  Mary  CJire;  Win- 
nie, were  alv*  natives  of  lin-  Imii|iiii-  l.ile, 
and  the  former  spraii),;  from  an  old  Hol- 
land family.  At  an  early  day  lliey  came 
to  Wisconsin,  and  after  a  few  years  spent 
in  Walworth  cotinly,  look  ii|)  their  residence 
ne.'ir  Keedshiir^f,  in  Sank  comity.  The  fa- 
ther 'iclecied  ;i  ( laim  on  ihe  pre'ieiil  site  of 
Keed-.l)iii')<  and  walked  lo  llie  land  ollice  at 
Miiiend  Toiiil  lo  eiilei  il,  only  lo  liiid  that 
it  had  heeii  l;d<eii  ,-i  '.hort  lime  hefore  hy 
oilier  parlie,.  He  then  secured  another 
plar'e  oil  ( 'opper  creek,  ahoiil  two  miles  east 
of  the  cily,  improved  the  same  and  lived 
thereon  until  his  death,  which  occurred  diir- 
iii).(  the  Civil  war.  His  wife  is  still  liviiij^ 
at  Ihe  r,ld  home  near  Ueedshiir^^,  al  the  a(<e 
of  ninelythrce  years,  and  is  still  very  active 
in  mind  and  kwps  well  posted  on  ciirreiit 
news,  ,Slie  |)osscsscs  a  retentive  memory, 
and  well  rememhcrs  the  war  of  (S12,  tlion(,^li 
it  inTwrvi'A  when  she  was  a  mere  child,  her 
home  at  thai  time  heinjf  near  Stamford, 
Delaware  county,  New  York,  Wi^v  father 
was  a  soldier  in  that  strn><(<le, 

Menzo  Winnie  was  a  small  hoy  when  lie 
catne  with  his  parents  to  Sank  county  and 
here  j^rew  to  manhood  amirl  pif;ncer  scenes. 
He  manffested  his  patriotism  and  love  of 
country  hy  enlisting;  in  the  fall  of  (S6),  in 
t'ompany  A,  ■.Vineleenth  Wisconsin  Volun- 
teer Infanlrv,  and  after  two  years  of  ardu- 
ous and  faithful  service  was  honorahly  din 
charjifed  on  account  of  illness  early  in  \H(i/\. 
After  hi",  return  home  he  continued  to  live 
n|)on  the  farm  with  his  mother  for  ahout 
four  years,  and  then  purchased  a  farm  near 
il,  coinprisinjif  one  hundred  and  sixty  acren 
in  fCxcclsior  townnliip,  to  the  improvement 
and  cultivation  of  which  he  devotcfl  his  en- 
erj^ies  for  a  niimher  of  years.  I  le  (^ave 
some  attention   to  stock   raisiuj,(,  and   also- 


312 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


bouglit  and  shijipecl  consi(leral)le  live  stock. 
He  was  an  entlnisiastic  horseman,  a  very 
successful  farmer,  and  an  upright  and  con- 
scientious citizen.  From  Excelsior  town- 
ship he  removed  to  the  old  Gardner  farm  in. 
Reedsburg  to\\-nship.  on  which  he  built  a 
brick  residence,  and  made  man\-  (ither  im- 
provements which  atlded  greatly  to  its  value 
and  attracti\e  appearance:  in  fact,  it  was 
supplied  with  e\-er\-  con\-enience  found  upon 
a  model  farm  ol  the  present  centurv.  It 
"vvas  upon  this  place  he  spent  his  last  davs. 

On  the  2Sth  of  March,  1S67,  Mr.  \A'in- 
nie  married  Miss  Percis  M.  Gardner,  a  na- 
tive of  Erie  county.  New  York,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Maria  (Green)  Gardner. 
During  her  infancy  she  was  brought  by  her 
parents  to  \\'isconsin,  but  the  family  after- 
ward lived  in  Stephenson  countv,  Illinois, 
and  it  was  not  until  1856  that  they  came  to 
Sauk  county,  thougli  the  father  had  located 
a  fanu  near  Reedsburg  the  previous  sum- 
mer. Later  he  \\ent  to  Fort  Scott,  Kan- 
sas, where  he  died  February  24,  1893,  aged 
eighty  years,  and  liis  wife  passed  away  at 
the  same  place,  June  12,  1894,  aged  seventy- 
eight.  To  our  suliject  and  his  wife  were 
born  two  children:  Alma  E.,  who  was  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  teaching  in  the  Reeds- 
burg high  school  for  three  years :  and  Ernest 
G.,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  near  Reeds- 
burg. 

Air.  \\'innie  was  always  in  touch  with 
the  latest  develo]inicnt  and  improvement  in 
agricultural  methods,  and  w^as  well  in- 
formed on  general  subjects.  He  spent  more 
or  less  time  in  tra\-el.  had  "washed  his 
hands"  in  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  and  gained  an  excellent  knowledge 
of  men  and  affairs  which  only  tra\-el  can 
bring.  On  his  numerous  trips  he  was  ac- 
companied by  his  estim.able  wife.  Fie  was 
always  actively  interested  in  public  affairs; 
and  was  an  early  member  of  the  Reedsburg 
Grange,  P.  of  H.,  of  wlrich  he  was  secre- 


tary for  some  vears ;  also  aided  in  the  or- 
ganizati(in  i.f  H.  A.  Tator  Post.  G.  A.  R., 
of  Reedsburg;  and  was  interested  in  Reeds- 
burg Old  Settlers'  Association,  of  which  he 
\\as  an  active  and  prominent  member. 
Though  not  identified  with  anv  religious 
organization,  he  attended  and  supported  the 
Methodist  church,  and  he  always  endeav- 
ored to  live  up  to  the  golden  rule.  Politi- 
cally he  supported  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Reedsburg  tnwnshiu  board  of  super\'isors 
fijr  a  number  (if  years.  He  commanded 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  his  associates, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  citizen  of  Sauk 
count}^  had  more  friends  or  was  held  in 
higher  regard  than  Alenzo  Winnie. 


^    JOHN  JEROME. 

In  the  \'i;icatii)n  which  this  gentleman 
has  chosen  lies  many  of  the  pleasant  features 
of  life.  He  was  possessed  of  much  sound 
judgment  when  he  chose  farming  for  his 
life  work,  and  bis  present  estate  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  bears  evi- 
dence of  the  interest  he  takes  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  farming  lands  of  that  region. 
He  came  to  his  farm  when  the  country  had 
not  been  cleared  for  cultiN'ation,  and  by  dint 
of  earnest  efforts  has  transformed  his  farm 
inti)  one  of  tlie  best  in  the  township.  He 
has  met  with  the  usual  discouragements  of 
the  pioneer,  but  surmounted  every  obstacle, 
and  can  n(n\-  review  his  work  with  a  sense 
of  satisfaction.  Skillful  management  and 
ir.dustry  were  sure  of  good  results,  and  he 
never  wa\'ercd  from  his  purpose. 

Mr.  Jerome  was  born  October  16,  1847, 
near  Portage,  Columbia  county,  \\'isconsin, 
and  was  the  son  of  Daniel  and  Elizabeth 
(Roberts)  Jerome.  His  parents  came  from 
Dansville,  Livingston  county.  New  York, 
iri  1846,  and  took  up  land  in  Columbia  coun- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


aig; 


ty,  Wisconsin,  on  which  they  resided  the  re- 
mainder of  their  Hves.  Mis  father  (hed 
April  28.  1892,  aged  ninety-two  years,  and 
tlie  mother  died  in  Decenilier  of  the  same 
year,  aged  eighty-four  years,  and  hoth  were 
buried  at  Marcellon,  CoUinihia  county,  \\'is- 
consin. 

Of  a  family  of  ten  children  mir  sul)ject 
\Yas  the  eighth  in  order  of  birth.  He  re- 
mained at  home  until  sixteen  years  of  age, 
and  attended  school  and  received  a  good 
education,  but  preferred  farming  to  study, 
and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  took  land  on  sliares 
in  Columljia  county,  following  that  occupa- 
tion three  rears.  He  tlien  went  into  the 
pineries  near  Xecedah,  Juneau  count}', 
where  he  worked  in  the  mills,  and  for  the 
next  ten  years  was  rafting  on  the  Wisconsin 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  going  as  far  as  St. 
Louis,  and  at  other  times  as  far  as  Dubuque. 
After  leaving  that  work  in  1881  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Dell  Prairie  township, 
Adams  county,  which  Has  since  been  his 
home.  It  consists  of  four  hundred  acres, 
and  he  has  cleared  for  cultivation  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres.  He  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial men  of  his  township,  and  has  suc- 
ceeded with  his  work. 

Mr.  Jerome  was  married  January  4, 
1867,  to  Annie  Mallon,  daughter  of  Peter 
and  Sarah  Mallon,  of  Marcellon,  Columbia 
county,  who  were  among  the  early  settlers 
of  that  county,  coming  from  Ireland  about 
1849.  Seven  children  have  been  born  to 
]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Jerome,  as  follows :  Sarah 
A.,  born  in  November,  1868,  now  Mrs.  E. 
Morse,  of  Dell  Prairie;  Mary  E.,  born  in 
May,  1870,  now  residing  at  Marcellon,  Co- 
lumbia county;  GeorgCj^  born  November, 
1872,  now  at  home;  John,  born  November, 
1874,  now  employed  by  a  railroad  company 
in  Wyoming;  Daniel,  born  June,  1875,  now 
living  at  Portage;  Charles,  born  July,  1877, 
now  at  home;  and  Robert,  born  ^lay,  1879, 
now  at  home. 


Mr.  Jerome  is  a  member  of  no  political 
party,  and  casts  his  ballot  for  the  candidate- 
which  in  his  o])inion  is  the  best  man  for  the 
interests  of  liis  country.  He  has  ser\'ed 
as  treasurer  of  his  townslii]),  and  various 
oiher  li_)cal  oflices,  but  does  not  seek  public 
fa\or,  and  is  one  of  the  true  citizens  of  his 
C('mnuuiit\',  and  held  in  tlic  highest  esteem 
l)y  his  associates. 


WILLI. \M     HENRY    ROBBIXS. 

William  Henrv  Robbins,  a  retired  farm- 
er living  at  Pardee\ille,  has  led  a  quiet  and 
exemplarv  life,  uK.ist  of  wliich  has  been 
passed  in  Columbia  county,  and  well  merits 
the  regard  and  esteem  in  which  he  is  held 
by  those  among  whom  he  has  .spent  so  many 
years.  He  was  born  near  Sacket  Harbor, 
JefTerson  county,  New  York,  February  4, 
1827,  and  was  a  son  of  Harmon  and  Deb- 
orah (Coon)  Rol)liins,  l)oth  of  whom  were 
nati\'es  of  Jefferson  ct.iunty.  New  York. 

Our  suljject's  father  was  engaged  in  the 
war  of  181 2,  and  liis  Ijrother  was  general 
in  the  arm\'.  He  took  part  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Sacket  Harbor.  The  father  reached 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years  in  Jefferson 
county.  The  -grandfather  of  our  subject, 
Solomon  Robbins,  was  a  farmer  in  Jefferson 
count)'.  Our  subject's  mother  died  in  1849. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  James  Coon,  a  farmer 
of  JefTerson  count}'. 

William  II.  R(jl)l)ins  sjK'nt  liis  Ijoyhood  in 
Jefferson  county  on  a  farm,  except  a  short 
time  in  a  shi])  yard  at  Sacket  Harbor.  He 
went  to  ?\]ar1)lelicad,  Massachusetts,  in  1848, 
and  spent  four  and  a  half  months  in  the  cod 
fisheries,  where  his  health  was  much  ini- 
pro\'ed.  In  1850  he  moved  to  Illinois,  and 
there  drove  a  stage  between  Peru  and  Dixon 
on  the  famous  Frink  and  Walker  line.  He 
later  returned  to  New  York,  and  in    1853 


S14 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


started  o\'erlan(;I  for  California  via  Salt  Lake 
■City.  He  reached  California  in  the  fall  and 
spent  three  years  in  the  mines  with  fair  suc- 
cess. He  returned  via  Nicaragua  in  1857, 
but  on  the  trip  from  the  latter  port  a  gale 
disabled  the  \-essel  and  they  were  forced  to 
make  a  landing  at  Norfolk,  Virginia.  They 
reached  New  York  almost  exhausted  on  ac- 
count of  lack  of  Drovisions.  After  a  visit 
in  Jefferson  county  in  the  fall  of  1857,  Mr. 
Robbins  came  to  Wisconsin.  He  bought  a 
farm  near  Fall  River,  Columbia  count\%  but 
soon  after  sold  that  tract  and  purchased  a 
farm  near  the  village  of  Otsego,  upon  which 
he  lived  for  oxer  thirty  years.  The  farm 
comprises  one  hundred  acres,  only  twelve 
acres  of  which  was  broken  when  he  pur- 
cliased  it.  He  improved  the  place  and  made 
huuself  a  comfortable  home  and  good  in- 
come there,  but,  in  1892,  he  disposed  of  his 
interests  and  removed  to  the  village  of  Par- 
deeville,  where  he  has  since  resided  retired 
from  active  pursuits.  He  now  owns  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  acres  near  the  village.  In 
1900  he  gave  to  his  son,  Truman,  se\-enty- 
six  acres  which  adjoin  the  one  hundred  acres 
owned  by  Mr.  Robbins. 

Our  subject  was  married  November  24, 
i857>  to  Josephine  Edwards,  daughter  of 
Abiatha  and  Lucy  (McKnight)  Edwards. 
Mrs.  Robbins  was  born  in  Chautauqua  coun- 
ty, New  York,  and  her  father  was  a  dealer 
in  live  stock,  and  also  conducted  a  tin  shop 
and  meat  market  at  Ripley,  New  York.  He 
died  at  the  latter  place,  aged  eighty-three 
years.  His  mother  reached  the  age  of  ninety 
years.  Mrs.  Robbins'  mother  was  born  in 
Ripley,  and  her  parents  lived  there  for  many 
years.  The  following  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robbins :  Viola,  born 
in  1859,  died  at  the  age  of  four  months; 
Eva,  born  in  i860,  now  the  widow  of  John 
Leatherman,  of  Pardeeville;  Truman,  born 
in  1866,  residing  in  Pardeeville;  and  Burr, 
born  in  1872,  now  residing  in  Woodstock, 


Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robbins  have  three 
grandchildren.  Mrs.  Robbins  and  daugh- 
ter are  members  of  the  Christian  church  at 
Pardeeville.  Mr.  Rolibins  is  prominent  in 
liis  community,  and  has  been  called  upon  to 
serve  in  various  local  othces  of  trust  in  Ot- 
sego township.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican, 
but  voted  for  Taylor  in  1848. 


SAVILIAN   FULLER  SMITH. 

For  over  thirty-five  years  the  name  of 
this  gentleman  has  been  familiar  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Reedsburg,  where  he  formerly  was 
engaged  in  the  hardware  business.  Since 
1872  he  has  lived  in  retirement  in  his  com- 
fortable home  in  that  city,  but  his  career  as 
a  prominent  worker  for  the  advancement 
of  his  community  did  not  cease  with  his 
abandoning  active  business  life.  He  is  a 
man  of  broad  mind  and  true  worth,  and  is 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  throughout  the 
state  of  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  Knuxville,  Onei- 
da county,  New  York,  May  31,  1831.  His 
father,  Timothv  Smith,  was  a  native  of 
Plartford,  Connecticut,  and  ^vas  descended 
from  an  old  New  England  family.  He  was 
a  shoemaker  and  currier  by  trade,  and  con- 
ducted a  tannery  at  Knoxville,  and  later  built 
a  hotel  there  and  was  engaged  in  hotel  keep- 
ing until  his  death.  The  building  still 
stands,  and  is  a  familiar  landmark.  He  was 
an  industrious  man,  and  successful  in  busi- 
ness, accumulating  a  fortune  from  a  limited 
start  in  his  business  career.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  Watertown,  New  York,  August 
20,  1873,  aged  eighty-one  years,  nine  months 
and  three  days.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject, Lucy  (Avery)  Smith,  was  descended 
from  the  Avery  family,  of  Groton,  Connect- 
icut, one  of  the  oldest  colonial  families.  Her 
father,  David  Avery,  removed  to  New 
York,  and  located  near  Hamilton. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


815 


Our  subject  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Munnsville,  New  ^'ork,  when  he  was  six 
years  of  age,  and  there  he  gained  liis  edu- 
cation, attending  the  academy.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  years  he  Ijegan  to  learn  the  tin- 
ner's trade,  and  in  1851  went  to  Muscatine. 
Iowa.  He  located  at  Newport,  on  the  Wis- 
consin river,  two  years  later,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  hardware  business,  being  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Star,  Smith  &  Lewis. 
The  firm  dissolved  partnership  when  the 
tuwn  was  abandoned,  and  our  subject  went 
to  Delton  about  i860,  where  he  continued 
in  business  two  years.  He  m(j\ed  from 
thence  to  Reedsbure",  where  he  established 
in  the  hardware  business,  which  he  con- 
ducted until  1872.  He  then  disposed  of 
his  business  to  Hagenaugh  &  Gifford,  since 
which  time  he  has  lived  in  retirement. 

The  store  building  which  he  occupied 
was  erected  by  him  in  1868,  and  in  1870 
his  present  residence  was  constructed.  It  is 
a  fine  piece  of  property,  and  his  home  is  one 
of  the  pleasant  homes  of  that  city.  j\Ir. 
Smith  is  a  brother  of  Perry  H.  Smith,  who 
was  a  prominent  man  in  railroad  circles,  and 
for  a  number  of  vears  was  vice-president  of 
the  Northwestern  Railroad.  He  died  in 
1886. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1856  to  Dor- 
othy Smith,  daughter  of  Milo  Smith,  of 
Reedsburg.  The  union  proved  an  unhappy 
one,  and  a  separation  was  granted  in  1865. 
Two  children  were  born  of  this  union,  Perry 
A.  and  Charles  S.,  lioth  of  whom  are  promi- 
nent business  men  of  Reedsburg.  Mr. 
Smith  married  Nellie  E.  Eggleston,  May  4, 
1869.  Mrs.  Smith  was  born  in  Waukesha, 
Wisconsin,  December  27,  1844,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Deborah  Eggles- 
ton, of  Fox  Lake,  Wisconsin.  Her  parents 
came  from  Chipnerwolton,  England,  and 
Mr.  Eggleston  was  a  baker  by  trade,  and  af- 
terward followed  the  business  of  architect. 
He  designed  and  erected  the  state  capitol  at 


Madison,  Wisconsin,  and  many  of  the  pub- 
lic buildings  of  other  places,  including  Fox 
Lake  and  Beaver  Dam.     One  daughter  has 
been  born   to   Mr.    and    Mrs.    Smith,   upon 
whom  they  have  bestowed  the  name  of  Bird 
Lucy.     The  family  attend  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  Mr.  Smith  is  a  Lhiiversalist  in 
belief,  but  not  connected  with  any  si^ciety. 
He   is  prominent   in   secret   society   circles, 
and  is  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  being  initiated  into  that  or- 
der October  21,  i8i;6.     He  was  exalted  to 
the  Royal  Arch  June  10,  1876,  and  created 
a  Knight  Templar  October  9,  1878,  and  took 
the  Wisconsin  Consistory  Scottish  Rite  de- 
gree February  9.   1881.     His  wife,  daugh- 
ter and  he  are  members  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba    Chapter,    Order    Eastern    Star,    at 
Reedsburg.  Air.  Smith  joined  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  in  1866,  and  is  a 
member  of  Baraboo  Lodge,  and  Germania 
Encampment.       He  first  joined  the  North- 
western Encampment,  No.  20,  at  Reedsburg, 
and  has  filled  all  the  chairs  in  both  organi- 
zations.    He  is  a  member  of  Alliance  Can- 
ton,   Patriarchs    Militant,    at    Baraboo,    and 
Birch  Lodge,  Daughters  of  Rebekah.     He 
has  held  inunerous  offices  in  all  of  the  above 
orders,  and  is  also  connected  with  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen.     His  li- 
brary includes  many  volumes  pertaining  to 
fraternal  societies,  with  which  he  is  identi- 
fied, and  is  one  of  the  most  complete  Ma- 
sonic and  Odd  Fellows'  libraries  in  the  state 
of   Wisconsin.     It  includes   proceedings  of  ' 
the  Masonic  Grand  Lodge,  from  its  organi- 
zation in  1843  to  the  present  date,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Grand  Chapter  organized  in 
1S50,  the  First  Grand  Council  in  1857.  First 
Grand  Commandery,   Knights  Templar,   in 
1859,  First  Supreme  Council  in  i860.  First 
Supreme  Council,  A.  A.  S.  R.,  for  the  Ju- 
risdiction of  the  United  States  in  1859;  also 
proceedings  of  First  Sovereign  Grand  Lodge 
of  Wisconsin,   Independent  Order  of  Odd 


816 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Fellows,  in  1821,  and  all  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings to  date;  First  Grand  Encampment 
in  1852.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  man  of  exemplary 
character,  and  does  not  seek  public  fa\'or, 
preferring-  the  quiet  of  private  life.  lie 
has  been  a  lifelong  Democrat  in  political 
sentiment,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Frank- 
lin F'ierce  frir  president. 


CHAUXCEY   FEN    ROBERTS. 

Chauncey  Fen  Rolierts,  after  a  long'  and 
useful  life,  mostly  devoted  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  is  now  li\ing  retired  at  his  pleas- 
ant home  in  Portage,  Wisconsin,  surrounded 
l)y  the  comforts  gained  by  former  toil.  He 
was  Ijorn  in  the  town  of  Springwater,  Liv- 
ingston county.  New  York,  March  21,  1831, 
a  son  of  William  and  Phylecta  (Dow'd) 
Roberts,  also  natives  of  that  county.  There 
the  paternal  grandfather,  John  Roberts, 
followed  farming  for  some  }-ears,  but 
finally  removed  to  Indiana,  and  later  to 
Three  Rivers,  ^Michigan,  where  he  died  at 
an  advanced  age.  In  1840  \Villiam  Rob- 
erts, our  subject's  father,  went  to  Indiana 
and  settled  on  a  farm  near  South  Bend,  but 
returned  to  New  York  two  or  three  years 
later.  In  1845  ^^^  came  to  Wisconsin,  locat- 
ing first  in  Walworth  county.  He  brought  his 
family  and  household  goods  by  water  from 
Buffalo,  New  York,  to  Kenosha,  Wisconsin, 
and  on  his  arri\al  in  Walworth  ciiunty  had 
Init  .$11.50  Avith  which  to  begin  life  in  the 
west.  After  tA\o  years  spent  in  that  county, 
he  came  to  Columbia  county,  and  settled  in 
Scott  township,  where  he  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  at  one  dollar 
and  a  quarter  per  acre,  and  on  the  borrowed 
money  with  which  he  paid  for  it  he  had  to 
give  fifty  ]jer  cent,  interest.  He  continued 
to  make  his  Ikmiic  upon  that  place  until  called 
from  this  life  in  1866,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 


four  years.  He  was  a  devout  member  of  the 
Free  Will  Baptist  church,  and  a  deacon  in 
the  Scott  church,  which  he  assisted  in  organ- 
izing. His  w'ife  also  took  an  active  part  in 
church  work  and  both  were  highly  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  them.  She  survi^■ed  her 
husband  only  a  }-ear  or  two,  dying  at  the 
age  of  se\'enty-three  years. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  Chauncey  F. 
Roberts  were  mainly  passed  upon  the  home 
farm  in  Columbia  county,  and  though  his 
literary  education  was  limited,  his  training 
at  farm  work  was  not  meager  and  he  early 
became  a  thorough  and  skillful  agriculturist. 
Fie  assisted  his  father  in  the  improvement 
and  culti\ation  of  the  farm  until  the  latter's 
death,  antl  continued  to  carr_\-  it  on  until 
188],  since  which  time  his  son  has  had 
charge  of  it.  In  that  year  he  purchased  a 
tract  of  180  acres  of  land  in  the  old  Fort 
Winnebago  reservation  and  improved  and 
operated  that  farm  for  several  years.  He 
has  always  been  industrious,  enterprising  and 
energetic,  and  for  a  number  of  years,  in  ad- 
dition to  cultivating  his  land  during  the  sum- 
mer, he  operated  a  threshing  machine  m  the 
fall  and  worked  in  the  pineries  with  his  team 
through  the  winter.  He  is  a  good  horseman 
and  has  bred  some  very  fine  animals.  Since 
1895  he  has  been  living  retired  in  Portage, 
where  he  owns  several  lots  and  buildings,, 
from  which  he  derives  a  good  income. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1853,  was  cele- 
brated the  marriage  of  Mr.  Roberts  and  Miss 
Alma  S.  Barker,  a  native  of  Byron,  Genesee 
county.  New  Yoik,  and  a  daughter  of  Hugh 
and  Mary  ( Guthrie j  Barker,  also  natives  of 
the  Empire  state,  who  in  1884  came  to  \Vis- 
consin,  and  after  li\'ing  in  Sugar  Creek  town- 
ship, Walworth  county,  for  about  five  years 
came  to  Columbia  county,  settling  in  the 
town  of  Marcellon.  The  father,  who  was 
born  in  Cayuga  county.  New  York,  died  in 
Packwaukee,  Wisconsin,  in  i860,  at  the  age 
sixty-six  years.     His  wife   had   previously 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


819 


passed  away  October  i8,  1854,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-two.  Mrs.  Roberts'  paternal  grand- 
father, Joseph  Barker,  with  a  nnnil)er  of  his 
neighbors,  was  captured  liy  the  Indians  (hn-- 
ing  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  at  the  same 
time  his  house  was  burned  and  all  of  his 
property  destroyed.  Fortunately  he  made 
his  escape  from  the  red  men  the  second  night 
after  his  capture.  His  wife  was  not  taken. 
Prior  to  her  marriage  JMrs.  Rolicrts  success- 
fully engaged  in  teaching  se\-eral  terms  of 
school  in  Columbia  county.  She  is  the 
mother  of  two  children :  Alary,  now  Mrs. 
John  Jar\-is,  of  Pacific,  Columbia  county; 
and  Mark  W'.,  a  [jroniinent  farmer  of 
Scott  township.  Air.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  also 
have  eight  grandchildren  and  one  g'reat- 
grandchild,  and  all  constitute  an  intelligent 
and  cultured  family,  wdiich  is  cjuite  prom- 
inent socially.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
have  always  attended  the  Baptist  church,  and 
he  belongs  to  the  American  Protective  Asso- 
ciation. Politically  he  has  been  a  life  long 
Republican,  for  two  years  served  as  asses- 
sor of  Scott  townshij),  and  has  always 
taken  considerable  interest  in  public  afifairs. 
He  has  also  taken  an  active  interest  in  the 
Columbia  County  Fair;  has  attended  its  ex- 
hibitions every  year  but  one  since  the  society 
was  organized  in  185 1;  has  generally  been 
a  contributor  to  the  same;  and  has  frecpiently 
held  office  in  the  society.  Pie  is  well  known 
throughout  the  county  for  his  sterling  char- 
acter and  worth  and  has  a  host  of  warm 
friends,  all  of  whom  will  be  pleased  to  find 
portraits  of  Mr.  Roberts  and  his  estimable 
wife  on  another  page  of  this  work. 


ADOXIRAM  JUDSOX  HODGES. 

Adoniram  Judson  Hodges,  a  veteran  of 
the  Civil  war,  now  residing  in  \\'voccna,  is 
nnc  nf  a   family  which  has  distinguished  it- 


self for  patriotism  on  manv  occasions.  He 
was  born  in  Camliridgc.  Washington  county, 
X'ew  York,  October  11,  1835,  and  was  a 
sen  of  Aliel  and  Hannah  (Sliter)  Hodges, 
\\lio  were  nati\es  of  Rensselaer  county,  Xew 
Vurk.      The  name  is  also  written  "Hodge." 

Abel  Hodges,  the  first  of  his  name  in 
America,  came  from  Ireland  and  settled  in 
Connecticut.  His  sun,  Abel,  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  enlisted  in  the  Conti- 
nental army  from  Hartford,  and  assisted 
in  the  defense  of  Xorwich,  when  that  place 
was  attacked  1>\'  the  British.  The  father 
of  our  suljject,  Abel  HI.,  ser\-ed  in  the  war 
of  181 J  at  the  battle  of  Plattslnu-g.  He  was 
born  in  Rensselaer  count}',  but  lived  and 
died  on  a  farm  in  Washington  county.  New 
^'ork,  antl  reached  the  age  of  sixty-nine 
}-ears.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject  lived 
t>j  the  advanced  age  of  nearly  ninety-three 
}'ears.  Our  subject's  mother  died  at  Cam- 
bridge when  he  was  but  two  years  of  age. 
His  maternal  grandfather,  John  Sliter,  came 
from  the  M(jhawk  \alley,  and  was  over  six 
years  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  died 
in  Lewis  county.  New  York. 

A.  J.  Hodges  spent  his  boyhood  in  X"ew 
York,  and  September  22,  1857,  came  to 
\\"isconsin  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Wyo- 
cena.  He  later  spent  some  years  at  carpen- 
ter work,  Ijut  since  1885  has  resided  on  his 
present  farm.  This  consists  of  forty  acres 
and  is  a  pleasant  and  well  cultivated  estate. 
ITe  enlisted  February  10,  1864,  in  the  United 
States  army  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  and 
was  assigned  to  Battery  A,  Fourth  United 
States  Artillery.  He  was  discharged  Au- 
gust 9,  1865.  He  spent  nine  months  at  Car- 
lisle, Pennsylvania,  being  detailed  as  musi- 
cian in  the  Third  Division  Band  under  Ma- 
jor Sawyer,  Camp  Stoneman.  Previous  to 
entering  the  service,  he  was  a  member  of  a 
band  at  Wyocena,  which  went  with  the 
Eighth  Wisconsin  Infantry — the  "Eagle 
Regiment."     After  leaving  Carlisle  he  was 


320 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


stationed  at  Camp  Barry,  and  organized  a 
post  band  of  sixteen  members,  and  led  the 
same  until  he  was  sent  to  the  hospital  a  short 
time  before  his  discharge  from  the  service. 
He  is  a  member  of  William  Pa_vne  Post,  G. 
A.  R.,  at  Pardeeville. 

Our  subject  was  married  December  23, 
1855,  to  Mary  Ann  Wait,  a  daughter  of  Lee 
Warner  and  Lydia  (Stearns)  Wait,  of  Paw- 
let,  Vermont,  where  Mrs.  Hodges  was  born. 
Mrs.  Hodges  is  a  granddaughter  of  Dei- 
dama  (Warner)  Wait,  a  sister  of  Colonel 
Seth  Warner  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Nine 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hodges,  who  are  as  follows :  Anna,  now 
Mrs.  Leon  Pope,  of  Wyocena;  Emma,  de- 
ceased; Hattie,  deceased;  May,  deceased; 
Edwin  T.,  of  \\'yocena ;  Maude,  who  mar- 
ried John  Price,  and  is  deceased ;  lulna  died 
in  childhood ;  Charles,  deceased ;  and  Bes- 
sie, residing  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hodges 
have  six  grandchildren.  The  family  at- 
tend the  Congregational  churcli,  and  are 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  in  the  commu- 
nity in  which  they  have  their  home.  Mr. 
Hodges  voted  for  Eremont,  and  has  since 
been  a  Republican  politically,  and  the  6th 
of  November,  1900,  voted  for  INIcIvinley. 


FRITZ    DrrTBENDER. 

Eritz  Dittbender,  a  prominent  stock 
raiser  of  Quincy  township,  Adams  county, 
residing  on  section  nineteen,  who,  with  his 
sons,  owns  about  seven  hundred  acres  of 
land,  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  re- 
gion. He  was  born  in  Berlin,  Germany, 
May  27,  183 1,  and  was  the  son  of  John 
and  Louisa  (Ealk)  Dittbender,  of  Berlin. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation. 

Of  four  children  our  subject  was  the 
youngest,  and  attended  school  imtil  four- 
teen years  of  age,  after  which,  until  twenty- 


seven  years  of  age,  he  worked  on  a  farm, 
and  then  served  in  the  German  army  for 
tliree  years.  He  came  to  America  in  1S58, 
locating  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  in 
i860  purchased  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
ii,  Quincy  township,  Adams  county.  He 
made  section  19  his  home,  and  has  erected 
a  comfortable  dwelling  and  barns.  He  and 
his  sons  make  a  specialty  of  stock  raising, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  have  marketed 
large  numbers  annually,  and  at  present  have 
aljout  se\-enty  head.  They  cultivate  about 
two  hundred  acres  of  land  to  rye,  corn  and 
potatoes,  and  have  met  with  success,  both  in 
grain  and  stock  raising. 

Mr.  Dittbender  was  married  in  July, 
1858,  to  Johanna  Dittman,  daughter  of 
Nicholas  and  Anna  Dittman,  of  Quincy. 
Mrs.  Dittbender  died  in  1862,  leaving  two 
cliildren,  as  follows:  August,  nuw  farm- 
ing in  Quincy  township;  and  ^lary,  now 
Mrs.  Roskouskie,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Ditt- 
bender married  Lena  Stevens,  daughter  of 
Lduie  and  I'anny  Stevens,  of  Jackson  town- 
shij),  Adams  county,  January  24,  1863. 
Seven  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Dittbender,  as  follows :  Louie,  born  Octo- 
ber 2y,  1864;  Eanny,  born  October  15,  1866, 
now  Mrs.  C.  Ganther,  of  Necedah ;  Minnie, 
born  May  5,  1868,  now  Mrs.  J.  Lobenstein, 
of  Germantown;  Ered,  born  August  11, 
1871,  farming  in  Quincy  township;  Charles, 
born  June  11,  1880,  now  residing  at  home; 
William,  born  August  3,  1882;  and  Henry, 
born  October  5,  1884. 

Louie  Dittbender  was  aflforded  good  edu- 
cational advantages,  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen* went  into  the  pineries  of  Wood 
and  other  counties,  and  worked  for  fourteen 
winters.  He  was  on  the  drive  on  the  Yel- 
low river  and  the  Tomahawk  river.  At  the 
age  of  thirty-one  years  he  went  to  farming 
on  his  land  in  sections  18  and  19,  in  Quincy 
township,  Adams  count}',  and  has  a  well- 
improved  tract    comprising    three    hundred 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


321 


and  sixty  acres.  He  also  assists  his  father 
with  the  work  on  the  home  farm,  and  the 
father  and  son  are  counted  as  among  the 
foremost  men  of  their  caHing. 

Fritz  Dittbender  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church  of  Quincy,  and  is  a  gen- 
tleman of  the  highest  character.  He  does 
not  advocate  the  principles  of  any  one  party, 
but  lends  his  influence  for  the  best  govern- 
ment, and  does  not  take  an  active  interest 
in  political  affairs.  He  has  witnessed  the  de- 
velopment of  Adams  county,  and  has  been 
a  potent  factor  in  its  advancement.  He  is 
thorough  and  practical  in  his  business,  and 
has  gained  a  competence  through  honest  ef- 
forts. The  community  where  he  has  made 
his  home  lor  so  many  years  are  well  ac- 
quainted with  his  characteristics,  and  he  oc- 
cupies a  high  place  in  the  minds  of  his  as- 
sociates. 


JAMES  W.   COAPMAN. 

James  W.  Coapman  was  born  in  Halls- 
ville,  Montgomery  county,  New  York,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1839,  and  resided  there  upon 
his  father's  farm,  with  the  exception  of 
about  two  years,  1852-53,  spent  as  clerk  in 
a  drug,  book  and  variety  store  at  Little  Falls, 
Herkimer  county,  New  York,  kept  by  his 
uncle,  James  W.  Cronkhite,  and  Samuel  F. 
Bennett,  co-partners.  His  father,  John 
Coapman,  married  Hannah  Cronkhite,  of 
the  town  of  Minden,  Montgomery  county. 
New  York.  Three  brothers,  Norman,  An- 
son and  Abram  D.,  and  one  sister,  Mary 
E.,  were  born  on  the  old  homestead,  as  was 
also  the  father.  His  ancestors  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  the  Mohawk  valley  in 
New  York,  and  the  farm  on  which  he  and 
the  other  children  were  born  was  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Coapman  family  for  over  one  hun- 
dred years.  His  great-grandfather,  Abram 
■Coapman,  held  a  major's  commission  under 


General  Stark  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  his  grandfather,  Jacob  Coapman,  held 
a  captain's  commission  in  the  war  of  181 2. 
His  father,  John  Coapman,  was  a  militia 
captain  in  Montgomery  county.  New  York. 
In  March,  1855,  his  father  having  disposed 
of  the  homestead,  the  eldest  son,  Xnrman, 
and  his  wife  and  their  infant  daughter, 
Alice  L,  and  James  \V.  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, the  father  having  about  a  year  ])efore 
visited  the  state  and  made  extensix'e  pur- 
chases of  land  in  the  township  of  Pacific. 
They  were  on  the  first  passenger  train  that 
crossed  the  suspension  bridge  at  Niagara 
Falls  en  route.  The  other  members  of  the 
fanfily,  with  the  exception  of  the  mother, 
who  died  April  22,  1845,  c'ame  on  within 
a  year  or  two.  What  is  known  as  the  Ellis 
farm,  east  of  \Vyocena  about  two  nfiles, 
was  rented  by  the  'ather  for  one  year,  to 
which  place  Norman  and  wife,  infant  daugh- 
ter, Alice  I.,  and  James  W.  removed  soon 
after  arrival  in  the  state.  One  year  there- 
after they  removed  to  Wyocena.  The 
mother  having  died,  leaving  five  children 
cjuite  young,  they  together  with  the  father 
made  it  their  home  with  the  eldest  brother, 
Norman,  and  wife.  His  sister,  Mary, 
however,  who  resided  with  an  uncle  and 
aunt  mostly  since  the  death  of  the  niuther, 
never  resided  very  long  in  the  state. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  attended  school 
diligently  for  two  years  after  coming 
to  Wisconsin,  and  in  1857  entered  the 
law  office  of  Hill  &  Emery  at  Port- 
age, and  pursued  the  study  of  that  profes- 
sion until  March  19,  i860,  at  which  time 
he  was  adnutted  to  the  bar  at  Portage. 
Harlow  S.  Orton  was  at  that  time  judge 
of  the  Ninth  judicial  circuit,  which  includ- 
ed Columbia  county.  After  admission  to 
the  bar  Mr.  Coapman  did  not  immediately 
enter  into  the  practice  of  law  extensively, 
but  followed  other  pursuits  until  at  length, 
when  the  demand  of  the  government  for  a". 


d-22 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


available  men  to  enlist  and  go  to  the  front 
vas  made,  he  considered  the  call  personal  to 
himself  and  enlisted  in  the  General  Mount- 
ed Service  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  at  Madison, 
Wisconsin.  January  26,  1864,  and  served 
three  years.  Being  in  the  regular  army  his 
discharge  cculd  not  be  obtained  until  the 
full  expiration  of  his  term  of  service.  He 
was  taken  iirisoner  at  Hagerstown.  ^lary- 
land.  in  the  spring  of  1864,  together  with 
others,  whu  were  doing  picket  duty  at 
Funkstown.  General  McClausland,  of  Gen- 
eral Early's  command,  intercepted  them 
when  returning  from  picket  and  completely 
cut  them  off  from  returning  to  their  head- 
quarters. He,  with  other  comrades,  were 
ultimately  taken  to  Andersonville,  where 
they  remained  six  months  and  were  then 
transferred  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  at  \\-hich 
latter  place  he  with  some  others  escaped  and 
remained  concealed  until  Sherman's  army 
released  them,  December,  1864.  ^Ir.  Coap- 
man  wrote  up  the  reminiscences  of  his  prison 
life, several  years  ago  and  they  were  pub- 
lished in  a  serial  in  the  "Daily  and  Weekly 
Democrat."  of  Portage,  occupying  about 
fourteen  ordinary  newspaper  columns. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  war  service 
ilr.  Coapman  settled  in  Kewaunee,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law. 
He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  district  at- 
torne}-  of  Kewaunee  county  in  1878  and 
lield  that  office  one  term.  He  was  also  ap- 
pointed United  States  court  commissioner 
for  the  eastern  district  of  \\'isconsin  about 
this  time.  For  some  time  after  leaving 
Kewaunee  .Mr.  Coapman  followed  other 
business  and  did  not  engage  activeh-  in  the 
practice  of  h.is  profession.  He  is  now,  how- 
ever, located  at  Portage  and  is  in  active 
practice.  He  is  court  commissioner  of  the 
countv.  having  received  the  appointment 
from  judge  R.  G.  Siebecker.  In  politics 
IMr.  C.  has  always  been  a  Republican. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  Rousseau 


Post,  Xo.  14,  of  Portage.  Of  the  members 
of  the  family  his  father  and  brothers,  Nor- 
man and  Anson,  died  in  Wisconsin.  His 
father  died  at  Wyocena,  January  25,  1873. 
Xorman,  the  eldest  brother,  died  at  the 
same  place  April  6,  1878,  leaving  his  wife 
and  four  children  surviving,  viz :  Mrs.  Alice 
I.  Todd,  of  Albert  Lea,  Minnesota;  Mrs.  Ida 
M.  Farrington.  of  Arcadia,  \\'isconsin;  W. 
J.  Coapman,  of  Xeedles.  California,  and 
Lynn  X.  Coapman.  of  Wyocena.  who  was 
for  many  years  railroad  agent  of  that  place, 
but  who  is  now  a  partner  of  the  firm  of 
Coapman  &  Irwin,  doing  a  general  mercan- 
tile, grain  and  stock  business  at  Wyocena. 
Anson  Coapman,  the  second  son,  died  at 
his  home  in  Pacific,  January  10,  1896,  leav- 
ing surviving  his  wife  and  two  children,, 
viz :  Mrs.  Florence  G.  Older,  of  Portage, 
and  Fred  J.  Coapman,  who,  with  his  son, 
Verne,  resides  upon  the  homestead  in  Pa- 
cific. Mrs.  Anson  Coapman  also  resides 
there.  Abram  D.  Coapman  is  railroad  agent 
at  Columbus,  \\'isconsin.  He  has  been  con- 
tinuously in  the  service  of  the  St.  Paul 
Company  as  agent  for  upwards  of  thirty- 
five  years.  He  has  three  children.  His 
eldest  son,  Burt,  is  trainmaster  of  a  division 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  The  sec- 
ond son,  Frank,  is  dispatcher  at  West  Pull- 
man, Chicago.  The  third  son,  Wallie,  still 
a  boy,  is  at  home  with  his  father  and  mother. 
The  only  sister  of  the  family,  ]\Irs.  !Mary 
E.  Easton,  and  her  husband  reside  at  Rich- 
field Springs,  Otsego  county,  X"ew  York. 
The\'  ha\-e  two  children,  both  of  whom  are 
married.  Fred  Easton  is  a  physician  in 
practice  at  S3"racuse,  X'ew  York.  Their 
daughter,  ^Irs.  \Mnifred  ^laud  Dodd,  and 
her  husband,  Dallas  Dodd,  reside  in  Utica, 
Xew  York. 

'Sir.  C.  was  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Miss  Anna  E.  Teed,  of  Port 
Washington,  Ozaukee  count}^  \^'^isconsin. 
Two  children   were  born  to  them,   ^label, 


COMPnNDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


323 


who  died  in  infancy,  and  Eloise  May,  who 
resides  with  her  mother  at  Wauwatosa,  Wis- 
consin. His  second  wife  was  Miss  Eva 
J.  Spicer.  of  Pardeeville.  No  children  were 
born  of  this  marriage. 


L.\FAYETTE  MORTTER  KELLEY. 

Among  the  brave  men  wiio  devoted  the 
opening  years  of  their  maniiood  to  tlie  de- 
fense of  our  country  from  tiie  internal  foes 
who  sought  lier  dismemberment,  was  tlie 
subject  of  this  review,  now  a  prominent 
farmer  of  W'infield  townsliip,  Sank  county, 
Wisconsin.  He  was  burn  in  Meredith.  Bel- 
knap county,  Xew  Hampshire,  February  4, 
1847,  and  is  a  worthy  representative  cjf  an 
old  and  very  patriotic  family  of  New  Eng- 
land, his  parents  being  Charles  R.  and  Eliza 
J.  (Dearborn)  Kelley.  His  ancestors  were 
from  Ireland,  and  on  account  of  Cromwell's 
edicts  came  to  America  in  163J  and  were 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Dover.  New 
Hampshire.  Their  descendants  participated 
in  the  early  Indian  wars  and  the  paternal 
great-grandfather  of  our  suliject  ser\-e(l  with 
distinction  as  a  major  in  a  New  \'ork  regi- 
ment of  the  Continental  army  during  the 
Revolution,  while  the  grandfather,  'i'imothy 
Kelle\',  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  nf  181J 
and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Plattsl)urg. 
Unfortunately  the  records  of  the  famil}^ 
were  destroyed  in  the  Boston  fire  of  1872. 

Charles  R.  Kelley,  our  subject's  father, 
was  a  native  of  Sanbornton,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  for  some  time  was  a  militiaman 
in  that  state.  His  com])any  \\as  called  out 
during  the  war  with  Mexico,  but  being  a 
strong  Abolitionist  and  opposed  to  war,  he 
resigned.  He  was  one  of  the  promoters 
of  the  "underground  railroad,"  and  assisted 
fugitive  slaves  escaping  from  New  (3rleans 
boats  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  on 
their  wav  to  Canada.     Bv  trade  he  was  a 


tanner  and  currier  and  operated  a  tannery 
at  Meredith  village  for  many  years.  In 
1854  he  sold  his  interests  in  the  east  and 
came  to  Wisconsin,  spending  one  year  at 
Baraboo,  and  then  locating  on  a  farm  on 
section  14,  W'infield  township,  Sauk  county, 
where  he  died  July  4.  1889,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-fiiur  years.  He  was  a  man  highly 
respected  by  all  wlm  knew  li'm  and  had 
manv  warm  friends  in  this  cnmty.  His 
wife,  who  is  now  in  her  eightieth  year,  was 
born  at  Fort  Ann,  Washington  county.  New 
York,  and  is  a  daughter  of  George  and  Mar- 
tha (Demerit)  Dearborn.  Her  father  was 
a  native  of  Ossijiee,  New  Hampshire, 
whence  he  went  to  Fort  Ann.  He  was  of 
English  descent  and  a  cousin  of  General 
Dearborn,  who  won  fame  in  the  war  of  1812. 
He  was  also  in  the  conflict  and  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  Hs  wife  was 
born  in  Canada  of  French  lineage,  and  her 
mother  was  a  sister  of  the  grandmother  of 
the  famous  "Long  Ji.ihn  Wentworth,"  of 
Chicago. 

Since  a  small  boy  La  Fayette  M.  Kelley 
has  made  his  home  in  Sauk  county,  and  has 
borne  his  part  in  her  upbuilding  and  de- 
velopment. In  response  to  the  president's 
call  for  more  troops  to  aid  in  putting  down 
the  Rebellion,  he  enlisted.  Deciiviber  20, 
1863.  in  Comi)any  ]].  Twelfth  Wisconsin 
\'olunteer  Infantr_\-,  and  served  under  Gen- 
eral Sherman  through  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign until  July  28,  1864,  when  he  was 
wounded  at  Ezra  Chapel,  near  Atlanta,  and 
was  then  confined  in  different  h{)spitals  un- 
til honorably  discharged  July  15.  18.55.  ^^ 
shell  struck  his  right  side,  caus'ng  a  severe 
wound  and  leaving  a  terrible  scar.  He  had 
two  brothers  who  were  also  in  th.e  service, 
Charles  E.  being  a  member  of  Company  F, 
Fifty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  George  W.,  a  member  of  Company  F, 
'i  liird  Wisconsin  Cavalry.  A  few  years 
after  the  .war  Mr.  Kellcv  became  interested 


824 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


in  farming  on  his  own  account  in  Winfield 
township,  where  he  now  owns  a  well  im- 
proved and  highly  cultivated  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres  on  section   i6. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1867,  was 
celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Kelley  and 
Miss  Mary  E.  Wener,  a  native  of  Burling- 
ton, Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Dorothea  (Kiber)  Wener,  of  Reedsburg. 
Her  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Bavaria, 
Germany,  and  a  blacksmith  by  occupation, 
died  in  Burlington.  Her  mother  afterward 
married  Peter  Enser,  who  came  to  Reeds- 
burg in  1852.  He  enlisted  March  4,  1862, 
in  Company  A,  Nineteenth  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  was  captured  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Virginia,  and  confined  in  Libby  prison  for 
gix  months.  He  was  mustered  out  June 
21,  1865,  and  died  at  Reedsburg,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1897,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years. 
Mrs.  Kelley's  mother  died  at  the  same  place 
in  March,  1888,  at  the  age  of  seventy- four. 
The  children  born  to  our  subject  and  his 
wife  are  as  follows:  James  H.,  an  engineer 
residing  in  Winfield  township;  Mary  M., 
wife  of  C.  Lindkugel,  of  Spencer,  South 
Dakota ;  Iva,  a  resident  of  Janesville,  Wis- 
consin; Mabel  H.,  a  teacher  of  Spencer, 
South  Dakota ;  Charles  R. ;  Inez ;  Ida ; 
Walter  R. ;  La  Fayette  M. ;  Ella  M. ;  and 
Florence  E.  All  have  received  good  educa- 
tional advantages. 

Mr.  Kelley  assisted  in  organizing  H.  A. 
I'ator  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Reedsburg,  and  has 
since  been  one  of  its  most  prominent  and 
active  members,  serving  as  adjutant  three 
terms,  as  senior  vice  commander  and  as 
commander  two  terms,  being  the  present  in- 
cumbent in  the  last  named  office.  For  many 
years  he  affiliated  with  the  Republican  party, 
but  is  now  an  advocate  of  the  free  coinage 
of  silver  at  a  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,  and  he 
has  most  capably  and  satisfactorily  served 
as  assessor,  treasurer  and  justice  of  the 
peace  in  ^^'infieId  tuwnship. 


AMOS  BROWN. 

Amos  Brown,  residing  on  section  23,  in 
Easton  township,  Adams  county,  is  a  pio- 
neer settler  of  that  region.  He  was  born 
in  Scott,  Cortland  county,  New  York,  No- 
vember 9,  1828,  and  was  the  son  of  Sidney 
and  Lovina   (Salisbury)   Brown. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  Adams 
county  and  settled  in  Easton  township  in 
1854,  taking  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  government  land,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. The  house  now  occupied  by  his  sons 
stands  on  that  tract.  The  father  died  in 
November,  1869,  and  the  mother  died  in 
October,  1873,  and  both  rest  in  Easton  cem- 
etery. 

Amos  Brown  attended  school  until  eight- 
een years  of  age,  after  which  he  worked  at 
the  carpenter's  trade  during  the  summer 
months,  and  in  the  winter  chopped  stove 
wood,  which  was  sold  at  Homer,  a  village 
in  his  native  county.  He  came  with  his 
parents  to  Adams  county  when  aliout  twen- 
ty-five years  of  aee,  traveling  by  rail  to 
Chicago,  thence  by  water  to  Milwaukee, 
and  the  rest  of  the  journey  by  rail  to  White- 
water. He  remained  in  Lake  Mills,  Jef- 
ferson county,  one  summer  and  in  the  fall 
of  1854,  on  September  15,  arrived  at  White 
Creek.  He  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade 
one  summer  and  returned  to  Lake  Mills, 
\\here  he  married.  He  resided  in  .\dams 
county  until  1856,  and  then  went  to  Eau 
Claire  count)-,  where  he  took  one  (juarter- 
stction  of  land  and  engaged  in  farming  fur 
one  year  and  eight  months,  and  then  traded 
the  land  for  his  farm  in  Adams  county. 
Since  that  lime  he  has  made  his  residence 
on  section  23,  in  Easton  townshii),  having 
disposed  of  his  farm  to  his  son,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  mixed  farming,  and  raises  sheep 
and  other  stuck. 

Mr.  Brown  enlisted  in  Company  K, 
Thirty-eiciith    Wisconsin    Volunteer   Infan- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


325 


try,  October  27,  1864,  and  was  assigned  to 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  front  of  Peters- 
burg. He  was  there  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  was  discharged  in  June,   1865. 

Our  subject  was  married,  September  6, 
1855,  to  Jane  D.  Young,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Philena  (Bass)  Young,  of  Oak- 
land, Jefferson  county,  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Brown -died  March  21,  1897,  and  was 
buried  in  Easton  cemetery.  Eleven  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown, 
only  two  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows: 
Lorana  E.,  now  Mrs.  Eddy,  of  Easton;  and 
Edwin  A.,  now  in  charge  of  the  home  farm. 
Edwin  A.  Brown  was  married  September 
24,  1893,  to  Maggie  Buchanan,  daughter 
of  Harry  and  Mary  (McKinley)  Buchanan, 
cf  Lincoln,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brown,  as  follows:  Ernest  .V.,  burn  ^larch 
22,  1896;  and  Edith  A.,  born  April  9,  1898. 

Amos  Brown  is  a  member  of  Eunis 
Reed  Post,  No.  209,  G.  A.  R.,  and  has  been 
commander  of  the  local  post,  and  is  promi- 
nent in  G.  .\.  R.  matters.  He  has  lieen 
chairman  of  the  township  board  for  two 
years,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  his  conmumity.  In  political 
sentiment  he  is  a  Democrat,  but  does  not 
seek  public  office.  He  is  loyal  to  his  coun- 
try, and  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  his 
large  circle  of  acquaintances.  Both  he  and 
his  son  are  well  known  as  prosperous  and 
progressive  agriculturists,  and  well  merit 
success. 


JOHN   HENDERSON   HOUSTON. 

John  Henderson  Houston,  one  of  the 
most  progressive  citizens  of  Randolph  town- 
ship, Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  is  pro- 
prietor of  an  elegant  estate  and  commands 
the  highest  esteem  of  liis  associates. 

Our    subject    was    born    in    Edinburg. 


Scotland,  April  6,  1837,  and  was  a  son  of 
Peter  and  Margaret  (Henderson)  Houston. 
The  name  was  originally  written  Houstoun 
and  the  family  was  founded  by  a  Roman  in 
Britain  and  the  last  titled  member  of  the 
family  was  Sir  John  Houston.  The  father 
of  our  subject  was  born  near  Auchterarder, 
Perthshire,  Scotland,  July  6,  1806,  and  died 
in  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  July  21, 
1882.  He  became  a  building  contractor  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two  years  and  conducted 
an  extensive  business.  He  employed  about 
two  hundred  mechanics  and  was  his  own 
draftsman.  He  erected  many  buildings  in 
Edinburg,  Glasgow  and  other  cities,  among 
them  some  of  the  principal  churches,  resi- 
dences and  business  places.  He  met  with 
linancial  reverses  and  about  1843  came  to 
America  and  spent  about  three  years  in 
New  York  City  and  Albany,  New  York, 
thence  to  Milwaukee,  and  in  November, 
1847,  settled  in  the  town  of  Scott,  Columbia 
county,  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 
Pie  took  two  hundred  acres  of  government 
land  anil  became  a  successful  farmer.  In 
common  with  many  other  public-spirited 
men  he  mortgaged  his  farm  to  promote  the 
construction  of  the  Milwaukee  &  La- 
Crosse  Railroad  through  Columbia  county, 
suffering  heavy  losses  in  consequence.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Commission- 
ers of  Wisconsin  Railroad  Farm  Mortgage 
Land  Company,  appointed  by  the  governor 
of  ^Visconsin  to  dispose  of  certain  lands 
forfeited  by  the  railroad  company,  and  ap- 
portion the  proceeds  among  the  sufferers. 
He  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  per- 
fi'rmance  of  this  duty,  which  consumed  a 
luunljer  of  years,  and  tlie  business  was  not 
ei:tirely  closed  at  his  death.  He  filled  numer- 
ous positions  in  the  county,  and  ran  far 
ahead  of  his  ticket  for  state  senator,  hav- 
ing been  nominated  by  the  Greenback  party 
and  endorsed  by  the  Democratic  party. 
He  was  a  man  of  liberal  views  on  relio-ion 


!i"Jt> 


co^frnxnn'^f  oi'  nioaR.iriiv. 


aiul  oihor  suhjocis  a\u\  was  a  luiiaiian  in 
sciuiinoul.  riio  graiul lather  of  ovir  svihiooi, 
IVior  llousioii.  was  a  tenant  fanner  near 
.\nchterariler.  Pertlisltire,  and  was  a  son  of 
Amlrew  llonston.  of  Tnllyhardine.  He 
was  n\aTried  to  Mary  Sl\iart.  a  represetua- 
tive  of  the  Seolel*  family  of  that  name.  The 
n\otl\er  of  onr  snl\iect,  Marj^aret  t  lleniler- 
son^l  I  lvn>ston,  was  horn  in  h\Unhnrj;~h, 
Scotland,  where  she  veoeiveil  excellent  edn- 
calional  advatttajjx^s.  She  was  a  danjjhier  of 
John  Hetulersoti.  who  was  the  architect 
of  a  lar^ij;X"  distillerv  in  that  city  anvl  speiu  liis 
hfc  as  an  architei-t.  He  nuvrrietl  (.lark 
Ross, of  a  Uijihlatid  family  anil  a  Uuly  of  nvre 
attainments,  who  rcanxl  a  family  of  fonr  or 
tue  chiKhxMi  in  a  nuxsi  exenxplary  manner. 
The  tnother  of  our  suhject  ilie^l  (.Vtoher  t4, 
t8o7v  agxxl  eighty-tne  years,  IVter  and 
Mars'tuTl  Houston  wore  the  ivxreuts  of  tlux^e 
cliiKlivn  mwv  living;  ami  three  who  dieil  in  in- 
faticy.  The  surviving  chiKh-en  are  as  Ul- 
lows ;  Peter,  residing-  in  Randolph  township. 
Columbia  o^nnuy ;  John  H,.  our  subject ;  and 
Pax  id  HeudersvMi.  The  latter  jvsides  near 
Hunter,  North  Hakota.  and  is  a  j^rosiK^Tous 
farmer  a?>d  rancher.  He  eng;iges  in  seeil 
gnwving  auvl  is  alsi^  an  exjiert  photographer 
and  has  gxxineil  a  gvxxl  cv^mx^tence  tnnu  vari- 
tnts  ^Kitenie^l  appliances  and  principles  v 
plnnv^giaphy.  his  chief  devise  being  the  Ki>- 
d;.k  canwra.  He  is  a  registerevl  |>atent  at- 
tv^ruey  and  six^uvls  nnich  of  his  time  iu  Wash- 
ir:glv>n.  and  in  hkx>  visiteil  the  l^jris  Kxix>- 
sitii>n,  l-'or  full  biography  of  this  so»i  see 
Historj-  of  North  Hakotn,  publisheil  in  locv^, 
Johtx  Henderson  Houston  has  residcvl 
i-  (.Vr.;r.bia  cvntniv.  \Viscx>ns;n,  .since  he 
\\,~.<  so\on  \x\irs  of  agw  and  he  enjovetl  the 
best  advtuuasx-^s  atYor\leil  by  the  district 
sch<>^l.  I  le  sixMit.oue  winter  in  the  Business 
<-  ,  ■.'e5jx>  at  Milwaukee,  and  aK^ut  1800 
Kn»ght  his  prx^ent  tanu  iu  sections  Ji)  and 
30  in  RanvK^ljxli  K>\^^^sh^|v  He  has  ilis- 
jx\seil  of  sonw  of  his  acreage',  but  still  re- 


runs ;»i>om  iwo  hundred  acres.  His  home 
farm  is  ei|uipped  with  tirst  class  buildings 
and  all  modern  improvements  and  his  house 
i>  .surrounded  by  a  tine  grove  of  evergreens 
and  other  trees,  forming  a  beautiful  p:\rk. 
while  the  apixnntments  of  the  home  evidence 
culture  and  rermement.  He  has  a  care- 
fully .selected  library  and  choice  collection  of 
portraits  and  engravings,  some  of  which  are 
treasured  family  heirlooms.  In  the  late  "(x^s 
he  was  larg-ely  interested  in  hop  culture, 
Inu  after  the  collap.se  in  the  market  in  that 
product  he  turned  his  atteiuion  tv>  other  spe- 
cialties. He  has  made  a  business  of  introduc- 
ing and  growitig  tine  varieties  of  grains 
and  .seevls,  and  he  ships  .seetl  grain  to  all 
parts  of  the  I'uitevl  States,  and  has  fur- 
nished grain  to  the  agTicnltural  de\>artuient 
ui  W'a.shiugtou,  He  has  made  a  sjiecialty 
of  breeilittg  tine  horses  for  some  years  past, 
raising  Ixith  draft  ami  carriag^e  horses,  and 
has  also  given  attention  to  Durham  cattle. 
Mr.  Houston  is  a  metnber  of  the  Ma- 
.sonic  fraternity,  Cambria  Lcxlg-e,  Xo.  15.?, 
A.  F.  &  .\.  M. ;  Fort  W'innebagv  Chapter, 
aiul  Fort  Winuekigv^  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  and  has  b.eld  all  the  honors  with- 
\  in  the  gift  of  the  local  Kxlg-e.  He  is  a  free 
!  thinker  and  is  a  Republican  pi>litjcally.  He 
:  diMy;  not  seek  public  office,  but  has  filleil  uu- 
j  inerous  local  jxvsitions  of  trust  and  eiii  \s 
'  the  cvMjtideuce  of  his  fellows. 


1: n\\  ARD  J.  FISHER. 

Among  the  most  attractive  rural  homes 

of    Spring-\ille    townisliip.    Adams    county, 

Wi.sconsin,  is  that  of  Air.  Fisher,  a  view  of 

i  which   is  shown  on   another  i>age  in  this 

'  volume,    the    culture    and    artistic    taste 

of  its  owner  being  reflected  in  its  appoint- 

<  ments;,  wjiile  a  gracious  hospitality  adds  to 

its  material  comforts.     He  is  one  of  i!ie 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


329 


most  progressive  and  successful  agriculttu'- 
ists  of  the  community,  and  takes  special  de- 
light in  his  home,  sparing  no  pains  or  ex- 
pense in  making  it  attractive. 

John  E.  Fisher,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  b(_irn  in  Berlin,  German}',  April  17, 
1832,  and  was  a  civil  engineer  by  profession. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  went  to  Denmark, 
where  he  married  Teressa  Rafen.  In  1883 
the}^  came  to  America  and  located  in  Gray- 
Img,  Michigan,  where  they  still  reside.  In 
tJieir  family  were  seven  children,  namelv : 
Minnie  C.,  born  February  19,  1852,  is  the 
wife  of  John  Otson,  of  Denver,  Colo. ; 
Hattie  M.,  born  July  3,  1855,  married 
Rasmus  Rasmussen  antl  died  May  25,  1899; 
C.  William,  born  April  26,  1858,  married 
Marie  Jorgenson  and  lives  in  Grayling, 
Michigan;  ]\Iarie  C.,  born  April  10,  1864, 
is  the  wife  of  Nels  P.  Olson,  of  Grayling; 
Annie  C.,  born  November  12,  1866,  is  the 
wife  of  Chris  Larson,  of  Grayling;  and 
Amelia,  born  May  10,  1872,  is  the  wife  of 
Edward  Sorrenson,  of  the  same  place. 

Edward  J.  Fisher,  the  lifth  of  this  fam- 
ily, was  born  in  Tuggeler,  Denmark.  iVpril 
17,  1861,  and  was  educated  in  a  Lutheran 
college  of  his  native  land.  He  came  to 
America,  in  1881,  the  year  before  his  parents, 
and  located  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  where  he 
remained  a  short  time  and  then  went  10 
Grayling,  ^lichigan.  In  1884  he  removed 
to  ililwaukee,  and  after  eighteen  months 
spent  in  that  city  he  came  to  Springville 
township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  at  first  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  on 
section  22.  and  later  another  eighty  acres 
on  section  15,  Springville  township,  to 
which  he  added  another  eighty  on  section  22 
and  forty  acres  on  section  15.  In  1886  he 
returned  to  ^lilwaukee  and  engaged  in  busi- 
ness there  until  1894,  when  he  again  took  up 
liis  residence  upon  his  farm  in  Adams 
county.  When  he  first  located  thereon  not 
a  tree  had  been  cut  or  an  inipro\ement  made. 


but  soon  acre  after  acre  was  placed  under 
the  plow  and  he  now  has  one  hundred  a;id 
live  acres  under  a  high  state  of  culti\ation. 
His  fine  residence  is  surrounded  by  good 
outbuildings,  and  the  place  is  supplied  with 
all  modern  machinery  needed  by  the  pro- 
gressive  farmer  of   the  present   day. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1891,  was 
celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Fisher  and 
Carrie  Nelson,  who  was  born  in  Kolding, 
Denmark,  November  20,  1859,  and  came  to 
America  in  1883,  locating  first  in  New  York. 
Later  she  lived  for  a  time  in  Port  Amboy, 
New  Jersey,  and  Denver,  Colorado,  and 
finally  settled  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
where  she  became  accjuainted  with  Mr. 
Fisher.  They  have  one  daughter,  living  at 
home,  Anna  Peterson  Fisher.  Mr.  Fisher 
is  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the  IModern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  is  highly  re- 
spected by  all  who  know  him.  He  is  a 
shrewd,  reliable  business  man,  who  has  won 
success  in  life  by  his  own  industry,  enter- 
prise and  good  management,  and  as  an  en- 
terjirising  and  progressive  citizen  he  gives 
his  support  to  every  enterprise  which  he  be- 
lie\'es  will  result  in  pulilic  good. 


JOSEPH  TEAL. 

Joseph  Teal,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
respected  pioneer  citizens  of  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  has  been  for  many  }'ears  an  in- 
fiuential  citizen  of  Fairfield  township.  He 
was  born  in  the  township  of  Wilmot,  ]Mer- 
rimack  county.  New  Hampshire,  Xo\-em- 
ber  22,  1827,  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Thede  (Morrill)  Teal,  both  natives  of  the 
Granite  state.  The  senior  Teal  was  born 
in  Concord  and  his  ancestors  settled  at 
Boston  at  an  early  day,  wdiere  Aaron  Teal,  ' 
the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  carried  on  a 
Initcher  sliop.     Two  of  his  brothers  served 


830 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


in  the  Revolutionary  army.  One  of  these, 
Samuel  Teal,  was  an  officer  and  was  present 
at  the  battle  of  Lexington.  Removing  to 
New  Hampshire,  Aaron  Teal  engaged  in 
farming  at  Wilmot,  where  he  lived  to  at- 
tain the  age  of  ninety-five  years  and  six 
montlfs.  His  wife,  Rebecca,  lived  to  be  one 
hundred  and  one  years  old.  She  was  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  reared  a  family 
of  four  sons  and  five  daughters  to  maturity, 
and  of  these  Benjamin  was  the  oldest  son. 
He  removed  from  New  Hampshire  in  1855 
and  located  in  Essex  county,  New  York, 
where  he  engaged  in  lumbering.  He  was 
a  farmer  later  on  in  St.  Lawrence  county, 
of  the  same  state,  and  in  1844  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  liveil  a  year  at  Crystal  Falls. 
He  came  by  the  lakes  from  Ogdensburg  to 
Chicago,  and  was  eighteen  days  on  the 
route.  About  a  year  later  he  drove  two 
yoke  of  oxen  through  to  Sauk  county,  Wis- 
consin, where  a  government  survey  had 
been  made  the  previous  season  and  the  land 
thrown  open  to  settlement.  He  and  his 
sons  took  up  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  in  sections  7  and  8,  Fairfield 
township.  They  broke  a  few  acres  that 
summer  and  spent  the  following  winter  on 
Webster  Prairie.  In  the  spring  of  1846 
he  took  possession  of  his  Fairfield  land  and 
applied  himself  earnestly  to  its  improvement. 
He  built  a  log  house  and  lived  an  industrious 
and  useful  life.  He  was  born  with  the  cen- 
tury, and  died  in  1884,  having  enjoyed 
good  health  until  almost  eighty  years.  His 
wife  died  in  1869.  She  was  a  native  of 
Wilmot,  New  Hampshire,  where  her  father 
was  a  carpenter,  and  .spent  his  life.  She 
was  the  mother  of  seven  children :  Hannah 
is  the  widow  of  P.  J.  Pershall,  and  has  her 
home  in  Fairfield  township;  Joseph  is  the 
subject  of  this  article;  Lucy  married  Benja- 
min Clark  and  is  now  deceased ;  Rebecca 
married  James  Butler,  and  is  now  deceased 
^her  second  husband  was  AVyman  Getch- 


ell;  Aaron  lives  in  Fairfield;  Susan  is  the" 
widow  of  Porter  Buck,  and  has  her  home  in 
Baraboo;  Almina  is  Mrs.  Joseph  Hackett, 
of  Fairfield. 

Joseph  Teal  came  into  Sauk  county  with 
his  parents  and  in  1862  went  to  Carroll 
county,  Missouri,  where  he  spent  two  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  came  back 
to  Wisconsin,  and  in  1866  settled  in  Valley 
Junction,  Monroe  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  spent  six  years  on  a  farm,  at  the  same 
time  becoming  somewhat  interested  in  cran- 
berry culture.  He  was  quite  prominent  in 
local  aft'airs  at  that  time,  and  was  township 
assessor  for  three  years,  and  chairman  of 
the  town  board  for  one  year.  He  was  on  a 
farm  near  Wilson,  St.  Croix  county,  Wis- 
consin, for  six  years,  but  for  many  years 
past  has  been  a  resident  of  Sauk  county, 
occupying  the  -land  which  he  "claimed"  in 
1845,  although  not  old  enough  to  make  his 
title  good  until  three  years  later.  He  now 
owns  a  hundred  acres  of  good  land,  on 
which  he  long  ago  placed  very  substantial 
improvements.  Generally  throughout  his  life 
he  has  been  a  Democrat,  but  he  votetl  for 
Abraham  Lincoln  during  the  Civil  war. 
He  is  now  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  \\'ill- 
iam  Jennings  Bryan. 

Mr.  Teal  is  a  member  of  the  Sauk  coun- 
ty old  settlers'  society,  and  with  his  br(_)ther, 
Aaron,  is  the  oldest  sur\-iving  pioneer  of 
Fairfield  tijwnshii).  When  they  came  there 
two  families  named  Anderson,  a  Norwegian, 
and  Brunson  living  in  the  townslvip.  The 
r.earest  grist-mill  was  at  Dekorra,  and  for 
some  timetheTeals  and  their  neighbors  lived 
on  meal  ground  in  a  coft'ee  mill.  The  first 
grist-mill  built  in  Sauk  county  was  a  crude 
afl^air  and  put  up  on  Leech  creek  in  Fair- 
field township,  l)y  Mr.  Brunson.  His  first 
and  only  customer  was  a  man  who  lirought 
some  corn  from, a  considerable  distance,  who 
finding  that  its  reduction  to  meal  was  likely 
to  be  a  long  and  tedious  process,  went  home 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


331 


lo  wait  several  days.  When  he  came  back 
expecting-  to  find  his  grist  ready,  he  was 
surprised  to  be  informed  that  there  was 
none,  the  Brunsons  having  consumed  it 
as  fast  as  ground.  That  rate  of  toll 
did  not  prove  liberal  enough  to  at- 
tract any  more  custom.  Mr.  Teal  has 
always  been  a  vigorous  man.  When  he 
lived  on  Webster  Prairie  he  walked  four 
miles  daily  to  feed  the  cattle  that  had  been 
left  on  the  Fairfield  farm.  He  walked  once 
to  Crystal  Lake,  Illinois,  and  spent  four 
days  on  the  journey,  and  paid  out  one  dol- 
lar as  expenses.  He  was  always  a  success- 
ful hunter;  he  shot  many  deer  while  Sauk 
county  was  new,  and  says  that  he  used  to 
see  as  many  as  twenty  in  a  drove  passing  his 
house. 

Joseph  Teal  and  jMary  Frances  Getchell, 
the  latter  a  native  of  Sebec,  Maine,  were 
married  in  Delton,  Wisconsin,  October  19, 
1852.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Mace  Getchell, 
a  shoemaker,  who  came  into"  Sauk  county  in 
1850.  Here  he  engaged  in  farming  in 
^airfield  township,  and  was  elected  as  the 
first  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  town.  Mrs. 
Mary  Teal  died  in  October,  1896.  She  was 
the  mother  of  nine  children,  four  of  wIkjiu 
are  li\ing:  Albert;  Arthur  died  when  seven 
years  (jjd ;  Llurr  was  burn  May  ,^0,  1859, 
and  is  living  near  Salem,  Oregon;  Curtis 
H.  was  born  March  28,  1861,  and  died  April 
22,  1883;  Carrie  F.  was  born  April  5,  1866, 
and  is  now  Mrs.  Abel  Parker,  of  St.  Croix 
county,  Wisconsin ;  Minnie  C.  was  born 
April  12,  1868,  and  is  now  Mrs.  John 
Sneller,  of  Baraboo. 

A  special  paragraph  may  well  be  given 
to  Albert  Teal.  He  was  born  December  2y, 
1854,  and  grew  to  manhood  under  the  pa- 
rental roof.  When  he  was  twenty-five 
years  old  he  went  to  St.  Croix  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  spent  seven  years  in  farm  work, 
at  the  same  time  devoting  considerable  at- 
tention to  the  studv  of  agriculture.     Since 


1890  he  has  lived  on  the  homestead  farm 
^nd  applied  himself  to  its  cultivation.  He 
was  married  March  18,  1897,  to  Louisa 
Roser,  a  daughter  of  Christian  and  Louisa 
Roser,  of  the  town  of  Baraboo.  Mrs.  Teal 
is  the  mother  of  two  children,  Mary  and  Ar- 
thur. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Teal  are  highly  com- 
mended by  their  neighbors  as  excellent  peo- 
ple who  are  both  industrious  and  accommo- 
dating, of  strong  moral  character  and  frugal 
habits. 


JEREMIAH  MERRILL  SCHOFF. 

Jeremiah  Merrill  Schofi^,  one  of  Adams 
county's  most  respected  citizens,  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Easton  township,  where  he  is  known 
a,^  a  model  farmer  and  thorough-going  busi- 
nelss  man. 

Mr.  Schofi:'  was  Iiorn  at  Brasher,  St. 
Lawrence  county.  New  York,  December  8, 
1826,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Sophia  (Wood- 
bury) Schoff,  who  came  from  Vermont  and 
settled  in  St.  Lawrence  county  about  the 
year  1816,  and  engaged  in  farming.  Jere- 
miah SchofT  died  in  i860  and  the  mother 
in  1858.  Both  are  buried  in  Franklin  coun- 
ty. New  York.  Their  family  consisted  of 
nine  children,  of  whom  our  subject  was  the 
seventh  in  order  of  birth. 

Jeremiah  Merrill  Schoff  was  reared  to 
manhood  in  his  native  state,  working  at  home 
during  the  summer  months  and  attending 
school  in  winter.  He  learned  the  cooper's 
trade  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  and  worked 
two  or  three  years  in  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
In  1848  he  went  to  California,  going  from 
Boston  by  water,  via  Cape  Horn,  and  the 
trip  to  San  Francisco  consumed  a  period  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four  days.  Fie  went 
to  El  Dorado  county,  where  he  worked  in 
the  mines  for  about  two  years,  meeting  with 
fair  success  in  his  adxcnlures.  However, 
l"iis   health   failed   him,   and   he   returned    to 


88i 


COMPnXDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Boston,  l)y  way  of  the  Istlimus  of  Panama, 
and  the  \-essel  was  seventy  days  from  San 
Francisco  to  Panama.  He  worked  about 
one  year  in  Bostdn,  and  then  returned  tii 
Brasher,  Xew  Ytirk,  purchased  fifty  acres 
of  land  and  l)uih  upon  it  a  residence  and 
barn,  and  thorough!)^  impro\ed  his  farm. 
He  conducted  tliis  farm  al:)out  ten  years, 
tlieu  sohl  it  and  came  to  Easton,  Adams 
county,  W'iscMusiu,  arri\-ing  tiiere  in  1864. 
He  purchased  eighty  acres  of  hmd,  most  of 
wliich  was  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  this  he 
lias  ctdti\ated  and  inii)rii\ed,  erecting  a  nice 
residence,  good  barns  and  outbuildings,  and 
■making  such  modern  impmvements  as  are  of 
practical  utility  in  the  process  of  agriculture. 
He  is  now  the  t)wner  of  eighty  acres  of  ex- 
cellent land. 

Air.  Sciioff  was  married  June  12,  1S54. 
to  Arabella,  daughter  df  Roderick  and  Isa- 
bella (McKenzie)  Grant.  The  family  came 
from  Stratlimore,  Scotland,  about  the  year 
1832,  and  settled  in  Pictou,  Nova  Scotia, 
where  representatives  of  the  family  still 
live.  Roderick  Cjrant  dietl  January  30, 
1887,  and  his  wife  January  5,  1888,  the 
former  at  the  age  of  ninety  years  and  the 
latter  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  ]\Ir.  and 
Mrs.  Schoff  have  four  children,  named  as 
follows:  Emma,  born  May  S,  1855,  now 
Mrs.  B.  Dunn,  of  La  Crosse ;  Abbie,  born 
September  19,  1857,  now  Mrs.  \\'.  Irwin, 
ot  Adams;  Dana  M.,  born  August  8,  1862, 
now  a  farmer  of  Easton.  Wisconsin ;  and 
Nettie,  born  September  11,  1864,  now  Mrs. 
C.  Lamphere,  of  Chicago. 

Air.  Schoff  is  a  Rei)ublican  in  political 
faith,  and  takes  much  interest  in  public  mat- 
ters. He  has  served  his  township  in  the 
cajiacity  of  treasurer  for  a  number  of  _\-ears, 
and  his  faithfulness  to  his  duties  has  won 
him  the  confidence  of  all  with<iut  i)arty  dis- 
tinction. He  is  regarded  as  a  man  of  more 
than  average  business  ability  and  judg- 
ment, and  he  has  been  an  important  factor 


in  the  development  of  his  town  and  coun- 
ty, and  has  helped  to  bring  to  Adams  coun- 
ty much  of  the  credit  and  rank  it  claims 
among  its  sister  counties.  At  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago  he  was 
awarded  a  medal  for  the  best  sam])le  of 
\' lieat  for  milling  purposes,  in  competition 
with  grain  from  all  over  the  world.  This 
v.heat  was  grown  on  his  homestead  fru'm, 
and  is  proof  of  the  superior  (pialitv  of 
Adams  count\'  products  when  properlv  culti- 
vated. 


CRIFEITH  RODERICK  RICE. 

Griffith  Roderick  Rice,  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  pi'ogressive  farmers  of  Cal- 
edonia township,  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin, was  born  in  Portage,  December  30, 
1865,  and  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Thomas  J.  and 
Ann  (Owen)  Rice.  Plis  maternal  g'rand- 
parents  were  John  and  Alargaret  (Edwards) 
Owen,  notice  of  whom  may  be  found  else- 
where in  this  volume.  The  father  was  born 
in  Cardiganshire,  Wales,  and  in  1846  came 
to  the  new  world  with  his  parents,  Roderick 
and  Mary  (Griffiths)  Rice,  who  settled  in 
the  town  (jf  Delafield,  Wisconsin,  where 
Mrs.  Mary  Rice  is  still  living.  Her  hus- 
band resided  ujion  a  farm  in  \Wiukesha 
county  until  called  from  this  life  in  the 
sjiring  of  1888,  at  the  age  of  over  eighty 
years. 

Rev.  Thomas  J.  Rice,  father  of  oiu"  sub- 
ject, was  educated  at  Carroll  College,  Wau- 
kesha, and  before  twenty  years  of  age  en- 
tered the  ministry  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodist  church,  but  was  not  ordained  un- 
til 1869.  He  served  as  ])astor  of  the  church 
of  that  denomination  at  Waukesha,  after 
which  he  spent  six  3'ears  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness at  Milwaukee,  and  later  was  in  the 
same  business  at  Portage  for  a  nnmljcr  of 
}'ears.      During  all  of  this  time  he  preached 


COMPllNDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


388: 


every  Sunday  in  the  city  or  country.  About 
1870  lie  went  to  Bangor,  La  C'msse  coun- 
ty, where  he  engaged  in  farming,  and  while 
there  his  house  was  struck  by  lightning 
July  5,  1872,  and  with  its  contents,  includ- 
ing a  fine  library,  was  destroyed.  He  and 
his  wife  were  rendcretl  unconscious  by  the 
shock,  and  ha\e  never  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  same.  Returning  to  dilumbia 
county,  in  1873,  they  located  on  a  farm  in 
Caledonia  township,  and  in  connection  with 
his  farming  operations,  Air.  Rice  served  as 
pastor  of  his  church  there  until  1895.  Since 
1896  he  has  spent  most  of  his  time  at  Lake 
Forest,  Illinois,  where  his  children  have  at- 
tended school.  He  has  delivered  many  lec- 
tures on  temperance,  but  is  not  a  party  I'ro- 
hibitionist,  his  support  being  gi\"en  the  Re- 
publican party.  Of  his  six  children,  one 
died  in  infancy.  Those  still  li\ing  are  Ed- 
ward, who  is  employed  in  the  United  States 
land  ofiice  at  Aberdeen,  South  Dakota ; 
Griffith  R.,  our  subject;  Jijhn  LI.,  who  is 
taking  a  post-graduate  course  at  Lake 
Forest' University;  George  T.,  a  grocer  and 
town  collector  of  Lake  Forest;  and  William 
J.,  now  at  Cornell  College. 

Griffith  R.  Rice  attended  the  district 
schools  near  his  boyhood  home  and  also  the 
Portage  high  school  for  a  few  years.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  mechanical  engineer, 
to  which  he  devoted  six  years  in  Milwaukee, 
being  empIo}'ed  in  an  electric  light  plant. 
He  also  taught  school  in  Columbia  count}' 
for  five  years,  at  the  same  time  working  on 
the  farm  during  the  summer  months,  and 
until  the  spring  of  1900  devoted  his  entire 
time  and  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
home  farm,  which  consists  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  under  a  high  stale  of  culti- 
vation and  well  improved.  In  April,  1900, 
2\lr.  Rice  removed  to  the  city  of  Portage, 
where,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rice  &  Jones, 
he  is  engaged  in  the  agricultural  imi)lement 
business. 


In  ]March,  1896,  i\Ir.  Rice  was  united 
ii,  marriage  with  ^liss  Mary  J.  Jones,  a  na- 
tive of  Caledonia  tnwnship,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  H.  and  Catherine  (Ellis) 
Jones.  Her  father  was  born  in  Merioneth- 
shire, Wales,  and. emigrated  to  America  in 
1851.  After  spending  four  years  in  Rock 
countv,  Wisconsin,  he  came  to  Columljia 
C(junty,  where  he  died  .Septemlier  27,  1894. 
aged  sixty-four  years.  His  wife  died  in 
Novemlser,  1887,  aged  forty-five  years.  She 
was  b(irn  near  LUica,  New  York,  in  July, 
1842,  and  was  a  daughter  i>f  Roliert  Ellis, 
a  native  of  Wales  and  an  early  settler  of 
Ci:ilumbia  county,  Wisconsin.  Our  sul)- 
jtct  and  his  wife  ha\'e  three  children:  Anna 
M.,  Catherine  and  Roderick.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rice  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Portage,  and  the  family  is  one  of 
culture  and  refinement.  Mr.  Rice  afiiliates, 
with  the  Re]niblican  party,  keeps  well  in- 
formed on  the  leading  questions  and  issues 
(!!  the  day,  and  has  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace  one  year,  and  town  clerk  from  the 
spring  of  1896  to  that  of  1900. 


JOHN  OWEX,  Dece.\sed. 

John  Owen,  deceased,  founder  of  "The 
Welsh  settlement"  in  the  town  of  Caledonia, 
Columbia  county,  was  one  of  the  representa- 
ti\'e  pioneers  of  Wisconsin  and  a  \'i_ilumc 
de\oted  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  would 
be  incomplete  without  a  suitable  tribute  to 
his  memory.  To  him  and  his  descendants 
is  due  much  of  the  prosperity  which  that 
town  has  enjoyed  and  they  have  exerted  a 
marked  influence  in  shaping  the  moral  and 
ir.tellectual  equalities,  for  which  the  people 
of  that  town  anil  county  are  justly  famed. 

Mr.  Owen  was  a  native  of  Llanelltyd, 
Merionethshire,  Wales,  and  the  history  of 
his  life  illustrates  many  of  the  sterling  char- 


334 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


acteristics  for  which  the  people  of  his  race 
have  always  been  distinguished.  In  his  na- 
tive land  he  followed  the  pursuit  of  agricult- 
ure and  also  dealt  in  coal  to  some  extent, 
earning  a  comfortable  living  for  his  growing 
family  in  that  manner  until  1846,  when  he 
came  with  them  to  the  United  States.  A 
few  months  were  spent  in  Racine  county, 
\Msconsin,  Avhence,  in  September  of  the 
same  year,  the  migration  was  continued  as 
far  as  Columbia  county.  This  part  of  the 
journey  was  accomplished  with  ox  teams, 
the  family  with  all  its  effects  being  trans- 
ported in  one  wagon.  Crossing  the  ^^'is- 
consin  ri\er  at  Portage  they  started  to  as- 
cend the  Baraboo  valley,  encamping  for  the 
night  on  section  21,  township  12,  range  8, 
and,  owing  to  the  persuasion  of  his  wife, 
who  had  become  heartily  tired  of  travel, 
^Ir.  Owen  finally  decided  to  make  his  home 
on  that  spot.  He  and  his  family  lived  in 
their  covered  wagon  until  a  log  cabin  could 
be  erected,  in  which  they  spent  the  winter. 
Finding  that  this  location  offered  a  de- 
sirable combination  of  timber,  meadow  and 
Avater,  he  and  his  sons  set  themselves  in- 
dustriously about  the  improvement  of  the 
premises  and  eventually  became  the  owners 
of  a  number  of  fine  farms,  including  several 
thousand  acres,  with  extensive  flocks  and 
herds.  At  first  their  only  neighbors  w'ere 
a  band  of  Winnebago  Indians,  with  whom 
they  sustained  the  most  friendly  relations 
and  from  whom  they  obtained  more  or  less 
of  the  winter's  provisions.  Half  a  century 
later  there  remained  but  one  representative 
of  this  tribe  in  the  town  of  Caledonia. 

In  1847  the  Owens  were  joined  b}'  two 
or  three  families  of  their  countrymen  and 
this  little  settlement  became  the  nucleus  of 
an  extensive  colony,  which  included  a  num- 
ber of  the  most  thrifty  and  influential  peo- 
ple of  the  county.  This  colony  has  always 
been  a  center  of  moral  and  intellectual 
culture  and  the  homes  of  which  it  is  com- 


posed are  uniformly  noted  for  the  prevalence 
of  hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

Mr.  Owen  died  in  1866,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-two  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Margaret  Edwards,  survived  him 
until  January,  1872,  passing  away  at  the 
age  of  sevent)^-two  years,  her  birth  having 
occurred  very  near  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  This  worthy  couple 
were  the  parents  of  seven  sons  and  two 
daughters,  named  as  follows:  Laura  (Mrs. 
William  Williams),  Wilham,  David,  Owen 
J.,  Aim  (Mrs.  Thomas  Rice),  Griffith,  John, 
Edward  and  Richard.  Edward  died  of  a 
fever  contracted  while  in  the  United  States 
army  during  the  Civil  war.  '  Owen  J.  died 
of  the  same -complaint  the  next  day.  Ann 
and  Richard  are  now  the  only  survivors. 
In  1896,  fifty-two  )'ears  after  their  arrival 
in  Columbia  county,  the  posterity  of  John 
and  Margaret  Owen  had  increased  to  the 
number  of  ninety-two  persons,  seventy-four 
of  whom  were  then  living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen  were  conspicuous 
for  habits  of  industry  and  strict  integrity, 
as  well  as  their  unbounded  hospitality. 
They  were  adherents  of  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  faith  and  alwa3'^s  observed  its 
teachings  with  conscientious  devotion.  Dur- 
ing the  journey  to  this  county  religious 
services  were  held  regularly  in  the 
wagon,  which  constituted  their  temporary 
home,  and  this  custom  was  continued  after 
their  arrival.  When  other  \\^elsh  families 
began  to  settle  near  them  they  were  invited 
to  join  in  these  services  and  at  the  earliest 
opportunit}'  a  church  was  built  near  their 
home,  in  which  ser\-ices  are  still  conducted 
ill  the  Welsh  language,  their  descendants 
forming  a  good  share  of  the  congregation. 
Some  member  of  the  family  has  always 
served  as  chorister  and  the  art  of  music  has 
received  considerable  attention  from  many 
of  the  number. 

Mr.   Owen's  religious   sentiments   were 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


385 


doubtless  inheritt  ruts, 

Owen  Pugfa  and  ; -  -ere 

among  the  first  people  of  their  iocaiity  to 
embrace   Christianity.     Tbey   were   accos- 
tomed  to  ride  on  horseback  to  attend  serv- 
ices, carr}4ng  a  bag  of  meal  to  disguise 
their  errand  on  account  of  the  fanaticism 
of    their    neighbors.     Owen  Pugfa  is    r 
posed  to  have  belonged  to  the  line  of  ' 
GI;."iidv.-r.   v.  ho  won  some 
leader  of  his  pejjie  in  resi^      _ 
pressi(Hi  early  in  the  fifteenth  cenniry. 


iL\RTIX  FRAXCIS  FOLEY. 

Martin  Francis  F<dey.  one  of  the  most 

e: --T  --  and  succeisful  young  business 

•:  coontA".  is  now  president  and 

ger.er:^.  ::  .imager  of    the    Great    Xorthem 
Xurserv  Gz-rnpanv.  of  Baraboo.       He  has 


citizens, 

:  _„ ^  pro^»erit>-. 

also  add  to  the  gaieral  welfare  and  success. 
A  native  of  Dayton.  Ohio,  he  was  bom 
April  27,  1867,  and  is  a  son  of  Timothy  and 
Margaret  >  Kf'deay)  Foley.  His  mfaer,  a 
rav.ve  cf    cv:~r\-  Clare.    Ireland,  came  v 


ilartin  F.  Foley  was  an  infant  xdaea  his 
parents  came  to  Sauk  cotrrrt:-.     H-'s  prelim- 
inary-   education    was    :  :    by  a 
coarse  in  the  Baraboo  .   ^  which 
he  completed  when  seventeen  years  of  age. 
He  then  entered  the  sers-ice  of  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern   Raii>'Qe4   Company,  with 
'  T  was  connected  some  time.     At 
of  his  brother  James  be  returned 
•:  charge  of  his  father's  farm, 
ued  for  a  number  of  years, 
iie  iiiea  became  agent  for  the  Jewell  Nur- 
sery Cornra---      f  Lake  Citj-,  iEmiesota, 
rejMresei:-                    :ri  for  several  years.  He 
was  oat  -                   iTiccessfai  salesmen,  and 
had   the   soperintendency   of  a  number  of 
men.       He  afterward  dealt  extensivdy  in 
nursery  stock  on  his  own  account,  making 
his  headquarters  in  Reedsburg  and  empioy- 
ing  a  number  of   traveling  representatives 
~                             -red  and 
nge  for 
:^-.re  esten- 


-  '       IJXC     CX£CA^  |rK  &^<C 


r-     In  the  5f»ing  -^f  i^t  he  came 
to  Baraboo  and  organiz-e  North- 

CTn  Nurser>-  Company,  <-.-  ~  presi- 

dent and  general  manager.  The  cafMtal 
stock  of  the  corporation  is  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  its  grounds  in  the  city  of 


lev  ha? 


T«i  of  being"  onecoalled 


r_g  in  the  railr.jad  machine  shops  there 
...  :864,  when  he  came  to  Sank  county, 
\\'!5c:r.5:n.  locating  on  a  isrm  in  Ac  town 
:  ■  \\  ;-.-;e:d.  Since  1898  he  has  lived  re- 
tired :r.  Baraboo.  and  is  now  5e\-entv-nine 


.About  twenty-five    travehng   salesmen  are 

employed  in  introducing  theL"  goods  into 

\-ari0u5  sections  of    the    country,  and  the 

bu^ness  now  extends  into  a  dozen  or  more 

states.     Its  sales  are  very  extensive  and  the 

"  rs    rank    among   the  leading 

tms  in  Sauk  county. 

On  Uie  4ih  of  September,  1889.  ilr.  Fo- 


33G 


COMPENDIUM    OP   BIOGRAPHY. 


ley  was  united  in  marriasre  to  Miss  Katie 
Timlin,  daughter  nf  'i'lmmas  and  i\Iar_\'  Ann 
(Hayes)  Timlin,  of  Sauk  county.  Thev 
now  have  two  children,  Eva  and  Laurine. 
'Sh.  Foley  has  erected  one  of  the  best  resi- 
dences in  the  city  of  Baraboo,  supplied  with 
all  modern  conveniences,  its  furnishings  in- 
dicating the  cultured  taste  of  the  occupants. 
The  household  is  celeljrated  for  its  gracious 
hospitality,  which  is  enjoyed  by  the  large  cir- 
cle of  their  friends.  He  is  a  valued  member 
of  several  fraternal  organizations,  belong- 
ing to  Maple  Leaf  Camp,  No.  470,  M.  W. 
A.,  of  Reedsburg;  to  Castle  Hall  Lodge,  No. 
142,  K.  P.,  also  of  Reedsburg,  and  is  deputy 
grand  chancellor  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
fraternity,  for  Sauk  county.  For  many 
years  he  gave  his  political  support  to  the 
Democracy,  and  took  an  active  part  in  po- 
litical affairs,  but  is  now  an  advocate  of  the 
gold  standard.  His  business  career  has 
been  an  honorable  and  ui)right  one,  and  the 
reputation  which  he  bears  in  commercial  cir- 
cles is  unassailable.  Steadily  has  he  worked 
liis  \vay  upward  by  determined  purpose,  un- 
llagging  industry  and  keen  discernment,  and 
his  success  is  therefore  well  merited. 


DEXTER  S.   HIvVTH. 

Dexter  S.  Lleath,  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Columbia  county,  is  liv- 
ing retired  from  actix'e  pursuits  in  a  com- 
fortable home  in  Pardeeville,  and  is  honored 
and  esteemed  by  his  fellowmen.  He  began 
life  in  humble  surroundings  and  has  la- 
bored honestly  and  earnestly  to  acquire  a 
goodly  proportion  of  property  and  has  been 
rewarded  for  his  labor.  He  was  born  in 
Cabot.  \'ermont,  September  30,  1831,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  and  Ruth  (Carr)  Lleath,  both 
of  vi'hom  were  natives  of  Vermont. 

Our   subject's    father   was   a    farmer   in 


\"ermont  and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1S51, 
and  settled  in  Marcellon  township,  Colum- 
bia county.  He  died  there  December  3;, 
1876,  aged  eighty-five  years.  He  was  vig- 
orous for  one  of  his  years,  and  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Methodist  church. 
Our  subject's  mother  was  torn  in  Massachu- 
setts, but  moved  to  \'ermont  when  she  was 
a  young  girl.  She  died  September  20, 
1872,  aged  eighty  years.  Eleven  children 
were  born  to  this  worthy  couple,  w!io  were 
named  as  follows:  Levi,  William,  Elizabeth,. 
Sarah,  Martha,  Rodolphus,  Phineas  C,  Dex- 
ter S.,  Quincy,  Rosetta  and  Susan.  Our 
subject  and  three  brothers  are  the  only  sur- 
vivors of  the  family.  William  and  i'iodol- 
phus  reside  in  Iowa,  and  Quincy  resides  in 
Otter  Tail  county,  Minnesota. 

Dexter  S.  Heath  spent  his  boyhood  on 
the  farm  in  X'ermont,  and  in  J 852  came  with 
his  parents  to  Wisconsin,  wliere  he  lived  ou 
the  homestead  farm  for  many  years.  He 
later  owned  255  acres  of  land,  \\-hich  he 
brought  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  in 
1890  gave  the  farm  to  his  sons  and  purchased 
another  tract  of  200  acres  in  Marcellon 
township,  which  he  later  gave  to  another  son. 
He  later  bought  a  farm  of  250  acres  iii 
Springvalc,  upon  which  he  resided  about 
two  years  and  then  gave  it  to  a  third  son. 
Since  1895  he  has  resided  in  the  village  of 
Pardeeville,  where  he  has  erected  a  comfort- 
able and  commodious  residence,  and  enjoys 
a  well-earned  rest.  Li  early  days  he  butcj^i- 
ered  live  stock  and  marketed  it  in  the  piner- 
ies. He  hauled  the  lumber  for  his  first 
house  from  Little  Wolf  river,  a  distance  of 
about  eighty  miles.  Each  of  his  farms  he 
has  equipped  with  first  class  buildings,  and 
he  met  with  remarkable  success  in  the  pur- 
suit of  agriculture. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  18, 
1864,  to  Mrs.  Mariette  Langdon,  widow  of 
Asa  Langdon,  and  daughter  of  Hugh  and 
Mary  (Ciulhery)  Barker.     Mrs.  Heatli  was 


COMPEXDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


339 


born  in  the  town  of  Byron,  Genesee  county, 
New  York,  and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1844. 
Her  father  came  there  about  three  years  later 
and  settled  in  Marcellon  township.  He 
died  in  Packwaukee,  Wisconsin,  in  October, 
1857,  aged  sixty- four  years,  about  four 
years  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Heath  are  the  parents  of  three  sons,  who 
are  as  follows:  Allen  D.,  born  September 
JO,  1866,  now  residing  on  the  homestead 
farm;  Julius  S.,  born  January  29,  1869;  and 
George  A.,  born  July  17,  1873.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Heath  have  nine  grandchildren.  Mrs. 
Heath  is  a  member  of  the  ^lethodist  Episco- 
pal church  of  Pardeeville,  and  the  famih-  are 
highly  esteemed  in  their  communit%\  Our 
subject  is  a  man  of  firm  convictions  and  has 
filled  various  local  ofiices  of  trust,  but  does 
not  take  an  active  part  in  political  affairs; 
he  is  a  Republican  in  sentiment.  Portraits 
of  both  !Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heath  will  be  found 
on  other  pages  in  this  volume. 


WILLIAM  ERIGFREUXD  AX.\CKER. 

William  Erigfreund  Anacker  is  ong  of 
the  leading  and  representative  agriculturists 
of  Fort  ^\'innebago  township,  Columbia 
county,  \\'isconsin.  and  has  been  actively 
identified  with  the  development  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state.  Though  Bom  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  he  is  thoroughly 
American  in  thought  and  feeling,  and  that 
he  is  patriotic  and  sincere  in  his  love  for  the 
stars  and  stripes  was  manifest  b)-  his  service 
in  the  Civil  war. 

Mr.  Anacker  was  bom  in  Herrenbrei tun- 
gen,  near  Schmalkaklen,  Hesse  Cassel,  Ger- 
man}-, June  I,  1840,  and  is  a  son  of  George 
Ludwig  and  .Amelia  ( Kleimenhagen ) 
Anacker,  who  lived  and  died  on  a  farm  in 
tliat  village.  The  father  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable   prominence    and    influence,    and 


served  as  alderman  of  the  village  for  many 
years.  His  father,  Henry  .\nacker,  was  a 
man  of  education  and  culture,  of  whom  more 
e.xtended  mention  is  made  in  the  sketch  of 
Bernhardt  Anacker  on  another  page  of  this 
volume.  Andrew  Anacker,  a  brother  of 
Henry,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Hessian  army, 
and  was  sent  to  this  countrj-  among  the 
troops  hired  by  England  during  the  Revo- 
Intionarj-  war.  He  never  returned  to  his 
native  land.  Our  subject  has  in  his  posses- 
sion some  silverware  which  once  belonged 
to  his  maternal  great-grandfather,  Henry 
Kleimenhagen,  who  ser\ed  as  schultze,  or 
mayor,  of  Herrenbreitungen  for  manv  }-ears. 
He  had  four  sons,  one  of  whom  was  ]\Ioritz 
Kleimenhagen,  our  subject's  grandfather, 
who  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  an  offi- 
cial in  the  Calvinistic  church.  Our  subject 
is  the  oldest  in  a  large  family  of  children,  of 
whom  one  died  in  childhood.  The  others 
are:  Dorothea  and  Rosalie,  who  remained 
m  Geraiany;  Bernhardt  W.,  a  resident  of 
Lewiston  township,  Columbia  county,  ^^'is- 
consin;  Clemandina,  wife  of  H.  Hermann, 
of  Portage,  \\isconsin;  Maria,  wife  of  Ed. 
Shermer,  of  Caledonia  township,  Columbia 
coimty;  Richard,  of  La  Crosse,  ^^'isconsin; 
Otto  P.,  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota;  Caroline, 
who  remained  in  Germany;  Amelia,  widow 
of  John  Geymann,  and  a  resident  of  Port- 
age, ^^'isconsin;  and  \\'illiam  Henr\-,  now 
in  Alaska. 

\\illiam  E.  .Vnacker,  of  this  review,  re- 
ceived a  good  practical  education  in  public 
and  private  schools  of  his  native  land,  and 
remained  there  until  twenty  Aears  of  age, 
when  he  emigrated  to  .\merica,  making  the 
voj-age  from  Bremen  to  New  York  in'  twen- 
ty-one days — the  quickest  passage  ever 
made  by  a  sailing  ^"essel  up  to  that  date.  He 
came  direct  to  Columbia  count}-,  \\'iscon- 
sin,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home. 

On  the  2 1st  of  August.  1862,  he  entered 
the  service  of  his  adopted  country,  enlisting 


340 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


in  Company  C,  Twenty-third  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry.  He  took  part  in  the 
first  attack  on  Vicksburg  in  December,  1862 ; 
was  in  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Ar- 
kansas Post,  Port  Gibson,  Champion  H 
Black  River  bridge,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  bat- 
tle of  Jackson,  Mississippi ;  Grand  Coteau, 
Louisiana ;  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  Cane  River, 
Jackson,  Louisiana ;  Spanish  Fort,  Alabama ; 
Fort  Blakely ;  and  some  minor  engagements. 
At  Grand  Coteau  his  cap  was  shot  from  his 
head,  and  his  hair  was  grazed  while  being 
pursued  by  Confederate  cavalry,  but  he  es- 
caped b}'  jumjiing  across  a  creek  and  con- 
cealing himself  in  a  grove.  Only  sixtv- 
seven  out  of  his  regiment  were  neither  killed 
nor  captured,  and  at  the  disastrous  battle  of 
Sabine  Cross  Roads  he  only  escaped  by  run- 
ning through  a  cornlield.  He  was  ap^.  • 
corporal  July  i,  1864,  and  was  honorably 
discharged  from  the  service  July  4,  1865. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Anacker  was  em- 
i:)loyed  in  a  gristmill  and  brewery  for  a 
time.  Li  April,  1867,  he  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  acres  of  land  in  Fort  Win- 
nebago township,  to  which  he  has  since  add- 
ed another  tract  of  one  hundred  acres, 
only  twenty-five  acres  of  the  entire  amount 
having  previously  been  cleared,  but  now  one 
hundred  acres  have  been  placed  under  cul- 
tivation, and  good  substantial  buildings  have 
been  erected  thereon.  A  log  house  was  the 
only  building  when  he  took  up  his  residence 
there.  In  connection  with  general  farming 
he  gives  some  attention  to  the  raising  of 
small  fruit.  His  farm  is  watered  by  fine 
springs,  and  there  is  a  trout  pond  upon  the 
premises,  where  he  has  caught  rainbow  trout 
weighing  over  five  pounds  and  brook  trout 
as  large  as  three  and  a  half  pounds.  This 
pond  he  stocked  about  six  years  ago  with 
forty  thousand  fry  from  the  state  fish 
hatchery  at  Madison. 

Mr.  Anacker  was  married.  May  6,  1866, 
to  Miss  Dorothea  Weidemann,  a  native  of 


Iversplaben,  Saxe  Weimar,  Germany,  and 
a  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Catherine  Wei- 
demann, who  brought  their  family  to  Amer- 
ica in  1855  and  settled  in  Lewiston  town- 
ship, Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  one  year 
later.  Mrs.  Anacker  died  December  2, 
1889,  aged  forty-five  years,  two  months  and 
eight  days,  and  of  the  eight  children  born 
to  them  four  died  in  infancy.  The  others 
are  Ottilie,  wife  of  Albert  Eberlein,  of  Blue 
Earth  City,  Minnesota;  Charles  O.,  at  home; 
Louise  A.,  wife  of  C.  Selbach,  of  Portage, 
Wisconsin ;  and  Georee  W.,  at  home.  Our 
subject  also  has  four  grandchildren:  Frid- 
rich,  Clarance,  Artliur  Eberlein,  and  Do- 
rothea Selbach. 

Mr.  Anacker  is  a  member  of  Trinity 
church,  of  Portage,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  past  has  been  a  member  of  the  Colum- 
bia County  Agricultural  Society,  and  Rous- 
seau Post,  No.  14,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Portage.  Po- 
litically he  is  identified  with  the  Republican 
party.  Although  he  never  attended  an 
English  school,  he  has  through  his  own  ef- 
forts become  conversant  with  the  language, 
having  learned  to  read  English  while  in  the 
army.  The  majority  of  his  townsmen  hold 
opposite  political  views  from  his,  but  rec- 
ognizing his  worth  and  ability,  they  have 
called  vipon  him  to  fill  many  principal  town- 
ship and  school  offices,  and  he  commands  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  his  associates. 


CHRIST    FRITZ. 

Christ  Fritz,  one  of  the  most  extensive 
stock  raisers  of  Adams  county,  residing  in 
the  town  of  Ouincy,  is  well  known  as  a 
gentleman  who  has  aided  in  the  transforma- 
tion of  that  country  into  one  of  the  brightest 
spots  in  the  state,  and  has  helped  to  make 
Adams  county  popular  as  a  thriving  agri- 
cultural district.  He  is  a  progressive,  and 
is  possessed  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


841 


calling,  which  places  him  among  the  lead- 
ing farmers  of  his  community.  In  further- 
ing the  interests  of  his  township  he  has  ever 
given  his  hearty  support,  financially  and 
otherwise,  toward  public  enterprises,  and  has 
gained  an  enviable  reputation  wherever  he 
is  known.  His  estate  comprises  three  hun- 
dred acres,  and  he  has  added  such  improve- 
ments as  are  found  on  modern  farms. 

Mr.  Fritz  was  born  in  West  Prussia, 
Germany,  January  9,  1843,  ^'iJ  ^^'^s  the  son 
of  John  and  Mary  Fritz.  His  father  was  a 
wood  worker,  and  ran  on  boats  on  the  Elbe 
river  during  the  summer  season.  He  emi- 
grated to  America  about  1870  and  located 
in  Dundee,  Kane  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
resided  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Scholt,  un- 
til his  death  in  1889.  The  mother  died  in 
Germany  in  185Q. 

Of  seven  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fritz,  our  subject  was  the  fourth  in  order 
of  birth.  He  attended  school  until  fourteen 
years  of  age,  after  which  time  he  worked 
at  farm  work  until  he  came  to  America  in 
1865.  He  located  at  Dundee,  Illinois,  and 
worked  on  a  farm  for  six  years.  He  went 
to  Quincy,  Adams  county,  in  1871,  and  pur- 
chased three  hundred  acres  of  land,  upon 
which  he  has  since  resided.  He  erected  a 
good  residence  and  commodious  barns,  and 
miakes  a  specialty  of  stock  raising.  The  farm 
is  nicely  located,  and  runs  down  to  the  Wis- 
consin river,  and  is  acknowledged  to  be  one 
of  the  best  in  the  country.  A  ferry  has  re- 
cently been  started  across  the  river,  Mr. 
Fritz  having  given  the  right  of  way  for  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years.  A  market  at 
Martyn  for  the  people  of  Quincy  township  is 
thus  opened,  being  nine  miles  to  that  place. 
Our  subject  is  in  possession  of  a  medal 
awarded  him  by  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position for  winter  wheat  and  silver  hull 
buckwheat,  raised  on  his  farm,  on  old  land, 
thus  placing  Adams  county  at  the  head  of 
the  grain  raising  counties  of  the  state. 


Mr.  Fritz  was  married  in  September, 
1869,  to  Minnie  Hintz,  daughter  of  Fred 
and  Mary  (Streaving^i  Hintz,  of  Dundee, 
Illinois.  Mrs.  Fritz's  parents  came  to 
America  from  Germany  about  1866.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Fritz  have  been  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  as  follows :  Christ,  at  Dun- 
dee, Illinois ;  William ;  Charles,  in  West  Su- 
perior; John,  in  Dundee,  Illinois;  Annie,  in 
Elgin,  Illinois;  Franz,  in  Dundee,  Illinois; 
i\Iartha,  Mary,  the  two  last  named,  twins, 
residing  in  Martyn;  Minnie,  at  home;  Al- 
bert, in  Dundee;  and  Ernest,  at  home. 

Mr.  Fritz  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church  at  Quincy.  In  political  sentiment  he 
is  a  Republican.  He  is  a  man  of  enlight- 
ened views  and  stands  firmlv  for  right  and 
good  citizenship.  He  is  an  exemplary 
member  of  his  community,  and  is  public- 
spirited,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  mat- 
ters of  local  importance.  He  has  spared  no 
labor  and  painstaking  care  in  making  of  his 
farm  one  of  the  model  estates  of  Adams 
county,  and  thus  raising  the  standard  of  ag- 
riculture. 


OSCAR   CLARKE   ELY. 

Oscar  Clarke  Ely,  a  prominent  dairyman 
and  general  farmer,  and  postmaster  at 
Spring  Creek,  residing  in  Monroe  township, 
Adams  county,  has  been  a  resident  of  that 
place  since  his  boyhood  days,  and  the  farm 
v/hich  is  now  his  home  is  one  he  assisted  his 
father  in  clearing  for  cultivation.  When 
the  family  went  to  that  region  it  was  a  wil- 
derness, and  the  present  farm  is  one  of  the 
best  to  be  found  within  the  limits  of  Adams 
county,  and  the  subject  of  this  review  is  en- 
titled to  much  credit  for  the  share  he  took 
in  its  transformation.  He  was  but  a  young 
lad  at  the  time  of  their  early  life  there,  but 
put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  did  what 
was  in  his  power,  and  has  been  rewarded  liv 


342 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


witnessing  tlie  development  of  a  thriving 
agricultural  district,  as  well  as  individual 
gain. 

■\lr.  Elv  was  born  July  22.  1839,  at  W'il- 
braham,  Hampden  county,  Massachusetts, 
and  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  Dixon  and  Julia 
(Clarke)  Ely.  The  family  had  lived  in  the 
county  many  years,  and  the  father  was  a 
shoemaker  hy  trade,  and  alsri  followed  farm- 
ing. They  came  to  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Monroe,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1855, 
and  took  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
government  land,  on  which  they  erected  good 
buildings,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  ninety 
acres  were  cleared  for  cultivation.  There 
were  no  settlers  for  a  number  of  miles,  and 
the  nearest  pulling  place  was  Xecedah.  The 
father  died  December  28,  1883,  aged  seven- 
ty-six years,  and  the  mother  died  March  2^, 
1889,  aged  seventy-five  years,  and  both  were 
buried  at  Spring  Creek.  Mr.  Ely  was  a  de- 
vout Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church.  He  was  a  Republican  in  po- 
litical sentiment  and  much  interested  in 
party  movements.  He  served  in  several 
township  offices  of  trust,  and  was  a  respected 
citizen  and  gained  the  confidence  of  his  as- 
sociates. Six  children,  fi\t  sons  and  one 
daughter,  were  born  to  this  worthy  couple, 
as  follows:  Henry  D.,  now  farming  in 
Monroe  township;  Oscar  C,  our  subject; 
Elwood  M.,  now  farming  in  Monroe  town- 
ship; Dexter  \Y.,  residing  in  Chicago;  Ho- 
mer \\'.,  now  in  Granite,  Illinois;  and  Har- 
riet hi,  now  Mrs.  C.  R.  Barker,  of  Chicago. 
Oscar  C.  Ely  at  the  age  of  ten  years 
went  to  work  for  a  farmer,  and  after  three 
summers  entered  the  cotton  factory  at  Rock- 
ville,  Connecticut,  and  was  thus  engaged 
about  three  years.  Ele  came  with  his  par- 
er.ts  to  Wisconsin  at  the  age  of  sixteen  3'ears, 
and  from  that  time  assisted  his  father  in 
the  clearing  of  the  farm.  He  is  now  in  pos- 
session of  two  hundred  acres,  and  has  about 
one  hundred  acres  under  cultivation.       He 


was  awarded  a  diploma  and  medal  by  the 
^\'orld"s  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago, 
for  Initter  made  on  his  farm,  which  was  a 
great  honor  from  the  fact  that  the  butter 
scored  one  hundred  points.  He  is  thorough 
in  his  work,  practical,  and  uses  the  most  ap- 
proved methods,  and  has  made  a  success. 

Mr.  Ely  was  married  December  12, 
1863,  to  Annette  B.  Gardner,  tlaughter  of 
Oliver  and  Melissa  (TullerJ  Gardner,  of 
Preston  township.  Eive  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ely,  three  of  whom 
are  living,  as  follows :  Charlotte  E.,  born 
January  8,  1867,  now  Mrs.  G.  Losey,  resid- 
ing near  Hancock,  Leola  township,  Adams 
county;  Alice  J.,  born  August  16,  1870,  now 
Airs.  G.  H.  ^Munroe,  of  Barnum,  Adams 
county,  and  Arthur  O.,  born  March  2,  1881. 
The  son  is  a  sufferer  from  paralysis,  and  is 
an  invalid. 

jMr.  and  Mrs.  Ely  are  consistent  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church,  and  take  an 
active  part  in  church  matters.  He  has  ex- 
erted his  influence  for  the  interests  of  his 
townshiiD,  and  has  served  in  various  local 
offices  of  trust,  in  every  instance  perform- 
ir.g  his  duties  with  fidelity  and  gaining  the 
confidence  of  his  fellows.  He  has  been 
township  clerk  and  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
is  well  known  in  his  comniunit}^  In  po- 
litical faith  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Ely  was  appointed  postmaster  of 
Spring  Creek  in  1897.  He  still  holds  that 
position,  while  his  wife  is  assistant  post- 
master. 


RILEY   SPRAGUE   RICHMOND. 

Riley  Sprague  Richmond,  an  influential 
citizen  and  prominent  business  man  of  Ran- 
dolph, Columbia  county,  has  spent  over  a 
half  century  of  his  life  in  the  county  of  his 
adoption.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Og- 
den,   Monroe  county,   New  York,   Septem- 


COMPEXD/CM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


343 


ber  6,  1826,  and  was  a  son  of  Joshua  and 
Al)igail   (Sprague)   Richmond. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native 
of  \\'(iodstock.  Connecticut,  and  lie  repre- 
sented the  sixth  generation  of  his  family  in 
that  state.  His  first  ancestor  on  this  ci.>n- 
tinent  was  John  Richmond,  one  of  the  found  ■ 
ers  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  in  1637.  He 
came  from  Ashton  Keynes,  \\'iltshire,  Eng- 
land. The  Richmond  family  originated  in 
Brittan}",  France,  and  is  still  found  in  that 
country.  \Villiam  Makepeace  Thackeray 
descended  from  the  Richmonds  of  \\'iltshire, 
whose  posterity  includes  many  eminent  men 
in  England  and  Ariierica.  A  number  of  the 
descendants  of  John  Richmond  were  in  the 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  Edward  Rich- 
mond, was  a  pioneer  in  Dartmouth,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  later  in  Woodstock,  Connecti- 
cut, and  Stafford,  \'ermont.  He  sold  his 
farm  and  was  paid  in  Continental  money, 
which  depreciated  in  \-alue  and  caused  him 
great  loss.  He  died  in  1804.  Our  sub- 
ject's father  went  to  ^Monroe  county,  New 
York,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  at 
that  time  there  was  not  a  frame  house  in 
Rochester;  all  were  of  logs.  He  spent  his 
life  on  a  farm  there,  and  died  in  1868  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years.  He  served  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Buf- 
falo and  the  battle  of  Erie,  and  filled  most 
of  the  local  offices  in  his  community.  He 
was  a  successful  farmerj_  and  was  able  to 
give  each  of  his  children  a  tract  of  land. 

The  mother  (.)f  our  suliject  died  while 
he  was  l.)ut  an  infant.  Her  father,  Ichabod 
Sprague,  came  to  New  York  from  New 
England,  and  was  of  English  and  Irish  de- 
scent. He  died  at  Churchville,  Monroe 
county.  New  York,  where  he  owned  a  farm 
cf  seven  hundred  acres.  Joshua  Richmond 
was  married  three  times.  The  mother  of 
our  sulijcct  was  the  first  wife,  ami  to  this 
union  five  children  were  born,  of  whom  our 


subject  was  the  youngest  child  and  only  son. 
The  second  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Nancy  ;\..  Crissy,  and  ten  chiklren  were 
born  to  the  second  union.  The  third  wife 
was  uan:ed  Nancy  True  prior  to  her  mar- 
riage. 

Riley  Sprague  Richmond  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor of  his  mother's  family  of  children.  He 
left  home  in  1847,  '^"^1  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  took  government  land  in  Randolph 
township,  Columbia  county,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  twenty-five  years,  and 
a;  the  end  of  that  time  owned  1  >nc  hundred 
and  eighty-five  acres  of  land,  although  he 
had  disposed  of  some.  He  brought  it  to 
a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  erected  good 
buildings.  Since  the  fall  of  1872  he  has 
li\-ed  in  the  x'illase  of  Ixandolph,  where  he 
resides  in  practical  retirement.  He  pur- 
chased two  other  farms,  and  later  sold  all 
his  lands.  He  .was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Randolph  Canning  Company  in  1895, 
and  has  since  iseen  president  of  the  company, 
and  the  enterjirise  has  proven  remarkably 
successful. 

Our  subject  was  married  June  15,  1854, 
to  Lucy  Jane  01i\er,  a  daughter  of  Zenith 
and  Polly  01i\-er.  Mrs.  Richmond  was 
born  in  New  York,  and  died  August,  1856, 
leaving  one  child:  Eva  I.,  now  Mrs.  John 
S.  Lightner,  of  Randolph.  Our  subject 
was  married  to  Jane  Hughes,  February  4, 
1857.  Mrs.  Richmond  was  a  daughter  of 
Gliomas  and  Margaret  ( Jones )  Hughes. 
Her  parents  were  from  Caernarvonshire, 
Wales,  and  came  to  America  in  1846.  and 
settled  in  I\.andolpIi  to\\nship.  Columbia 
county,  where  Mr.  Hughes  died  June  30, 
1879,  aged  sixty-five  years.  Mrs.  Hughes 
died  in  December,  1896,  aged  nearly  eighty- 
one  years.  Mrs.  Richmond  was  born  in 
Wales.  Mr.  and  ]Mrs.  Richmond  are  the 
parents  of  two  children:  Cora  B.,  now 
Mrs.  Dr.  Harvey  X.  Jackson,  of  Milwaukee; 
and  Ozro,  who  ilied  in  infancy.     ^Ir.  and 


344 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Mrs.  Richmond  have  one  grandson,  named 
Riley  Richmond  Jackson.  The  Richmond 
family  have  been  Universalists  in  religious 
belief  for  some  generations,  and  our  sub- 
ject inclines  toward  that  denomination.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  In  early 
life  he  was  a  Democrat  in  political  faith, 
but  of  recent  years  he  is  independent  in  poli- 
tics. He  has  held  various  township  offices, 
and  is  always  interested  in  educational  af- 
fairs and  public  enterprises.  During  the 
Civil  Avar  he  took  a  leading  part  in  filling  the 
quota  of  troops  from  Randolph  township, 
and  but  one  draft  was  levied  in  the  town- 
ship. He  was  a  liberal  subscriber  to  the 
bounty  fund,  and  went  to  Milwaukee  to  pay 
the  bounty  to  enlisted  troops  from  Randolph 
township. 


WILLIAM  A.  HAYES. 

William  A.  Hayes,  a  prominent  railroad 
conductor  of  Baraboo,  who  has  won  suc- 
cess by  his  own  perseverance  and  industry, 
was  born  in  Mountain  Ash,  South  Wales, 
December  25,  1863.  His  father,  William 
Hayes,  was  a  nati\-e  of  County  Kerry,  Ire- 
land, and  a  son  of  Captain  William  Hayes, 
who  was  commander  of  a  vessel  sailing  from 
Cork  and  was  lost  at  sea.  While  a  young 
man  the  former  went  to  Wales,  where  he 
married  Miss  Ellen  Condon,  a  native  of 
Mountain  Ash,  and  a  daughter  of  John 
Condon,  a  coal  miner  of  that  place.  In 
that  country  the  father  of  our  subject  en- 
gaged in  coal  mining  until  the  early  part  of 
1865,  when  he  came  to  the  United  States 
and  first  located  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylva- 
nia, where  he  was  employed  in  oil  works  for 
a  time.  About  1S70  he  removed  to  Mazo- 
manie,  \\'isconsin,  and  entered  the  employ 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee '&  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road Company  on  a  construction  train.      In 


1873  h^  went  to  W^auzeka,  where  he  was 
section  foreman  until  1897,  since  which 
time  he  has  been  a  switch  tender  at  Madison, 
01;  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad. 
His  wife  died  April  9,  1894,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three  years. 

Our  subject  was  only  a  small  boy  when 
the  family  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  he  ob- 
tained a  limited  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Mazomanie  and  Wauzeka,  which 
he  attended  only  about  eighteen  months  in 
all.  At  the  age  of  nine  years  he  began  sup- 
porting himself  by  farm  labor,  and  when 
twelve  entered  a  stave  factory  at  Wauzeka, 
Vv-here  he  was  employed  for  three  years.  He 
next  worked  as  baggageman  at  Woodman, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  spent  three  years  and 
a  half,  and  during  his  leisure  moments 
learned  telegraphy.  In  the  fall  of  1884  be 
secured  an  appointment  as  brakeman  on  the 
Madison  division  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
v/estern  Railroad,  and  three  years  later  was 
made  conductor  on  the  same  division.  For 
several  years  past  he  has  had  charge  of  a 
work  train,  covering  all  the  tracks  between 
Harvard  and  Winona,  Milwaukee  and  Ga- 
lena. 

jNIr.  Hayes  was  married,  December  25, 
1890,  to  Miss  Clara  A.  Michaelis,  a  native 
of  Shullsburg,  Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter 
of  August  and  Juliet  (Meyer)  Michaelis,  of 
Lancaster,  Wisconsin.  To  them  have  been 
born  three  children :  Helen,  Merl  and 
Willie. 

Since  1891  Mr.  Hayes  has  been  an  acti\-e 
and  prominent  member  of  Baraboo  Divis- 
ion, No.  68,  O.  R.  C,  of  which  be  is  now 
chief  conductor,  and  in  1897  he  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  biennial  session  of  the  Grand 
Division  of  the  order,  at  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia. Pie  is  also  a  member  of  Sinnissippi 
Council,  No.  1158,  R.  A.,  of  Belvidere,  Illi- 
nois, and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  though  not  an  aggressive  par- 
tisan. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


345 


HON.   JOHN   A.    HENRY. 

Hon.  John  A.  Henry,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing business  men  of  Easton,  Adams  county, 
and  the  present  representative  from  that  dis- 
trict in  the  general  assembly  of  the  state, 
has  been  a  resident  of  that  region  many 
years,  and  is  well  known  as  a  gentleman 
whose  business  qualifications  and  integrity 
entitle  him  to  prominence  in  the  commercial 
world.  He  is  proprietor  of  a  general  mer- 
chandise store  in  that  town,  and  has  been 
identified  with  her  business  interests  for  the 
past  twenty  years,  and  is  also  possessor  of 
large  landed  interests  in  Adams  county. 

Mr.  Henry  was  born  in  Oswego  coun- 
ty. New  York,  October  14,  1845,  and  was 
the  son  of  Andrew  and  Ann  (Wickware) 
tienry.  The  Wickware  family  were  early 
settlers  of  Oswego  county,  and  well  known 
in  that  vicinity.  The  father  of  our  suljject 
was  left  motherless  at  the  age  of  six  years. 
He  was  a  cooper  by  trade,  and  moved  his 
family  from  Oswego  county  to  Racine  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  in  1850,  where  be  stayed 
about  one  year,  and  then  moved  to  Water- 
ford,  and  worked  at  his  trade  for  a  few 
years.  He  went  to  California  overland, 
with  his  twelve-year-old  son,  Antle,  about 
1854,  and  engaged  in  mining  with  fair  suc- 
cess, and  remained  about  four  years,  return- 
ing to  Water  ford  in  1858.  He  moved  to 
Easton,  Adams  county,  in  1863  where  he 
purshased  land  and  resided  until  his  death, 
February  10,  1874,  aged  fifty-five  years.  The 
mother  died  May  24,  1894,  aged  seventy- 
four  years,  and  both  parents  were  laid  to  rest 
al  White  Creek.  Of  their  five  children  our 
subject  was  the  second  in  order  of  l)irth. 

John  Henry  was  given  a  good  educa- 
tion, attending  school  until  his  sixteenth 
year,  when  he  enlisted  for  his  country's 
cause,  but  was  rejected  on  account  of  his 
parents  not  giving  consent.  He  afterward 
enlisted  in  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  Cavalrv, 


and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  receiv- 
ing his  discharge  at  Madison,  in  June,  1865. 
His  regiment  had  the  honor  of  being-  the 
longest  in  the  service  of  any  volunteer  regi- 
ment. He  was  engaged  in  hard  work, 
chasing  bushwhackers,  and  was  disabled  at 
Pascagoula  Bay,  Mississippi,  by  a  broken 
leg,  caused  by  a  horse  kicking  him.  He 
was  confined  to  the  hospital  at  New  Orleans, 
and  was  afterward  removed  to  New  York, 
and  thence  to  Madison,  \\'isconsin.  He  has 
in  his  possession  a  nunilier  of  interesting 
relics  of  those  troublous  times,  among  them 
a  wooden  sword,  which  was  presented  to 
him  as  captain  of  the  \\'aterfijrd  Home 
Guards,  a  company  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  drill  work.  He  has  two  sabres,  which 
at  one  time  belonged  to  the  Confederate 
ami)-,  and  are  marked  C.  S.  A.  In  assist- 
ing to  organize  Company  C,  First  Wiscon- 
sin Infantry,  under  Captain  Hill,  our  sub- 
ject was  drummer,  and  is  in  possession  of 
a  pair  of  remarkably  fine  drum  sticks,  which 
were  used  at  that  time.  His  stock  of  gen- 
eral merchandise  at  Easton  is  complete  in 
every  particular/and  he  enjoys  a  liberal  pat- 
ronage. He  owns  the  old  homestead  on 
sections  30  and  31,  comprising  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  and  also  eighty  acres  of 
land  on  section  4,  in  Springville  township. 
Mr.  Henry  was  married  December  6, 
1868,  to  Alice  Augusta  Stowell,  daughter  of 
Lullerand  Polly  (Spoor)  Stowell, of  Spring- 
ville, Adams  county.  Six  children  have  been 
born  to  "Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry,  as  follows: 
Edith,  born  July  26,  1869,  now  Mrs.  F. 
Jones,  of  North  Freedom,  Sauk  county; 
Etta,  born  December  18,  1871,  now  Mrs. 
R.  Walton,  of  Easton;  Alice,  born  May  25, 
1877,  now  Mrs.  A.  Austin,  of  Jackson; 
Belle,  born  September  i,  1882,  residing  at 
home;  Ruth,  born  March  9,  1884;  and  Vera, 
born  October  24,  1887.  The  three  last 
named  reside  at  home,  with  their  parents. 
Mr.  Flenrv  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 


34G 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


ternit\-  at  Kilbuurn,  and  the  Ennis  Reecl 
Post,  Xo.  159,  G.  A.  R.,  of  White  Creek. 
Ill  the  latter  he  has  served  as  first  and  sec- 
ond commander^  and  is  at  present  officer  of 
the  day.  He  has  been  postmaster  of  Easton 
for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  is  justice  of 
the  peace.  He  has  served  as  supervisor  in 
^\'hite  Creek  township,  but  has  not  aspired 
to  county  offices.  He  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  tiie  welfare  of  his  community,  and 
stands  firmly  for  right  and  equity.  In  po- 
litical faith  he  is  a  Republican,  and  vras 
nominated  by  his  party  for  the  assembly  in 
1900,  and  elected. 


ED\\".\RD  EATON. 

Wisconsin  keeps  pace  with  her  sister 
states  in  the  number  of  her  industries,  and 
chief  among  them  stands  the  farming  inter- 
ests. Delton  township,  Sauk  county,  has 
been  largely  instrurtiental  in  giving  the  state 
its  present  standing.  The  fine  estates,  and 
pleasant  natural  surroundings  of  the  farms 
of  that  vicinity  bring  it  into  general  notice, 
and  one  of  the  finest  on  the  banks  of  the 
Wisconsin  is  that  owned  by  the  subject  of 
this  review.  He  has  a  river  frontage  oi 
o\'er  one  mile  and  the  outlook  is  most  beauti- 
ful. Fishing  and  boating  are  features  of 
the  vicinit}-.  His  farm  comprises  three 
hundred  and  thirty  acres.  A  competency 
earned  by  his  own  labors  sweetens  his  later 
years  and  life  holds  many  enjoyments  for 
him  as  a  reward  for  his  early  efforts. 
Portraits  of  Mr.  Eaton  and  his  honored  wile 
are  shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

I\Ir.  Eaton  was  born  in  Benenden,  Kent, 
England,  December  2,  1835,  and  was  the 
son  of  Edward  and  Mary  (Shoebridge) 
Eaton.  His  father  was  a  iiati\'e  of  Benen- 
den, England,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion.    He  came  to  America  in    1841,   and 


purchased  a  farm  in  Madison  county.  New 
\ork,  where  he  was  successful  in  the  grow- 
ing of  hops.  He  remained  there  thirteen 
years,  and  gathered  together  a  comfortable 
competence.  He  disposed  of  his  property  in 
1855  and  removed  to  Newport,  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  arriving  January  23,  1856.  He 
purchased  lots  in  the  town  of  Newport,  and 
established  a  meat  market  in  that  town,  in 
which  business  he  was  engaged  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  He  was  drowned  in  the  Wis- 
consin river  in  June,  1856,  and  was  buried 
at  Delton,  and  his  wife  was  laid  to  rest  be- 
side him  in  1869. 

Edward  Eaton  was  the  only  ciiild  born 
to  Edward  and  ]\Iary  Eaton,  and  came  to 
America  in  company  with  his  parents.  As 
a  youth  he  worked  on  the  farm  with  his 
father,  and  after  their  arri\-al  at  Newport 
engageil  for  a  time  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, and  later  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing. He  has  gained  his  property  by  faitii- 
ful  efforts,  and  has  become  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial men  of  Delton  township.  His 
property  is  daily  becoming  more  \'aluable, 
owing  to  its  location,  and  is  an  ideal  spot 
for  summer  cottages.  ]Many  notable  places  are 
in  the  \'icinity  of  his  farm,  including  Lone 
Rock  Inkstand,  Sugar  Bi^iwl,  and  the  Cave 
of  the  Dark  Waters,  all  of  which  are  in  the 
lower  dells  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  the  fishing 
on  the  ri\-er  at  that  point  is  excellent.  Mr. 
Eaton  set  out  a  hop  yard  in  1861,  and  con- 
tinued raising  hops  until  1884.  The  rais- 
ing of  that  product  of  the  farm  is  too  well 
known  in  this  community  to  need  comment 
here,  but  the  Eaton  famih-  were  probably 
the  liest  known  and  most  successful  hop 
growers  in  the  countr\",  lieing  natives  of 
the  hop  garden  of  the  world,  Kent, 
England,  from  whence  they  brought 
many  practical  and  valuable  ideas  in  regard 
to  their  culture.  In  August,  1884,  F.  S.  W. 
Mann,  now  Lord  Cornwallis,  of  Linton  Park, 
Maidstone,  England,  paid  a  visit  to  the  farm 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


349 


of  ^Ir.  Eaton,  being  at  that  time  interested 
in  hop  growing"  in  England,  and  was  one  of 
the  largest  land  owners  in  the  liop  district 
of  Kent.  Our  subject  sold  hops  as  high 
as  fifty-eight  cents  per  pound,  but  the  price 
finalh'  dropped  to  one  and  a  fourth  cents 
per  pound  and  proved  an  unremunerative 
crop,  and  since  then  Mr.  Eaton  has  engaged 
in  general  farming. 

Our  subject  was  married  January  15, 
1857,  to  Celinda  Mianda  Chaffee,  daughter 
of  Captain  Enoch  and  Rhoda  M.  (Strana- 
han)  Chaffee,  of  Otsego  county,  New  York. 
Mrs.  Eaton's  father  came  west  in  1865,  lo- 
cating at  Newport,  Wisconsin.  He  was  a 
captain  in  the  New  York  militia.  His 
death  occurred  in  ]March,  1887,  and  he  was 
buried  in  Baraboo,  in  Mr.  Eaton's  family  lot. 
Mrs.  Eaton's  mother  returned  east  in  1880, 
and  made  her  home  with  her  eldest  daugh- 
ter in  Peterboro,  Madison  county.  New 
York,  until  her  death  in  1881.  Air.  and  Mrs. 
Eaton  are  the  parents  of  two  children : 
Minnie  Mianda,  born  February  14,  1866, 
now  the  wife  of  Rew  T.  E.  Foss,  of  Han- 
cock, Wisconsin,  and  Edward  Emmon,  born 
June  15,  1870,  an  agriculturist  of  Delton 
township.  Mr.  Eaton  is  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  ^Methodist  Episcopal  church  of 
Delton,  antl  is  trustee,  district  steward,  and 
treasurer  of  the  same.  He  has  never  sought 
public  office,  preferring  to  serve  his  town- 
ship otherwise.  He  is  a  most  prominerit 
member  of  his  community,  and  in  political 
faith  he  is  a  Republican. 


CAPT.    OSCAR    MIN    BERING. 

Captain  Oscar  Mix  Dering,  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  Columbus,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  is  serving  as  justice  of  the 
peace,  a  position  which  he  has  filled  for  a 
number  of  3-ears  with  credit  to  himself  and 


to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constituents.  He 
is  thoroughly  impartial  in  meting  out  jus- 
tice, his  opinions  lieing  unl)iased  by  either 
fear  or  favor,  and  his  fidelity  to  the  trust 
reposed  in  him  is  above  question. 

The  Captain  is  a  native  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, born  in  Sunbury,  Northumberland  coun- 
ty, December  12,  1827,  and  is  a  son  of 
Charles  and  Maria  M.  (Giberson)  Dering. 
His  ancestors  came  to  this  country  from 
Germany  in  early  colijnial  days  and  settled 
in  the  Keystone  state.  One  of  his  ancestors 
was  a  Revolutionary  patriot,  who  cast  the 
first  cannon  made  in  America.  On  this  ac- 
count a  reward  was  offered  for  his  head  by 
the  British  government.  He  died  at  Fred- 
ericktown,  Maryland.  The  Captain's  fa- 
ther, who  was  a  cabinet  maker  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  accjuired  considerable  prominence 
as  a  skilled  mechanic,  came  to  \Visconsin  in 
1849,  and  located  at  New  Diggings,  La  Fay- 
ette county.  He  died,  however,  at  Oyster 
Creek,  Texas,  November  25,  1875,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years.  His  wife  passed 
away  at  New  Diggings,  W^isconsin,  in  1859, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  Her  mater- 
nal grandfather  Lewis  was  killed  by  the  In- 
dians in  Pennsylvania  many  years  ago. 

At  the  "age  of  seventeen  years  Captain 
Dering  left  home  and  went  to  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of 
an  iron  molder.  In  1849  he  came  with  his 
father  to  this  state  and  worked  at  his  trade 
in  Milwaukee,  Waukesha  and  elsewhere.  He 
also  did  some  prospecting  for  lead  at  New 
Diggings,  and  was  there  appointetl  untler 
sheriff"  and  later  was  elected  sheriff'  of  La 
Fayette  county  in  1856,  though  a  Repub- 
lican and  there  being  at  that  time  a  Demo- 
cratic majority  of  five  hundred  in  the  county. 
His  election  plainly  indicated  his  personal 
popularity  and  the  confidence  and  trust  re- 
posed in  him  h\  his  fellow  citizens.  In 
June,  1 86 1,  he  was  appointed  tleputy  Lnited 
States  provost  marshal  at  Prairie  du  Chien 


Sw.» 


COMFEyDiUM    OF  BIOGRAPHY 


and  did  cv>n!uderaWe  \\-\>rk  in  connection 
with  the  ennvlhtvfnt  of  tnx»i^  for  the  Civil 
war.  In  Febniary.  1865.  he  hegtm  recniit- 
ing  a  cv"«npany  on  his  owi\  acvotmt,  and  in 
March  was  cvMnmissioue<l  captain  of  Com- 
pany C,  Fiftieth  \Viscv>nsiu  \'ohmteer  In- 
fantry, which  was  lirst  orvlcrevl  to  Beutoiu 
Rtrracks,  St.  Louis,  and  later  did  g-arrison 
duty  at  difterent  points  in  Missouri,  tintil 
August,  1S05.  when  they  were  sent  up  the 
Missv^uri  river  K"»  Fort  Randall.  Nebraska. 
Later  tlvey  were  st;«ionevl  at  Fort  Rice,  IXv 
kota,  for  a  tinve.  and  w-ere  tinally  musterxxl 
o«t  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  June  13,  1866. 

After  beiiig^  hc«iorably  discharged.  Cap- 
tain Dering  located  at  Columbus,  where  he 
eiigaged  in  business  as  a  gniin  dealer  for 
some  time.  Sulxsequently  he  served  as  city 
nursluil  ;-.uJ.  oepv.tv  United  States  marslial, 
auo.  for  .1  ::;-.:".lvr  of  \-e;u^  past  lias  tiUevl 
tjie  omcx^  ot  T  ".St  toe  of  the  i>eace  in  a  most 
crcvMtaMc  avsa  s;-i:isfactv^r\-  manner. 

In  1851  Captain  Dering  was  uniievl  in 
nsarriage  with  Miss  Harriet  A.  Logan,  at 
Milwaukee.  She  was  bom  in  Tuscarawas 
comity,  Ohio,  and  died  at  Columbus,  Wis- 
consin. May  ^  1868,  lea\-ing  two  daugh- 
"  '  "w  a  resident  ot  Milwaukee. 

.  t  M:v-t  CampMl.  of  the  same 
c.'.}  .  .  l.c  ^  .iptain  was  agtiin  manrievl  Sep- 
temWr  ^.  1870,  his  second  union  being 
w::',-.  >'.;ss  S;.r.->,  T.  Vance,  wIk^  was  K^ni 
liC.ir  L.ike  C". ...•.■.-.■.  ".vin.  Xew  York,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  \aucc.  One  son  was  K">m  of 
this  marriage — Guy  V..  a  cvxil  dealer  01  Co- 
lumbus, who  was  educated  at  the  Delafield 
Military  Academy,  at  Deb.tield.  Wiscon- 
sir.,  ar.v'.  was  conmvander  there  se\-eral  \-ears 
a::-  T'>.e  family  are  connected  with 

th^  .hurch.  and  the  Captain  is  a 

ch  <  A.  Haskell  Fv^st. 

n;  Post.  X-    ra*^.  G 

A-  R..  -  :  -.     xn  his  • 

tons  he  ~  bee:i  a  ; : 


LEMUEL    HASTIXC.    DOYLE. 

Lemuel  Hasting  r>oyle.  the  founder  of 
Doylestown,  Columbia  county,  was  bom 
November  26,  1832,  at  Mt.  Washington, 
tvnxni  of  Bath,  Xew  Yoiic,  is  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  citizens  of  the  towni  of  Spring- 
vale,  Columbia  county,  and  is  alike  knowni 
for  his  industry,  thrift  and  upright  char- 
acter. He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Hannah 
l^Seagier)  IXnle.  They  were  natives  of 
Xew  York,  and  the  father  was  bom  in  tlie 
village  of  Bath.  Steuben  county,  June  4, 
1805,  and  the  motlier  at  Dryden,  May  7, 
1807.  The  Doyles,  though  bearing  an  Irisli 
name,  are  undoubtevlly  of  Dutch  extraction. 
In  X636  one  of  the  ancestors,  a  great-great- 
grandfather,  was  with  Rog-er  Williams  in 
the  settlement  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 
Samuel  Doyle,  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, left  Prvmdence  in  1757.  and  went  to 
Bucks  county.  Pennsyl\-ania.  with  his  par- 
ents, who  there  founded  the  city  of  Doyles- 
towni.  Later  on  he  enlistevl  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Rang-ers.  and  served  throughout 
the  Revolutionarj-  war.  He  was  present  in 
the  camp  at  A'alley  Forge  during  that  mem- 
orable winter,  and  snfferevl  all  the  harvi- 
shijvs  of  Washington's  men.  and  hali  his  re- 
ward in  witsiessing  tlie  surrender  of  Lord 
Comw:illis,  This  veteran's  father  was 
kiilevi  by  the  Indians  in  the  early  da>-s  of  the 
history-  of  Doylestown.  Brigadier  General 
William  Doyle,  who  fought  under  General 
Harrison  during  tlie  frontier  wars  with  the 
Indians,  and  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain, 
181.2-1815,  was  a  gre-  ■•  -  -  the  subject 
of  our  sketch.      Oi:  "ather.  who 

came  to  Wisconsin  in  .  >.  ,  was  for  many 
years  the  nn^nrietor  of  the  Doyle  House  at 
•■.d  rising  village 
.  s  wife  was  of 
>.ieniuin  liescejit.  ijer  pe«.»ple  ha\nng  come 
iTom  tlie  regions  of  the  historic  Rhine. 
Her  ffrandfather  was  at  one  time  an  officer 


'jilfEU'DJ'."    '.■ 


tutera'  aaa     Aoe  rail   tuvtr   tLt^ 


A  settkd  mar  tise  present  rillag^e  «>J  Mr,  maxtitA  at  Ajfcj^ost, 

,,   ;.,'yirn-    In  1859  he  went  tc*  Water-     Steslxer.  -^^    ■  .■^■^■^  t^ 

/:,   'i/vA,  vehere  he  Temahttd  until  J^5,     i^f^?  t^-  --* 


Two   €bsidf&i 

■--      ?v5ir8r«S$ 
-S  L«ss- 


jieacsu 


OHX  COPl.E'j 


■852 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


for  many  years  a  successful  farmer  of 
Washington  to\\iislii|),  wherein  lie  still  owns 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  well  im- 
proved land. 

I\Ir.  Copley  was  born  near  Brandon,  Ad- 
dison county,  Vermont,  April  lo,  18J5,  and 
was  the  son  of  Harvey  and  Ruth  (Emerson) 
Copley.  His  grandfather,  William  Copley, 
was  of  English  lineage,  and  married  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  Hand,  a  wealthy  fisher- 
man of  Massachusetts,  and  removed  to 
Lewis  county.  New  York,  wdrere  he  was  ac- 
cidentally killed  by  a  branch  of  a  tree  fall- 
ing- upon  him  in  the  road.  He  was  the  fa- 
ther of  fi\-e  Sons  and  three  daughters,  as 
follows:  Idenry,  Samuel,  ^\'i]liam,  Alexan- 
der, Gustavus,  Polly,  Charlotte  and  Lois. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in  New- 
York,  and  while  a  young  man  went  to  Ver- 
mont, wdiere  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine 
years.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and 
exemplary  citizen.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  born  in  Rochester,  Vermont,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  John  Emerson,  wdio  was 
of  Scotch  lineage,  and  was  supposed  to  have 
been  born  in  Connecticut.  Mrs.  Copley 
reached  the  age  of  ninety-three  years,  and 
died  near  Grand  Forks,  North  Dakota.  This 
worthy  couple  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  w'ho  reached  the  age  of  maturity, 
as  follows :  Hannah,  now  Mrs.  E.  S. 
Drake,  of  Richland  Center,  Wisconsin; 
John,  our  subject;  George,  who  was  mur- 
dered by  a  rujiber  wlK)m  he  w-as  trying  to 
capture  in  Idaho,  about  1865;  Adaline,  now 
Mrs.  Samuel  E.  Drake,  of  Richland  Center, 
Wisconsin;  Lois,  now  Mrs.  \\'illiam  Shel- 
den,  of  Richland  Center;  Mary,  now  Mrs. 
Rufus  Smith,  of  Pittsfield,  Vermont-  and 
Electa,  now  Mrs.  William  Capps,  residing 
near  Grand  Forks,  North  Dakota. 

John  Copley  began  to  earn  his  own  live- 
lihood when  he  attained  his  majority,  and 
spent  eight  months  in  a  carpet  factory  at 
Lowell,  Massachusetts,  after  which  he  en- 


gaged in  farming  in  \^ermont.  He  came 
to  Sauk  county,  AA'isconsin,  in  the  spring  of 
1872,  and  settled  in  \\'ashington  township, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  owns  and 
formerly  operated  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land,  most  of  which  is  tillable.  Since 
March,  1899,  he  has  lived  in  retirement  on 
his  son's  farm,  near  the  old  homestead 
and  in  the  same  township.  The  estate  is 
v,-ell  improved,  and  he  made  a  success  of  his 
vocation,  and  is  enjo}-ing  a  well  deserved 
rest. 

Mr.  Copley  was  married  in  1852  to 
Lura  A.  Carlisle,  daughter  of  William  and 
Saphronia  Carlisle,  of  Goshen,  Vermont. 
Mrs.  Copley  died  in  1857,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, all  of  w-hom  died  of  diphtheria  within 
one  week,  in  1861.  Mr.  Copley  married 
Sarah  Jane  Parker,  of  Rochester,  Vermont, 
in  1862.  Mrs.  Copley  was  born  in  Roches- 
ter, Vermont,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Ste- 
phen and  Betsy  (Collier)  Parker.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
spent  most  of  his  life  on  a  farm  in  Vermont, 
and  was  a  son  of  Stephen  Parker,  who 
served  in  the  Continental  army.  Mrs.  Cop- 
ley's mother  was  born  in  Middlebury,  Ver- 
mont, and  w^as  a  daughter  of  Asa  and  Aba- 
gail  (Adams)  Collier,  wdro  were  natives  of 
Connecticut.  Mrs.  Copley  has  one  brother, 
George  Parker,  now  residing  at  Hubbleton, 
Vermont.  One  son  and  one  daughter  h? ve 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Copley,  as  fol- 
lows :  George  ^^'illiam,  a  well-known 
farmer  of  Washington  township,  and  Jane 
Lura,  who  married  George  Selden,  of  West 
Superior,  ^Visconsin.  She  was  lx)rn  De- 
cember 5,  1865,  and  died  April  30,  1900, 
leaving  six  children,  three  boys  and  three 
girls.  Mr.  Copley  has  been  a  prominent 
citizen  wdierever  he  has  chosen  to  make  his 
home,  and  while  a  resident  of  Vermont 
served  as  supervisor  and  assessor  of  Goshen 
township,  and  has  filled  the  same  offices  in 
Washington   ti:)wnsliip,   Sauk  countv,    since 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


353-. 


locating  in  \\'iscnnsin.  He  is  active  in  his 
work  for  the  \\clfare  nf  his  coniniunity,  and 
is  a  respected  and  iionored  citizen.  Fiir 
some  time  he  supported  the  Greenhack  party, 
but  for  many  years  past  has  identified  him- 
self with  the  Republican  party  and  its  prin- 
ciples. 


XORMAX  JOXES. 

Continued  prominence  in  any  sphere  of 
life  is  evidence  of  a  superidritv  of  mind  and 
integrity  of  purpose,  force  of  character  and 
courage,  that  fit  men  to  be  leaders  and 
teachers  of  their  fellow  men.  ^\'itl^out  ex- 
aggeration these  characteristics  may  well  be 
applied  to  him  whose  name  introduces  this 
review,  and  who  is  well  known  throughout 
Adams  county  for  his  integrity,  high  sense 
of  justice,  his  industry  and  business  acu- 
men. His  home  in  Jackson  township  shows 
all  the  evidences  of  his  careful  pro\ision  and 
superintendence,  and  is  supplied  with  those 
improvements  and  conveniences  which  go 
to  make  modern  farm  life  desirable. 

Norman  Jones  was  born  in  Rocking- 
ham, Windham  county,  A'ermont,  July  31, 
1840.  His  parents  were  Asa  Kingsley 
Jones  and  Mercy  (StreeterJ  Jones.  The 
father  was  a  native  of  Rehoboth,  JMassa- 
chusetts.  His  grandfather,  the  great- 
grandfather of  our  subject,  is  supposed  to 
have  established  the.  family  in  America,  he 
being  a  Welsh  sea  captain,  and  settled  in 
Rhode  Island  at  an  early  day  in  its  history. 
Asa  K.  Jones'  father,  Income  Jones,  re- 
moved to  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  in  1799, 
where  he  carried  on  farming  and  black- 
smithing,  and  where  he  died  when  over 
eigh'ty  years  of  age.  His  family  record, 
which  is  still  carefully  preserved,  gives  the 
date  of  his  birth  as  June  16,  1757.  Income 
Jones  married  Mary  Kingsley,  a  daughter 
of    Benjamin    and    Sarah    Kingsley.     The 


former  died  April  19,  1769,  in  the  sixty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age.  Five  sons  and  two 
daughters  were  born  to  Income  and  ]Mary 
Jones,  of  whom  Asa  Kingsley  Jones,  our 
subject's  father,  was  the  sixth  child  and 
fourth  son.  Asa  was  four  years  okl  when 
the  family  moved  to  Vermont,  and  grew 
to  manhood,  and  in  1819  located  at  Rock- 
ingham in  that  state..  Thence  in  1S31  he 
came  to  Adams  county,  \\'isconsin,  and  set- 
tled in  that  locality,  which  has  ever  since 
Ijeen  known  as  "Jonesville."  He  died  there 
l)eceml)er  9,  1858,  aged  sixty-three  \ears. 
He  was  a  most  exemplary  citizen,  and  to 
liis  activity  and  influence  many  of  the  fac- 
tors of  civilization  in  Adams  county's  early 
history  owe  their  existence.  He  helped  to 
organize  a  Congregational  church  near  Ox- 
ford, soon  after  his  arrix-al  in  the  count}', 
and  its  first  meetings  were  held  at  his  home. 
He  was  never  an  active  politician,  though 
he  served  as  chairman  of  the  board  of  Jack- 
son township.  He  was  an  Abolitionist  in 
sentiment,  and  predicted  the  Civil  war  as  an. 
irievitable  result  of  the  conditions  existing 
in  this  nation,  but  did  not  li\e  to  see  the 
realization  of  his  prophecy  and  of  his  faith 
in  the  eventual  emancipation  of  the  slaves. 
His  wife,  Mrs.  Mercy  Jones,  was  born  in 
February,  j8oo,  in  Westmoreland.  Xew 
Flampshire,  and  died  Alarch  31,  1888.  Her 
father,  Jeremiah  Streeter,  died  in  X'ew 
\'ork,  and  her  mother.  C}"nthia  (Snow) 
Streeter,  died,  in  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  at 
the  age  of  ninet}'-t\vo  years.  To  ]Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Asa  Kingsley  Jones  were  born  fi\e 
sons  and  fi\"e  daughters.  One  son  and  one 
daughter  died  in  infancy.  Tiie  names  of 
the  other  children  are  as  follows:  C_\-nthia, 
afterward  Mrs.  L.  B.  Osgood,  deceased. 
Her  home  was  in  Garden  City,  ^Minnesota. 
Chester,  of  Kilbourn,  Wisconsin.  Clement, 
a  farmer  of  Springville  township.  Love, 
now  Mrs.  A.  AI.  Kendall,  Garden  City, 
Minnesota.      Marv,    now     Mrs.     Henr\-     |. 


854 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Hubbard.  Fanny,  now  Mrs.  J.  R.  Vro- 
man.  Nelson,  and  Norman,  the  subject  of 
this  review.  The  four  last  named  are  all 
residents  of  Adams  county. 

Norman  Jones  lived  with  his  parents 
until  after  his  father's  death,  the  mother 
continuing  to  live  with  our  subject  for  ten 
years.  She  then  resided  with  her  son.  Nel- 
son, and  afterwards  made  her  home  with 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Hubbard,  in  whose  home 
she  died.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he 
took  charge  of  the  homestead  farm,  which 
consisted  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres, 
in  company  with  his  brother,  Nelson.  He 
now  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
the  original  home  farm,  and  in  all  owns  a 
total  of  three  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of 
which  is  in  a  state  of  cultivation,  and  the 
balance  is  timber  and  pasture.  In  1894  he 
erected  one  of  the  largest  and  most  com- 
modious residences  in  Adams  county,  and 
liis  farm  is  fitted  with  a  fine  set  of  buildings, 
including  barns  and  sheds  for  his  stock  and 
for  the  preservation  of  his  crops.  He  car- 
ries on  grain  and  stock  raising,  and  has 
made  a  marked  success  of  both. 

Norman  Jones  was  married  May  12, 
1859,  to  Matilda  Elizabeth  Rogers,  daugh- 
ter of  LaFayette  and  Hannah  Maria 
(Frank)  Rogers.  Mrs.  Jones  was  born  in 
Kirtland,  Ohio.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Vermont,  and  when  a  young  man  re- 
moved to  Lake  county,  Ohio,  and  after- 
wards came  to  Wisconsin,  and  was  em- 
ployed for  a  time  in  the  mills  at  Oxford. 
A  few  years  later  he  located  on  a  farm  near 
Waterloo,  Wisconsin.  His  death  occurred 
at  Portland,  Wisconsin,  December  28,  1881, 
when  he  was  sixty-two  years  of  age.  Mrs. 
Jones'  mother  was  i.  native  of  Chautauqua 
county.  New  York.  She  died  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Norman  Jones, 
in  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  January  27, 
1899,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  her  age. 


To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norman  Jones  the  fol- 
lowing children  have  been  born :  Ella  Ma- 
tilda, deceased,  was  born  July  i,  1861.  She 
became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Adelbert  Edwards, 
and  her  death  occurred  at  Kingston,  Wis- 
consin, March  17,  1886.  Asa  Norman,  a 
physician  of  Hillsboro,  Wisconsin,  who 
married  Margaret  J\I.  Worden.  William 
LaFayette  married  Frances  L.  Phillips  and 
resides  on  the  home  farm.  Franklin  Jo- 
seph, a  physician  of  North  Freedom,  Wis- 
consin, married  Edith  Henry;  and  Nellie 
Love,  now  the  wife  of  Dr.  Adelbert  Ed- 
wards, a  prominent  physician  of  Reedsburg, 
Wisconsin,  mention  of  whom  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jones  and  family  are  connected  with  the 
Jonesville  Congregational  church,  which  the 
members  of  this  influential  family  helped  to 
organize,  and  of  which  Mr.  Jones  is  a  dea- 
con. Li  politics  he  has  generally  supported 
the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  he  is  a  Prohibitionist  in  senti- 
ment. He  has  served  several  terms  as  town 
treasurer,  and  his  son,  William  L.,  now 
holds  that  office. 


WILLL\M  ADELBERT  PEASE,  M.  D. 

In  the  medical  profession  there  is  no 
more  able  representative  in  Columbia  county 
than  the  gentleman  above  named,  who  has 
built  up  an  extensive  practice  in  the  town 
of  Otsego  and  surrounding  country.  He 
has  resided  there  since  his  early  boyhood, 
and  has  ever  been  found  a  conscientious  and 
honorable  gentleman,  working  zealously  for 
the  better  interests  of  his  community. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Wilson,  Niagara  county.  New  York,  May 
28,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of  William  C.  and 
Caroline  R.  (McNitt)  Pease,  who  were 
among  the  pioneer    settlers    of    Columbia 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


355 


county.  The  father  was  boni  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  went  to  New  York  in  early  Hfe. 
He  came  to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin, 
in  184S,  and  entered  claim  to  government 
land  in  the  town  of  Columbus.  He  spent 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  the  village  of 
Otsego  and  died  there  about  1894,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three  years.  He  was  one  of 
the  chief  contributors  toward  the  building 
of  the  Gravel  Methodist  church  in  the  town 
of  Otsego,  and  was  always  a  consistent  and 
influential  member.  The  grandfather  of 
our  subject.  Captain  John  Brazilla  Pease, 
was  of  French  descent.  He  was  a  sea  cap- 
tain, sailing  from  New  York,  and  made 
several  whaling  voyages.  Our  subject's 
mother  was  born  in  Niagara  county,  New- 
York,  and  died  about  two  years  after  her 
husband's  death,  aged  eighty-five  years. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  John  ]\IcNitt,  a 
captain  in  the  United  States  army  in  the 
war  of  1 81 2,  who  participated  in  the  cam- 
paign about  Fort  Niagara.  He  was  of 
Scotch  lineage. 

Dr.  Pease  came  to  Columbia  county 
when  a  boy  and  after  completing  the  course 
in  the  public  schools  continued  on  the  farm 
until  about  1876,  when  he  began  the  study 
of  medicine  with  Dr.  Robert  W.  Earll,  of 
Columbus.  He  attended  Rush  Medical 
College  in  1880,  and  two  years  later  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  village 
of  Otsego.  He  has  since  conducted  his 
practice  there  and  has  met  with  noteworthy 
success. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1867  to 
Alice  Plaight,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and 
Phoebe  Jane  (Pulver)  Haight.  Her  father 
came  to  Hampden  township  from  Niagara 
county.  New  York,  in  1846,  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life  here.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  and  his  wife 
died  here  many  years  ago.  The  following 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pease : 
Dora,   now   Mrs.   Gabriel  Loven,   of   Rio; 


Mabel,  residing  at  home;MyrtIe,  a  student  at 
Trinity  Hospital  Training  School  for  Nurses 
in  Milwaukee;  Willard,  a  student  in  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  Mil- 
v/aukee.  Each  of  the  children  have  fol- 
lowed teaching.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pease  have 
one  grandson,  named  Leo  Loven.  Our 
subject  is  a  member  of  Rio  Lodge,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  and  also  the  Chapter  at  Columbus, 
and  also  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica at  Fall  River.  He  has  been  health  offi- 
cer for  the  township,  for  some  years  past, 
and  is  widely  known  for  his  skillful  and 
thorough  practice  of  his  profession.  Po- 
litically he  is  a  Republican  and  is  firm  in  his 
convictions,  and  has  been  frequently  chosen 
as  delegate  to  conventions  of  his  party,  but 
has  never  sought  or  accepted  public  office. 


SANFORD    ANDREW    COLLINS. 

Sanford  Andrew  Collins,  one  of  the 
active  and  energetic  young  business  men  of 
the  city  of  Reedsburg,  was  born  at  Alex- 
andria Bay,  New  York,  March  18,  i860. 
While  still  a  lad  of  only  seven  years  his 
parents  brought  him  to  Wisconsin  and  lo- 
cated on  a  farm  in  Sauk  county.  Their 
names  were  Sanford  and  Caroline  M.  (Sim- 
mons) Collins,  and  had  been  reared  to  an 
agricultural  life,  which  they  easily  followed 
m  their  new  home.  They  settled  on  a  farm 
near  Ironton,  where  the  husband  and  father 
died  November  24,  1874,  at  the  untimely  age 
of  thirty-four.  He  was  also  born  at  Alexan- 
dria Bay,  New  York,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood. He  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  and  a  friend  of  education.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  war  he  organized  three  different 
companies  of  soldiers.  But  he  was  de- 
barred from  active  service  on  account  of 
physical  disabilities.  He  was  a  prominent 
Mason,  and  at  one  time  was  master  of  the 


S56 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


home  lotlg-e.  His  father,  Josepli  Collins, 
v,as  a  native  of  Ireland,  Init  came  to  this 
country  when  a  boy.  He  was  a  linen  manu- 
facturer in  Massachusetts,  Init  died  a  farmer 
in  Xew  York.  ]\[rs.  Caroline  }^l.  Collins 
is  still  living-  in  Alihvaukee  at  the  age  of 
fifty-eig-ht.  Her  birthulace  was  in  Jefferson 
county.  New  York,  and  her  parents,  An- 
drew anrl  Lucinda  Simmons,  were  from 
Pennsyhania.  They  were  of  German  ori- 
gin and  her  father  was  a  maker  of  potash 
f(jr  man}-  years.  ^Vmong  her  ancestors 
v/ere  se\-eral  who  took  part  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

Sanford  A.  Collins  lived  on  the  farm  un- 
til he  had  become  quite  a  stout  and  sturdy 
young  man  of  sixteen.  At  that  time  he 
left  home  and  went  to  Minneajjolis  to  learn, 
the  marble  trade.  He  finished  his  ap- 
prenticeship at  Baraboo,  where  he  worked 
se\-eral  years.  He  had  charge  of  a  store 
during  these  }-ears  for  a  short  time  at  Tracy, 
Minnesota,  and  had  short  engagements  at 
other  western  points.  Nothing  pleased 
liim  so  well,  however,  as  the  marble  busi- 
ness and  ^^'isconsin  for  a  h(ime.  He  bought 
a  shop  at  Baraboo,  with  a  branch  at  Reeds- 
burg,  in  1879,  and  for  five  years  operated 
the  two  plants.  In  1S84  he  sold  out  the 
yard  and  offices  at  Baraboo,  and  removed 
to  Reedsburg  to  make  it  his  home.  Here 
lie  has  built  up  an  extensive  business,  and 
he  commands  a  \olunie  of  trade  not  sur- 
passed by  any  house  in  \\'isc(.)nsin,  outside 
of  Milwaukee.  He  ships  monuments  to 
many  dift'erent  states ;  at  the  present  moment 
his  business  is  vcrv  promising. 

I\rr.  Collins  and  Miss  Alice  J.  Tha)'er 
were  united  in  marriage  in  March,  1881. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Mary 
E.  (Burton)  Thayer,  of  Baraboo,  and  is  a 
lady  of  much  character  and  many  attractive 
qualities.  Mr.  Thayer  was  born  in  Deer- 
field,  Massachusetts,  and  is  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  Go\-ernor  Bradley  of  colonial  fame. 


Mrs.  Collins  has  in  her  jjossession  several 
interesting  relics  of  the  Mayflower.  She 
is  a  lady  of  unusual  literary  gifts,  and  is 
a  welcome  poetical  contributor  to  several 
oi  the  leading  periodicals  of  the  dav.  She 
is  a  prominent  figure  in  social  gatherings, 
and  frequently  preserves  their  most  enjov- 
able  features  in  striking  \-erse.  She  is  the 
mother  of  two  charming  children.  Theodore 
and  Carrie,  and  presides  o\er  a  pleasant 
and    attracti\e    home. 

Mr.  Collins  is  a  strong  Repul)lican,  fol- 
lowing the  principles  and  examples  of  Ijoth 
liis  father  and  grandfather.  He  takes  an 
intelligent  and  lively  interest  in  local  aft'airs, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1S99  was  elected 
alderman  from  the  first  ward  of  his  city. 
The  same  year  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  Reedsburs:  Fair. 


ROBERT  AHTCHELL,  M.  D.,  Dece.vsed. 

Robert  ]\IitchclI,  3il.  D.,  deceased,  was 
a  skilled  physician  and  surgeon  of  Portage, 
whose  knowledge  of  the  science  of  medicine 
was  broad  and  comprehensive,  and  whose 
ability  in  applying  its  principles  to  the  needs 
of  suft'ering  humanity  gained  for  him  an  en- 
viable prestige  in  professional  circles.  For 
almost  forty  years  he  w^as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing medical  practitioners  of  Portage  and 
vicinity. 

The  Doctor  was  born  in  ^loravia.  Ca}-uga 
county.  New  "^'ork.  June  22,  1826,  a  son  of 
Robert  and  Mary  (Freeman)  Mitchell,  na- 
tives of  Dutchess  county,  New  York.  The 
first  of  the  family  to  come  to  the  new  world 
was  Robert  Mitchell,  a  younger  son  of  Sir 
Humphrey  and  Hester  (Smith)  Mitchell, 
of  Old  Windsor,  Berkshire',  England.  In 
1686  he  settled  on  Long  Island,  where  his 
posterity  was  well  known  for  several  genera- 
tions.    His  grandson,  Dr.   Samuel  Latham 


ROBERT  MITCHELL,  M.  D.    (Deceased.) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


859 


Mitchell,  an  eminent  physician  and  professor 
of  medicine  in  Columbia  College,  New  York, 
was  educated  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  ami 
served  as  United  States  senator.  Uriah 
Mitchell,  one  of  the  descendants  of  the 
American  progenitor,  was  sheritT  of  Queens 
county,  New  York,  in  1790.  He  was  mar- 
ried May  16,  1770,  to  Freelove  Smith,  who 
■was  probably  his  second  wife,  and  to  them 
were  born  seven  children.  Their  grandson. 
Morris  M.  Mitchell,  was  a  resident  of  Lodi. 
\M.sconsin,  for  a  number  of  years,  and  died 
there  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  forty. 

Robert  Mitchell,  the  youngest  child  ot 
Uriah  and  Freelove  (Smith)  Mitchell,  and 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  1784, 
and  died  September  26,  1868.  When  a 
young  man  he  located  on  a  farm  in  Cayuga 
county.  New  York,  and  about  1859  became  a 
resident  of  Portage,  Wisconsin,  where  lie 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  wife 
died  here  in  December,  1861,  at  the  age  nf 
sixty-five  years.  In  their  family  were  foiu^ 
children,  namely ;  Edward,  who  came  ti ) 
Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1S60,  and 
located  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Marcellon 
until  called  from  this  life  in  1864,  at  the 
age  of  forty-five  years;  Jane  G.,  who  mar- 
ried Reuben  Stoyell  and  came  to  Portage, 
where  theij  deaths  occurred  in  the  early  '60s ; 
Robert,  our  subject;  and  Frances,  who  first 
married  John  Wilson,  and  after  his  death 
wedded  James  P.  Rogers. 

Dr.  Mitchell,  of  this  review,  completed 
his  literary  education  at  Geneva  (n(nv 
Hobart)  College,  Geneva,  New  York,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1845,  and  then  entered 
the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  Buffalo,  from  which  he  received  a  dii)lonia 
in  the  .spring  of  1850.  After  spending  the 
following  winter  near  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  iie 
startetl  to  California  by  the  overland  route 
with  ox  teams  and  was  four  months  in  cross- 
ing the  plains.  He  engaged  in  mining  on 
the  Yuba. and  Feather  rivers,  and  after  three 


years  spent  in  the  Golden  State  returnetl 
east  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

In  1857  Dr.  Mitchell  came  to  Portage 
and  turned  his  attention  to  the  practice  of 
his  chosen  profession.  In  .\ugust,  1S61, 
he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the 
Tenth  Wisconsin  \^olunteer  Infantr}'.  with 
which  he  spent  two  years  in  the  field,  and 
was  then  appointed  surgeon  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh  Regiment,  and  in  that  capacity 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Witli 
the  former  regiment  he  was  in  Kentucky, 
Tennessee  and  northern  Alabama,  and  with 
Hie  latter  spent  seventeen  months  m  Ar- 
kansas, and  later  was  at  Mobile,  Alabama,  and 
in  Texas,  most  of  his  time  being  devoted  to 
professional  work,  .\fter  the  war  he  re- 
sumed practice  in  F'ortage,  but  in  1S69  re- 
mo\ed  ti)  a  farm  in  Marquette  county,  where 
in  connection  \\\i\\  agricultural  pursuits  iie 
engaged  in  practice  to  some  extent  until  De- 
cember, 1893,  when  he  returned  to  Portage. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a  member  of 
the  board  of  examining  surgeons,  holding 
that  position  through  several  changes  in 
the  national  administration.  He  represented 
Marquette  county  in  the  general  assembly  in 
1875;  was  identified  with  the  Republican 
party  since  its  organization ;  and  was  a  char- 
ter member  of  J.  W.  Kershaw  Post,  G.  A. 
R.,  at  Briggsville.  His  death  occurred  June 
21,   I S99. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1867,  Dr.  Mitchell 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Abby  O. 
Briggs,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  a  daugii- 
ter  of  A.  E.  Briggs,  the  founder  of  Briggs- 
ville, Wisconsin.  The  lady  was  a  native  of 
Addison  county,  Vermont,  born  in  1829. 
She  was  educated  at  Shoreham  Academy 
and  at  Brandon  Seminary,  in  the  state  of  her 
birth,  and  was  graduated  from  the  latter  in 
1849.  In  1851  this  accomplished  and  tal- 
ented lady  came  westward,  and  engaged  in 
teaching  in  the  rising  village,  now  city,  of 
Portage  in  1853.     This  was  what  was  then 


360 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


known  as  the  Classical  Institute.  She,  at 
a  later  date,  taught' some  eight  years  in  the 
Portage  High  School,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  early  instructors  of 
that  part  of  the  state.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Mitchell  were  parents  of  one  son,  Robert 
Ellis  Mitchell,  who  was  born  in  Portage, 
March  24,  1869,  and  is  now  a  prominent 
attorney  of  that  place.  In  1889  he  was  con- 
firmed in  St.  George's  Episcopal  church. 
New  York  city,  where  his  great-grand- 
father was  baptized  October  5,  1745.  He 
attended  the  public  schools  of  Marcjuette 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  in  1889  entered 
Packard's  Business  College,  New  York  city, 
where  he  spent  five  months.  After  his  re- 
turn to  this  state  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
J.  H.  Rogers,  of  Portage,  in  the  fall  of  1890, 
and  later  was  a  student  for  two  years  in  the 
College  of  Law  connected  with  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1893.  Since  the  fall  of  that 
year  he  has  successfully  engaged  in  practice 
at  Portage  and  enjoys  a  liberal  patronage. 
The  family  hold  membership  in  the  Episco- 
pal church  and  socially  occupy  an  enviable 
position  in  the  best  circles  of  Portage. 

A  portrait  of  Dr.  Mitchell,  who  was  one 
of  the  pioneer  physicians  of  Columbia 
county,  will  be  found  by  his  many  friends 
and  former  patients  on  another  page  of  this 
volume. 


JACOB  RANSOM  VROMAN. 

Jacob  Ransom  Vroman,  for  over  sixty 
years  a  resident  of  Wisconsin,  is  thorough- 
ly familiar  with  the  development  of  that 
region,  and  has  assisted  in  raising  the  stand- 
ard of  excellence  in  all  public  matters  with- 
in the  State,  and  as  an  agriculturist  of  enter- 
prise and  experience  has  made  of  the  wild 
lands  of  that  vicinity  a  thriving,  productive 
district.     Pie  is  now  owner  of  a  fine  estate 


in  Jackson  township,  Adams  county,  and 
his  farm  bears  evidence  of  careful  manage- 
ment and  watchfulness  over  the  details 
of  his   work. 

Mr.  Vroman  was  born  in  Sharon,  Scho- 
harie county.  New  York,  July  14,  1831, 
the  son  of  Josiah  and  Elizabeth  (Fritcher) 
Vroman,  both  natives  of  Sharon,  New  York. 
The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Josiah 
Vroman,  Sr.,  was  a  man  of  great  physical 
strength,  and  was  six  feet,  six  inches  in 
height.  He  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer,  and  his  ancestors  were  from  Hol- 
land, .and  settled  in  America  at  an  early 
day.  Several  members  of  the  family  were 
active  in  Revolutionary  times,  and  served 
in  the  war,  and  are  prominent  in  the  annals 
of  Schoharie  county.  The  father  of  our 
subject  came  to  Wisconsin  about  1838,  and 
settled  in  Darien,  Walworth  county,  where 
he  was  a  pioneer  and  remained  ten  years, 
engaged  in  farming.  He  came  to  Adams 
county  in  the  spring  of  1850,  and  took  a 
s(juatter's  claim  in  Jackson  township,  where 
he  lived  some  years.  His  death  occurred  in 
Oxford,  Wisconsin.  He  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
vras  prominent  in  public  affairs,  and  served 
in  numerous  township  offices.  In  early  life 
he  was  a  AVhig,  but  afterward  a  Republican. 
Our  subject's  maternal  grandfather,  David 
Pritcher,  was  one  of  two  men  who  distin- 
guished themselves  during  the  Re\-olution- 
ary  war  by  going  to  the  Indian  camp  near 
Sharon,  New  York,  and  decoying  the  sav- 
ages into  an  ambush  of  American  soldiers. 
They  were  pursued  'by  the  Indians  about 
two  miles,  and  his  companion  was  forced  to 
crawl  into  a  hollow  log  to  escape  death  at 
their  hands,  but  Mr.  Fritcher  continued  the 
flight  until  they  were  trapped.  Our  subject's 
mother  passed  away  two  years  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  aged  sixty-four  years. 
She  was  the  mother  of  the  following  chil- 
dren :  Nancy,  who  married  John  Mereness, 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


361 


and  who  died  in  1850,  at  Darien;  Peter  N., 
deceased;  Josiah  A.,  deceased;  John  W.,  an 
agriculturist  of  Jackson  township,  a  sketch  of 
v.hose  life  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume; 
Jacob  R. ;  David  died  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years;  and  Mary  died  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years. 

Jacob  R.  Vroman  went  to  Walworth 
county  with  his  parents,  and  well  remembers 
much  of  the  early  history  of  that  county. 
The  journey  to  their  new  home  was  made 
by  team  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  thence 
shipped  to  Detroit,  and  drove  by  team  from 
there  to  Wisconsin.  Near  Buffalo  he  saw 
a  railroad  for  the  first  time.  He  made  a 
visit  to  Adams  county  in  1849,  with  his  fa- 
ther and  brother,  John,  and  the  following 
spring  the  family  moved  thither  with  teams. 
Deer  were  plentiful  and  soon  fell  prey  to 
their  guns.  Our  subject  has  killed  deer 
every  season  until  i8g8,  and  has  probably 
killed  as  many  as  any  other  hunter  in  the 
county.  On  one  expedition  which  lasted 
two  months,  in  company  with  two  men, 
ninety-six  deer  were  killed,  all  within  Wis- 
consin. On  the  same  trip  they  also  killed 
three  elk,  the  only  ones  ever  shot  in  the  state, 
as  far  as  known.  He  has  also  killed  bears 
near  his  home  and  during  the  early  days 
much  other  game.  He  entered  claim  to  his 
present  farm  in  1850,  and  purchased  the 
land  at  the  U.  S.  Land  Office  at  Mineral 
Point,  Wisconsin,  after  the  survey  had  been 
made  about  four  years  later.  He  and  his 
brothers  run  a  line  from  the  Fox  River,  in 
Marcj[uette  county,  in  order  to  approximate- 
ly locate  the  section  lines,  before  making 
claims.  Our  subject  now  owns  one  hundred 
and  eighty  acres,  well  improved,  and  a  good 
set  of  farm  buildings.  He  has  invested  in 
other  wild  lands  from  time  to  time  and 
once  owned  over  seven  hundred  acres. 

Mr.  Vroman  was  married  November  2, 
1856,  to  Fannie  Jones,  daughter  of  Asa 
Kingsley     and     Mercy     (Streeter)     Jones. 


Mrs.  Vroman  was  born  in  Rockingham, 
Windham  county,  Vermont,  and  came  to 
Adams  county  with  her  parents  in  185 1. 
Three  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Vroman,  as  follows :  Minnie  J.,  now  Mrs. 
Frank  McConick,  of  Friendship;  Clara 
Maria,  now  Mrs.  A.  E.  Stafford,  residing 
on.  the  homestead  farm;  and  Clifford  J.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  two  and  half  years. 

Mr.  Vroman  took  an  active  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  townships  of  Jackson, 
New  Haven,  Dell  Prairie  and  Springville, 
which  were  organized  into  one  township 
with  the  first  election  at  Dell  Prairie  Cor- 
ners, and  Mr.  Vroman  was  chosen  the  first 
township  clerk.  About  two  years  later  the 
township  was  divided  into  four  townships 
and  he  was  clerk  of  Jackson  township,  with 
Asa  Iv.  Jones,  as  chairman.  Our  subject 
has  filled  nearly  every  office  in  the  town- 
ship and  for  a  time  was  a  member  of  the 
board  of  county  poor  commissioners.  He 
has  always  been  a  Republican  and  his  first 
presidential  vote  was  cast  for  General  Scott 
in  1852.  He  remembers  the  adoption  of 
the  state  constitution  in  Wisconsin,  and 
has  always  shown  marked  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs.  He  donated  the  ground  for  the 
site,  and  considerable  money  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  church  near  his 
home.  He  has  been  a  member  of  Oxford 
Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  since  in  1864,  and 
for  many  years  was  secretary  of  the  local 
lodge.  He  is  also  connected  with  the  chap- 
ter of  that  order  at  Portage. 


FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BOLTING. 

Francis  Joseph  Bolting,  a  well-known 
and  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Portage, 
Wisconsin,  where  for  the  past  eight  years 
he  has  served  as  cashier  of  the  station  of 
the  Chicago,   Milwaukee  &  St.   Paul   R;.':^ 


362 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


road,  enjovs  the  distinction  of  being  a  na- 
tive of  that  city.  He  was  born  Decem1)er 
14,  1857,  a  son  of  Henry  and  Fredericka 
(Kaiser)  Bohing,  both  natives  of  Germany, 
the  former  born  hi  Borken,  Westphaha, 
Prussia,  the  latter  in  Innshng,  Baden.  Dur- 
ing his  boyhiiod  tlie  father  lost  his  parents 
and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  came 
to  the  United  States.  After  a  few  years 
spent  in  New  York  City,  he  came  to  Port- 
age, Wisconsin,  in  1850,  and  opened  a  gro- 
cer}' store  here,  which  he  carried  on  until 
his  death.  In  1849  '^^  went  to  California 
by  way  of  Cape  Horn  and  conducted  a  gro- 
cery store  in  San  Francisco  for  a  short  time, 
but  returned  to  the  states  the  following- 
year.  He  was  reared  in  the  Catholic  faith 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge  of 
Portage  for  some  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
prominent  representatives  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  his  couimunity,  was  hon- 
ored with  a  number  of  local  offices  of  trust 
and  responsibility,  including  those  of  city 
treasurer  and  alderman  of  Portage.  It 
was  in  that  city  that  he  was  married,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1855,  to  Miss  Fredericka  Kaiser, 
wh(.)  is  still  hving  at  the  age  of  sixty-one 
years,  but  he  died  April  7,  1877.  at  the  age 
of  forty-seven.  Her  father,  Joseph  Kaiser, 
emigrated  to  America  in  1848,  and  after 
living  for  five  years  upon  a  farm  in  Milwau- 
kee, came  to  Columbia  county,  settling  in 
Lewiston  township.  His  last  years  were 
spent  in  retirement  from  active  labors  at 
I'ortage,  where  he  was  accidentally  killed 
on  the  railroad  December  14,  1883.  At 
that  time  he  was  eighty-six  years  of  age, 
but  w^as  still  hale  and  hearty.  His  wife  had 
died  Feliruary  ID,  1872,  when  nearly  sixty 
years  old.  Of  the  seven  chiltlren  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bolting,  two  died  in  infancy. 
The  others  are :  Mary,  now  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Henry  Little,  of  Portage;  Francis  J., 
our  subject ;  Henry  George,  a  grocer  of 
I'ortage ;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  \V.  F.  Turner, 


of  the  same  city:  and  Carl,  who  was  ac- 
cidentally killed  while  in  the  employ  of  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad, 
November  19,  1887,  at  the  age  of  twenty - 
two  years. 

Francis  J.  Bolting  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Portage,  and  on  leaving 
home  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  went  to 
New  York  City,  where  he  spent  two  years. 
In  1882  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railri.iad  Com- 
pany, with  which  he  has  been  connected, 
serving  as  cashier  of  the  station  at  Port- 
age since  1891.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
trusted  employes  of  the  company  and  has 
the  confidence  and  high  regard  of  all  who 
know  him.  He  is  public  spirited  and  pro- 
gressive, and  a  liberal  supporter  of  all  en- 
terprises for  the  public  good.  In  1883  he 
wedded  Miss  Marie  Weber,  also  a  native 
of  Portage  and  a  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Magdalene  Weber,  now  of  Lyndon,  Wis- 
ctmsin. 


ED\VARD  GEORGE  STOLTE. 

Edward  George  Stolte,  manager  of  the 
Hotel  Stolte  at  Reedsburg,  was  born  in 
that  place,  December  i,  1867.  He  is  a  son 
of  \Villiam  Stolte,  of  whom  extended  notice 
will  be  found  upon  another  page  of  this 
volume.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town  and  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  as  baggage  man  at  Reedsburg 
station.  After  continuing  in  that  capacity 
for  three  or  four  years  he  assumed  charge 
of  the  Central  House,  the  leading  hotel  of 
the  town,  which  his  father  had  owned  for 
several  years  previous  to  that  time.  He 
conducted  this  house  until  it  burned  down 
in  1896,  and  has  been  manager  of  the  Hotel 
Stolte  since  it  was  opened  for  business, 
January,  1897.     The  house  is  commodious. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


363 


■conveniently  arranged  and  fitted  up  with 
every  modern  convenience.  In  its  manage- 
n-.ent  he  is  ably  assisted  by  his  two  sisters, 
Dora  and  Nana,  who  give  their  personal  at- 
tention to  the  cuisine  and  domestic  arrange- 
ments, these  departments  being  models  of 
neatness  and  order.  Mr.  Stolte  is  a  wide- 
awake and  accommodating  landlord  and  it 
is  due  to  the  combined  efforts  of  the  brot'.ier 
and  sisters  that  the  house  enjoys  the  repu- 
tation of  one  of  the  most  thoroughly 
ecjuipped  and  best  managed  hotels  to  be 
found  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin. 

In  conjunction  with  his  brother,  \\'ill- 
iani  .v.  Stolte,  in  September,  1898,  he  jiur- 
chased  the  business  of  the  Reedsburg  Tele- 
phone Company  and  has  since  been  in  active 
charge  of  that  enterprise.  He  has  placed 
a,  new  exchange  in  the  hotel,  affording  a 
ready  means  of  communication  with  all 
parts  of  the  city  and  with  many  neighbor- 
ing towns  to  guests  of  the  house,  as  well  as 
to  the  citizens  of  Reedsburg. 

Mr.  Stolte  is  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  holding  official  po- 
sitions in  the  local  lodge,  chapter,  council 
and  commandery.  He  is  also  identified 
with  the  order  of  the  Eastern  Star  and  with 
the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

He  has  always  taken  an  intelligent  in- 
terest in  public  affairs.  Since  1891  he  has 
served  as  city  constable.  At  that  date  he 
was  also  appointed  deputy  sheriff  for  Sauk 
county  and  served  two  years  in  that  ca- 
pacity, being  the  youngest  man  who  ever 
filled  that  position.  He  enjoys  the  good 
willof  the  traveling  public  in  a  nnteworthy 
degree  and  few  men  of  his  age  in  Sauk 
county  are  held  in  as  high  regard  by  their 
fellow  citizens. 

Mr.  Stolte  was  married  Se])teml_ier  20, 
1900,  to  Miss  Florence  Pegler  French, 
daugliter  of  W.  FI.  and  Sarah  (Morton) 
French,  prominent  residents  of  Reedsburg, 
^\'isconsin. 


WILLIAM  STOLTE. 

William  Stolte,  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful business  men  of  Reedsburg,  was  born 
at  Hohenbunstorf,  province  of  Hanover, 
Germany,  March  2,  1833.  He  is  the  only 
survivor  of  the  family  of  George  and  Dora 
(Evers)  Stolte.  which  included  six  sons  and 
two  daughters,  all  the  others  having  died 
in  childhood.  The  Stolte  family  is  one  of 
two  which  existed  in  the  vicinity  of  Flohen- 
bunstorf  as  early  as  the  year  1300.  A  con- 
secutive genealogical  record  has  been  pre- 
served since  1680,  earlier  records  having 
been  destroyed  during  the  Thirty-Years 
War  in  Germany.  Members  of  the  family 
have  been  extensive  farmers  for  several 
centuries,  but  owing  to  the  custom  of  en- 
tailing property,  which  existed  in  Gern.iany 
at  that  time,  George  Stolte  inherited  l)ut 
little  of  his  father's  estate.  Fie  came  to 
the  FTnited  States  in  1862  and  died  at  Reeds- 
burg at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  His 
wife  passed  away  at  the  age  of  seventy-one 
years. 

William  Stolte  learned  the  tailor  trade 
in  his  native  land  antl  with  a  view  to  better- 
ing his  fortunes,  came,  in  i860,  to  this  coun- 
try. He  worked  at  his  trade  two  years  in 
Ivladison,  Wisconsin,  after  which  he  pur- 
chased a  small  stock  of  cloths  and  opened 
a  merchant  tailoring  business  at  Kilbourn 
City,  in  the  same  state.  At  the  end  of  three 
years  of  successful  business  there,  he  locat- 
ed, in  the  fall  of  1865,  at  Reedsburg  and,  in 
company  with  Deidrich  Schweke,  opened  a 
general  store.  After  the  death  of  his  part- 
ner, which  occurred  aliout  four  years  later, 
he  continued  the  business  alone,  doing  a 
profitable  trade  until  1883,  when  he  sold 
out  the  stock  and  took  a  trip  to  Europe, 
spending  several  months  in  rest  and  recrea- 
tion. In  the  meantime  (1865)  he  bought 
the  Alba  Ibiuse,  a  three-story  frame  hotel 
building,   which  he  enlarged  and  improved. 


364 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


fitting  it  up  as  a  first-class  hostlery  and 
changing  the  name  tn  the  Central  House. 
Besides  the  hotel  this  building  contained  a 
store  and,  for  some  time,  a  cigar  factory. 
Mr.  Stolte  has  never  been  the  active  propri- 
etor of  the  hotel,  but  rented  it  until  1891. 
when  his  son,  Edward  G.  Stolte,  took  charge. 
The  Central  House  was  destroyed  by  fire 
April  12,  1896,  whereupon  Mr.  Stolte  at 
once  replaced  it  with  the  ]M"esent  "Hotel 
Stolte."  It  is  a  substantial  brick  edifice, 
the  most  conspicuous  building  in  the  city 
of  Reedsburg.  From  time  to  time  he  has 
made  a  number  of  other  improvements  in 
the  town,  including  his  private  residence  on 
the  south  side,  which  was  erected  in  1888. 
He  also  owns  a  valuable  farm  lying  mostly 
within  the  city  limits  and  is  considered  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  citizens  of  Sauk 
county. 

December  21,  1862,  Mr.  Stolte  was  mar- 
ried to  Dora  Meyer,  a  native  of  the  same 
locality  as  her  husband.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  Geo'rge  and  Dorothea  (Reitzmann) 
Meyer,  who  became  residents  of  Sauk  coun- 
ty, settling  near  Loganville,  where  Mr. 
Meyer  lived  to  the  age  of  nearly  ninety 
years  and  his  wife  to  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  years.  ]\Ir.  INIeyer  was  born  at  Him- 
bergen,  1^-ovince  of  Hanover,  and  spent 
several  years  in  the  Prussian  army.  He  ac- 
companied Napoleon's  expedition  to  Mos- 
cow and  was  captured  by  the  Russians,  re- 
maining a  prisoner  in  that  country  for  two 
cr  three  years.  Of  the  nine  children  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stolte,  one  died  in  infancy. 
The  survivors  are:  Dora,  Nana,  Louise 
(Mrs.  E.  H.  Marriott,  of  Baraboo),  Lida, 
Lena,  Freda,  William,  Edward  G.  and 
George.  .\11  ha\e  enjo-^'ed  good  educa- 
tional advantages  and  each  of  the  sons  is 
occupying  a  responsible  position  in  business. 

Mr.  Stolte  has  always  been  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  worthy  public  enterprises.  Soon 
after  he  located  in   Reedsburg  lie  and   his 


partner,  Mr.  Schweke,  erected,  at  their  own 
expense,  the  house  of  worship  known  as  St. 
Peter's  Lutheran  church.  When  this  con- 
gregation was  divided  in  1871,  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
St.  Johannes  church,  with  which  he  and  his 
family  are  still  identified.  He  also  helped 
to  organize  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows  at  this  place,  being  a  memlier  of 
Reedsburg  Lodge,  No.  135,  and  of  Ger- 
mania  Encampment,  No.  17.  Since  be- 
coming a  citizen  of  the  United  States  he  has 
been  a  consistent  Democrat.  He  was  for  a 
number  of  years  a  member  of  the  ^'illage 
board  of  supervisors,  and  has  served  the 
city  as  trustee  and  treasurer.  In  1888  he 
v.-as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  county 
treasurer. 


OTTO  KRISCH,  Deceased. 

Otto  Krisch,  deceased,  was  for  over 
forty  years  prominently  identified  with  the 
business  interests  of  Portage  and  was  also 
a  leader  in  musical  and  social  circles.  He 
was  born  in  Prague,  Austria,  October  4, 
1 83 1,  a  son  of  Carl  and  Anna  Krisch,  who 
spent  their  entire  lives  at  that  place.  His 
literary  education  was  acquired  in  a  gym- 
nasium in  his  native  city,  and  he  also  ob- 
tained a  thorough  knowledge  of  both  instru- 
mental and  vocal  music,  studying  under 
Robert  Vogel,  the  famous  composer.  He  be- 
came skilled  in  both  lines  and  for  some  time 
sang  in  operas  in  dift'erent  German  cities. 

Coming  to  the  new  world,  Mr.  Krisch 
located  in  Portage,  Wisconsin,  in  1854,  and 
three  years  later  established  a  grocery  store 
at  that  place,  which  he  successfully  con- 
ducted until  his  death,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1897.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
old  Hook  &  Ladder  Company  of  that  city, 
and  for  two  years  was  a  member  of  the 
Portage   Volunteer   Fire   Deijartment.      He 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


365 


was  always  a  reliable  and  trustworthy  busi- 
ness man  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  pro- 
motion of  many  public  enterprises.  So- 
cially he  was  a  member  of  Silver  Lake 
Lodge,  A.  O.  U.  W.,  and  politically  was  a 
Democrat,  but  at  local  elections  he  usually 
voted  independent  of  party,  endeavoring  to 
support  the  men  best  qualified  for  the  office. 
For  several  years  he  served  as  city  treas- 
urer with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  en- 
tire satisfaction  of  all  concernetl,  and  was 
ever  found  true  to  every  trust  repnsed  in 
him,  whether  in  public  or  private  life.  He 
remained  an  ardent  lover  of  music  to  the 
last  and  was  a  prime  mover  in  organizing 
the  Portage  Liederkranz,  of  which  he  was 
a  director  for  many  years.  Li  the  spring 
of  1897  he  commenced  the  erection  of  an 
elegant  brick  residence,  but  died  before  its 
completion.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  homes 
in  the  city  and  is  now  occupied  by  his  fam- 
ily. He  also  owned  a  good  two-story  brick 
block  on  Cook  street,  where  he  carried  on 
business. 

On  the  27th  of  January,  1858,  Mr. 
Krisch  married  Wiss  Alagdalene  Schleis- 
man,  a  native  of  Kline-Welsheim,  Llesse- 
Uarmstadt,  Germany,  who  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1854  with  her  parents, 
Adam  and  Margaret  Schleisman.  Her  fa- 
ther died  in  Portage,  in  January,  1879,  aged 
seventy-five  years,  her  mother  in  August, 
18S2,  aged  seventy-two.  The  children 
born  to  ]\lr.  and  Mrs.  Krisch  were  Alvina, 
v.ho  died  in  infancy;  Alois,  mentioned  be- 
low ;  Anna,  now  a  resident  of  Sioux  City, 
Iowa;  Eda  and  Otto. 

Alois  Krisch  was  born  in  Portage,  June 
15,  i860,  alid  attended  the  high  .school  of 
that  city.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  en- 
tered his  father's  store  as  a  clerk  and  has 
since  been  connected  with  the  business,  of 
wliicli  he  took  charge  after  his  father's 
death,  and  which  lie  now  owns  and  success- 
fully conducts.      He  is  a  nran  of  good  i)usi- 


ness  ability  and  sound  judgment,  and,  like 
his  father,  holds  a  high  place  in  the  regard 
of  his  fellow  citizens.  Socially  he  belongs 
to  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  the  Portage  Leiderkranz,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Portage TurnvereinVorwarts 
until  it  disbanded.  At  the  age  of  seventeen 
he  joined  the  Portage  Volunteer  Fire  De- 
partment and  was  connected  with  that  or- 
ganization for  ten  years. 


ROBERT  MONROE  RAMSEY. 

Robert  Monroe  Ramsey,  deceased,  for 
many  years  a  prominent  citizen  of  New 
Haven  township,  Adams  county,  where  he 
was  a  successful  agriculturist,  was  born  in 
Berlin  township,  Portage  county,  Ohio, 
March  2,  1829.  He  was  the  son  of  James 
and  Sally  (Best)  Ramsey,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Ohio,  and  came  to  Adams 
county  in  1850,  and  settled  in  New  Haven 
township,  where  they  lived  to  be  aged 
people. 

Our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin  in  185 1 
and  resided  with  his  parents  in  Adams  coun- 
ty until  their  deaths.  He  operated  a  thresh- 
ing machine  for  many  years,  and  became 
the  owner  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land 
and  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  county. 
He  raised  considerable  stock  and  also  spent 
several  winters  in  the  pineries  with  his 
teams.  He  was  industrious,  enterprising 
and  systematic,  and  in  every  undertaking 
met  with  the  best  results.  He  took  an  act- 
ive interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  county  and 
township  and,  although  not  an  aspirant  for 
office,  he  exerted  a  marked  influence  among 
his  neighbors  and  associates. 

Mr.  Ramsey  was  married  April  6,  1851, 
to  Rebecca  Fislicr,  daughter  of  George  and 
Esther  ( Simonds)  l^i.sher.  Mrs.  Ramsey 
was  l)i)rn  in  I'alniyra,  Portage  county,  Ohio, 


366 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


and  her  lather  was  a  farmer,  \vho  passed 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  that  state. 
Her  parents  were  natives  of  Mifflin,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  nio\-ed  to  Ohio  while  young. 
Mrs.  Ramsey's  grandfather,  Zachariah 
Fisher,  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Portage  county,  where  a  numher  of  his  de- 
scendants still  reside  and  those  and  others 
at  a  distance  hold  annual  reunions  of  the 
family.  Five  children  were  horn  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ramsey,  as  follows :  Wallace 
James;  iNIar}-,  who  married  Mr.  T.  Fogle, 
and  A\liose  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 
twttity-one  years;  Clinton  C. ;  George  Mon- 
roe; and  Sherwood,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
two  and  a  half  years.  The  surviving  chil- 
llren  all  reside  near  the  old  homestead. 

]\Ir.  Ramsey  died  near  Big  Springs, 
Adams  county,  September  20,  1895.  He 
had  been  in  ill  health  for  over  four  years 
and  was  stricken  with  paralysis  about  four 
months  prior  to  his  death,  and  remained 
helpless  until  he  passed  away.  He  was  a 
great  sufferer,  and  his  friends  anxiously 
watched  oxtv  him  and  used  every  means  to 
afford  relief,  but  without  any  beneficial  re- 
sults. He  was  a  kind  neighbor,  faithful 
friend  and  public-spirited  citizen,  and  won 
the  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  acquaint- 
ances. 


JOHN  ROONEY. 

John  Rooncy,  a  worthy  veteran  of  the 
Civil  war  and  an  honored  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  has 
been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortunes,  hav- 
ing made  his  own  way  in  the  world  from  an 
early  age,  and  although  now  broken  down 
in  health  he  still  displays  much  energy  and 
a  devotion  to  the  principles  which  have  been 
the  means  of  bringing  to  him  success.  Por- 
traits of  Mr.  Rooney  and  his  esteemed  wife 
arc  appropriately  shown  on  another  page  of 
this  volume. 


Mr.  Rooney  was  born  in  County  Fer- 
managh, Ireland,  August  15,  1844,  a  son  d 
James  and  Ann  (McManus)  Rooney.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Owen  Rooney,  as  well 
as  the  grandmother,  who  was  a  Murray, 
were  life-long  residents  of  County  I*\'r- 
managh,  where  the  former  died  at  the  age 
of  eig'hty  years.  His  ancestors  were  among 
the  Catholics  who  clung  to  their  homes  dur- 
ing the  oppression  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected in  Cromwell's  time.  Our  subject's 
maternal  grandparents,  Bernard  and  Mary 
(Boyle)  McManus,  were  natives  of  County 
Ca\-an  and  Fermanagh,  respecti\ely,  and  were 
heirs  of  a  large  estate  left  b\"  the  lady's 
father,  James  Boyle,  in  that  county.  They 
emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  j\Ir. 
McManus  became  foreman  on  railroad  con- 
struction in  Pennsylvania.  After  his  death 
his  wife  came  to  Sauk  coimty,  \Visconsin, 
where  she  died  at -the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  In  the  Boyle  family  were  a  number 
of  prominent  priests,,  mcluding  Rev.  Francis 
Edward  Boyle,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  who 
was  a  chaplain  in  the  Union  army  during  the 
Civil  war.  James  R.  Rooney,  the  father  of 
our  suljject,  was  a  native  of  County  Fer- 
managh, and  was  a  well  educated  man  for 
his  day.  He  made  his  home  on  a  farm  near 
Rossleigh,  where  he  followed  the  stone 
mason's  trade  until  his  emigration  to  Amer- 
ica in  1847.  He  first  located  in  Dauphin 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  while  there  filled 
a  large  contract  for  wood  fuel  for  the  rail- 
road which  passed  his  home.  There  he  died 
August  15,  1 85 1.  His  wife,  who  was  born 
in  County  Cavan,  Ireland,  April  2y,  18 16, 
died  in  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  December 
28,  1885.  Of  their  seven  children,  one  died 
in  infancy  and  Patrick  was  accidentally  killed 
vvhile  riding  a  liors.e  in  a  race  at  Sugar 
Creek,  Walworth  county,  Wisconsin.  The 
others  are  Mary,  wife  of  Thomas  McGuan, 
of  Westfield,  Sauk  county;  John,  our  sub- 
ject; Margaret,  wife  of  Nathan  Bliven,  <A 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


369 


Freeiloni  township,  Sauk  county;  Anna,  wiie 
of  Luke  Kelley,  of  Washington,  D.  C;  and 
Elizaheth,  wife  of  John  Norton,  of  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island. 

John  Rooney,  whose  name  introduces 
this  review,  was  only  three  years  okl  when 
linuig'lit  hy  his  parents  to  the  United  States, 
and  was  only  seven  when  his  father  died. 
Tlie  following  year  the  family  moved  to 
Zanes\'ille,  Ohio,  and  the  next  vear  \.o  Rose- 
ville,  that  state.  In  1855  they  came  to 
Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  and  from  there 
moved  to  Sugar  Creek  township,  Wal- 
worth county,  where  our  subject  was  em- 
ployed on  the  iild  railroad  grade  which  was 
afterward  abandoned.  From  the  age  of 
seven  years  he  had  earned  his  own  liveli- 
hood at  railroad  work,  beginning  as  a  water 
boy  in  Ohio,  and  after  the  death  of  his 
brother,  Patrick,  he  dro\e  the  latter's  team. 
Going  to  Cross  Plains,  he  worked  on  the  con- 
struction of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  Railroad  between  Madison  and 
Prairie  du  Chien,  and  between  Judah  and 
Monroe,  Wisconsin.  In  the  fall  of  1857 
the  family  settled  in  Honey  Creek  townshi]), 
Sauk  county,  where  they  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, the  mother  in  the  meantime  having  mar- 
ried George  Sulli\-an.  Our  subject  then 
earned  his  lix'elihood  as  a  farm  laborer  until 
the  Ci\-il  war  broke  out. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1862,  Mr.  Rooney 
enlisted  in  Company  K,  Twenty-third  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  wdiich  was  as- 
signed to  the  First  Brigade,  Tenth  Division, 
Thirteenth  Army  Corps.  In  September, 
1864,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Veteran  Re- 
serve Corps.  He  took  part  in  the  battles 
of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post  and 
Port  Gibson,  and  the  day  following  the  last 
named  engagement  he  received  a  sunstroke 
and  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Grand  Gulf, 
Mississippi,  but  he  ran  away  and  rejoined  his 
regiment  in  front  of  Vicksburg.  In  June, 
1863,  he  suffered  a  relapse  and  was  sent  to 


Gayoso  hospital,  Memphis,  Tennessee.  Dur- 
ing this  time  his  weight  w^as  reduced  from 
one  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds  to  ninety- 
six  pounds.  After  being  employed  as  a 
commissary  for  a  time,  he  rejoined  his  regi- 
ment in  March,  1864,  but  upon  reaching  New 
Orleans  was  taken  ill  with  pneumonia,  and 
sent  to  the  marine  hospital.  Upon  par- 
tially reco\-ering  his  health,  he  became  recep- 
tion clerk  at  that  place  and  continued  in  that 
capacity  until  discharged  June  ly,  1865,  on 
the  surgeon's  certificate  of  disability. 

Renting  a  farm  at  Loganville,  Sauk 
county,  in  1867,  Mr.  Rooney  engaged  in  hop 
culture  with  his  step-father  until  the  decline 
of  that  industry.  In  1869  he  bought  land  in 
Freedom  township,  upon  which  he  located 
in  1874,  and  began  its  improvement,  making 
his  home  there  until  1885,  when  he  came  to 
Baraboo,  and  has  since  gix'en  his  attention 
chiefly  to  horticulture. 

Mr.  Rooney  was  married  !May  24,  1869, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Maria  Lamb,  a  native  of 
Huron  count}',  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of 
James  Chauncey  and  Abbie  Maria  (Pettys) 
Lamb,  who  remo\-ed  with  their  family  10 
Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1857,  and  set-' 
tied  in  Freedom  township.  The  father,  a 
ship  builder  by  trade,  was  born  in  Vermont, 
July  18,  1814,  and  died  in  Baraboo,  Wiscon- 
sin, September  12,  1889.  The  mother  was 
born  in  Cattaraugus  county.  New  York, 
September  3,  1819,  and  was  a  daughter  of 
Oliver  and  Ruth  (Mead)  Pettys,  the  latter  a 
granddaughter  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 
Mrs.  Lamb  also  died  in  Baraboo,  February 
18,  1887.  Her  children  were  Mary  Emma, 
wife  of  Daniel  Seeley,  of  North  Freedom; 
Sarah  Maria,  wife  of  our  subject;  and  George 
D.,  who  was  born  February  8,  1844,  and  dur- 
ing the  Civil  war  enlisted  in  the  Third  Wis- 
consin Cavalry,  but  died  of  measles  before 
leaving  Madison,  February  24,  1864.  Our 
subject  and  his  wife  have  two  children:  Ed- 
ward J.,  a  farmer  on  the  homestead  in  Free- 


370 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


dom  township;  and  Aline  M.,  wife  of  J.  E. 
Curry,  of  Lyons,  Sauk  county. 

INIr.  Rooney  is  a  charter  member  of  John 
Faller  Post,  No.  83,  G.  A.  R.,  at  North  Free- 
dom. He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  workers  in 
the  temperance  cause  in  his  locahty,  and  has 
always  taken  an  active  part  in  such  work. 
He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  organ- 
izing the  lodge  of  Good  Templars  in  his 
neighborhood,  and  was  instrumental  in  culti- 
vating a  temperance  sentiment  among  the 
people,  which  has  been  the  means  of  ex- 
cluding the  liquor  traffic  from  the  town  of 
Freedom.  In  1867  and  1868  he  was  dis- 
trict deputy  in  Sauk  and  Columbia  counties 
for  the  Good  Templars.  Since  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Prohibition  party  he  has  been  a 
supporter  of  its  princii)les,  and  conscien- 
tiously discharges  all  public  and  private 
duties.  He  favored  McKinley's  election  in 
1896,  but  owing  to  ill  health  was  unable  to 
go  to  the  polls.  He  has  never  aspired  to 
office,  but  does  not  hesitate  to  agitate  any 
question  which  he  believes  will  prove  of  pub- 
lic benefit. 


ALAN  BOGUE. 

Alan  Bogue,  an  eminently  respectalale 
and  upright  farmer  in  C(iluml)ia  county, 
Wisconsin,  has  a  fine  farm  in  the  town  of 
Arlington,  where  he  has  led  a  quiet  and  use- 
ful life  for  many  years.  His  is  an  hon- 
orable career,  and  deserves  to  be  remem- 
bered when  those  who  have  exploited  the  in- 
dustry of  the  masses,  and  build  their  fortunes 
on  the  self-denial  and  the  toil  of  those  who 
labor,  are  forgotten.  It  may  lack  stir  and 
excitement,  but  it  has  gone  down  deep  to 
the  roots  of  character  and  manliness  antl 
plain  straightforward  integrity,  and  as  such 
is  vital  to  the  general  welfare. 

Mr.  Bogue  was  born  in  Whithorn, 
Wigtonshire.  Scotland,  February  18,  1835. 
and    is    a    son    of    Edward  and  Margaret 


(Clark)  Bogue,  both  natives  of  the  same 
locality.  The  father  was  a  laborer  and  em- 
igrated to  the  United  States  about  1856, 
and  located  in  the  town  of  Caledonia,  Co- 
lumbia county,  where  he  died  in  1883,  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-four  years.  His 
widow  survived  until  November  29,  1899, 
and  reached  the  age  of  ninety-three.  Her 
father  was  a  laborer  in  Scotland,  and  lived 
to  l)e  one  hundred  years  old.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edward  Bogue  had  one  son  and  one  daugh- 
ter. The  son  is  the  gentleman  whose  name 
introduces  this  article,  and  the  daughter  be- 
came Mrs.  John  Shanks  and  died  in  the 
town  of  Caledonia. 

Alan  Bogue  spent  his  childhood  and 
youth  amid  romantic  surroundings  on  his 
native  heath.  He  had  his  education  in  the 
parochial  schools  of  the  neighborhood,  and 
in  1854  came  to  the  United  States.  He  was 
employed  a  year  at  Morristown,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  in  1855  made  his  first  appearance 
in  ^Visconsin.  He  lived  in  the  town  of 
Caledonia  for  a  time,  where  he  worked  at  the 
trade  of  stone  mason.  Presently  he  had  be- 
come sufficiently  forehanded  to  undertake 
agricultural  enterprises.  He  rented  a  farm 
for  three  years  in  the  town  of  Arlington,  and 
in  1868  bought  the  farm  on  which  he  is  now 
living  in  the  same  township.  Since  it  has 
come  into  his  possession  it  has  been  greatly 
impro\'ed.  New  luiildings  have  been  erect- 
ed, a  fine  orchard  brought  to  bearing,  and  an 
elegant  evergreen  hedge  secured.  Taken 
altogether  it  is  an  exceedingly  attractive 
homestead,  and  one  of  which  Air.  Bogue 
may  be  justly  pmud.  lie  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  sixt}-  acres  of  land,  every  foot  of 
\^iiich  is  tillable,  and  it  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  very  Ijest  farms  in  Columbia  county. 

Alan  Bogue  is  a  Republican,  but  is  thor- 
oughly independent  and  original  in  his  ideas. 
He  does  his  own  thinking,  forms  his  own 
conclusions,  and  holds  strongly  to  his  own 
convictions.     He   has   been   called   upon   to 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


371 


fill  various  local  and  county  offices,  and  was 
chairman  of  the  town  board  eight  years, 
ai:d  clerk  of  the  town  for  five  years.  While 
he  was  on  the  county  board,  he  served  as  one 
of  a  committee  of  three,  which  had  charge 
of  building  the  insane  asylum  of  the  coun- 
ty. Since  1884  Mr.  Bogue  has  been  one 
of  the  superintendents  of  the  poor,  and  has 
also  been  a  trustee  of  the  county  insane 
asylum.  During  this  time  the  county  farm 
has  been  enlarged  and  many  new  buildings 
added,  and  it  is  now  regarded  as  a  model 
institution  of  the  kind. 

Mr.  Bogue  was  married  January  23, 
1863,  to  Miss  Ellen  Stevenson,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Esther  (Mackey)  Stevenson. 
Mrs.  Bogue  was  born  at  Kilburnie,  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland,  and  came  with  her  parents 
to  this  country  in  1854.  They  settled  in 
the  town  of  Dekorra,  where  her  father 
died  two  years  later.  Her  mother  married 
John  Caldwell,  and  lived  to  be  se\enty-eight 
years  of  age.  He  lived  in  the  town  of  Ar- 
lington, where  she  died  in  1897. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bogue  have  seven  chil- 
dren now  living.  Esther  is  the  wife  of 
Adolph  Kleinert  and  lives  in  Poynette. 
Edward  is  a  farmer  near  Centerville,  South 
Dakota,  and  Alan  is  an  attorney  in  the  same 
state.  Margaret  is  a  teacher  in  Windsor, 
Wisconsin,  and  Andrew  is  a  student  at  the 
State  University  at  Madison.  David  is  at 
home  and  Grace  is  a  student  at  the  Poynette 
high  school.  There  is  one  grandchild  in  the 
family,  born  November  29,  1899.  The  fam- 
ily are  connected  with  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Poynette,  and  Mr.  Bogue  is  a 
member  of  the  Poynette  Masonic  lodge. 


NELSON   JONES. 

Nelson  Jones.  Perseverance  and  indus- 
try, supplemented  by  good  judgment  and 
honesty,   are  sure  of  successful   results,  to 


whatever  vocation  they  are  applied,  and  the 
gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  review  is 
one  whose  life  work  has  been  a  success  by 
the  exercise  of  these  characteristics.  He 
has  chosen  agriculture  as  his  calling,  and 
from  a  humble  start  has  gained  a  compe- 
tence sufficient  to  tide  him  through  life.  He 
is  the  owner  of  large  tracts  of  land,  and  his 
home  farm  is  in  Jackson  township^  Adams 
county,  and  here  he  is  passing  his  declining 
years,  enjoying  the  esteem  of  his  fellow 
men. 

]\Ir.  Jones  was  born  in  Rockingham, 
\^'indham  county,  Vermont,  January  26, 
1839,  and  was  the  son  of  Asa  K.  and  Mercy 
Tones,  a  sketch  of  whose  lives  appears  else- 
udiere  in  this  volume.  Our  subject  came 
with  his  parents  to  to  Adams  county  in  1851, 
going  via  the  Erie  canal  to  Buffalo,  thence 
Ijv  boat  to  Racine,  Wisconsin,  thence  bv 
stage  to  Janes\'ille,  Wisconsin,  and  com- 
pleted the  j(iurnev  bv  team  to  Adams  county, 
where  the  family  settled  on  section  3,  in 
Jackson  township.  The  land  was  not  sur- 
veyed until  the  following  year,  and  the  fa- 
ther then  became  the  possessor  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres.  Our  subject  at- 
tended the  schools  of  his  native  state,  and 
one  winter  in  Wisconsin,  and  assisted  his 
fatlier  in  clearing  the  homestead,  splitting 
rails,  etc.  His  father  died  before  our  sub- 
ject was  twenty  years  of  age,  and  he  then 
took  the  management  of  the  farm,  and  now 
owns  the  estate.  He  also  possesses  a  fine 
farm  near  the  homestead,  comprising  two 
hundred  acres,  and  also  has  a  valuable  tract 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Cerro 
Gordo  county,  Iowa,  which  he  purchased 
about  1879,  as  wild  Jand,  while  spending  one 
year  in  that  county.  He  engages  in  rais- 
ir.g  stock  to  some  extent,  and  has  some  ex- 
cellent horses  on  his  estate. 

Mr.  Jones  was  married,  in  April,  1859, 
to  Luc>-  Calkins,  daughter  of  James  and 
YiM-y  A.    (Briggs)    Calkins.        Mrs.  Jones 


372 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  moved  with 
ber  parents  to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in 
1858.  Her  father  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
and  died  in  MinneapoUs,  Minnesota,  and  her 
mother  is  still  living.  Mrs.  Jones  died  July 
18,  1895,  aged  fifty-four  years.  Three 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Airs.  Jones, 
as  follows :  Frank,  a  farmer  of  Jackson 
township ;  Alary,  w'ho  married  H.  L.  Mason, 
and  who  died  in  Sejtemher,  1891,  aged 
twenty-nine  years;  H.ittie,  now  Mrs.  Hat- 
tie  W'ohlfort,  of  Jackson  township.  Mr. 
Jones  has  ten  grandchildren. 

Our  subject  is  a  Republican  in  political 
sentiment,  and  takes  an  interest  in  public 
matters,  although  he  never  accepted  the  re- 
sponsibility of  public  office.  He  has  pur- 
sued the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  gaining  the 
respect  of  his  associates,  and  is  well  known 
in  Adams  count}',  where  he  has  resided  for 
nearly  half  a  .century.  He  has  witnessed 
the  development  of  that  region,  and  has  lent 
a  helping  hand  toward  a  high  state  of  civili- 
zation. 


JOHN  BYRON   PROUTY. 

Jolm  Byron  Prouty.  a  representative  of 
one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  is  an  inlluential  citizen  and  suc- 
cessful farmer  of  Washington  township, 
where  he  makes  his  home  on  section  29. 
He  was  born  in  Washington  township,  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  February  9,  1856,  and 
was  a  son  of  Re\-.  Andrew  and  Delilah 
(Truax)   Prouty. 

The  grandparents  of  our  suljject  bore 
the  names  of  Barnabas  a;id  Rebecca  ( Trum- 
bo)  Prouty.  The  grandfather  was  a  native 
of  Ohio  and  was  of  New  England  ances- 
try, while  the  grandmother  was  of  German 
descent.  Barnabas  Prcnity  can:e  to  Sauk 
county  in  1853,  where  he  still  lives  at  tlie 
age  of  ninety  years.     He  enjoys  good  health 


and  mental  acti\-ity.  Eight  sons  were  born 
to  that  worthy  cmiple,  as  follows:  Andrew; 
John,  a  prominent  citizen  of  O'Neill,  Ne- 
braska ;  Barnabas,  of  Sauk  county ;  Joshua, 
of  Sauk  county;  Stephen,  deceased:  Enoch, 
formerly  a  Baptist  minister,  and  the  in- 
ventor of  the  famous  Prouty  power  print- 
ing press,  and  other  valuafile  in\-entions,  now 
in  luisiness  in  Chicago;  Jeremiah,  of  Sauk 
count_v;  Hiram,  also  residing  in  Sauk  coun- 
ty. The  oldest  son,  Andrew  Proutv,  was 
born  in  Morrill  county,  Ohio,  and  came  to 
Wisconsin  with  his  father,  and  has  since  re- 
sided in  Washington  township.  He  re- 
cei\-ed  a  liberal  education  in  Ohio,  and 
taught  school  several  years  after  locating  in 
Wisconsin,  and  a  few  years  afterward  was 
ordained  a  minister  of  the  Baptist  church. 
For  some  years  he  filled  regular  pastorates, 
and  spent  about  ten  years  in  the  active  min- 
istry, and  still  holds  occasional  services.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors, and  works  for  the  interests  of  his 
community.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  Ohio. 

John  Byron  Prouty  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Sauk  county,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  began  earning  his  li\-elihood  as 
a  farm  lal)orer.  His  present  fine  farm  com- 
prises one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  and  is 
near  Sandusky,  and  he  has  made  his  home 
on  that  place  since  1S86.  He  devotes  his 
attention  to  live  stock  raising  and  dairying. 
The  farm  is  the  old  Lunn  homestead. 

Mr.  Prouty  was  married  in  1886  to  Sa- 
rah Ann  Lmm,  dau.o'hter  of  Joseph  and  Ann 
(Taylor)  Lunn,  prominent  pioneers  of 
Washington  township.  They  went  tliere 
from  Milwaukee  in  1857,  settling  near  the 
\'illage  of  Sandusky.  Mrs.  Prouty's  father 
was  one  of  the  most  successful  farmers  of 
Sauk  county.  He  was  born  in  Yorkshire, 
England,  and  died  in  1882,  aged  sixty-six 
years.  Airs.  Prouty's  mother  was  born, 
near  Afanchester,  England,  and  came  to  the 


COMPEXDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


378 


United  States  in  1830.  She  died  in  1882. 
aged  nearly  sixty-two  years.  .Mrs.  Prouty 
was  one  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  among 
whom  was  James  T.  Lunn,  who  was  connty 
superintendent  of  scliools  of  Sauk  county 
for  eleven  years,  and  is  now  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota. 
Mrs.  Prouty  is  a  lady  of  culture  and  good 
education,  and  was  eueaged  in  teaching  for 
several  years.  1  hree  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prouty,  as  follows: 
Florence  Edna,  Ernest  Andrew  and  Everett 
Samuel.  The  sons  are  twins.  Mr.  Prouty 
is  active  in  all  public  movements,  and  is  a 
Republican  in  jjolitical  sentiment.  He  at- 
tends most  of  the  county  conventions,  and 
in  1898  was  a  delegate  to  the  state  conven- 
tion in  the  interest  of  La  Follette  for  gov- 
ernor. -He  is  at  present  chairman  of  the 
township  committee,  and  a  member  of  the 
county  committee.  He  has  tilled  the  office 
of  t(nvnshii)  treasurer,  and  has  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  his  township  and 
county,  and  is  well  known  as  a  man  of  broad 
mind  and  energetic  character. 


EUGENE  COPELAND  THIESSEX. 

Eugene  Copeland  Thiessen  is  a  prosper- 
ous and  influential  farmer  in  the  town  of 
Leeds,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  is 
a  man  wdio  jiresents  in  his  own  career  a 
magnificent  illustration  of  the  advantages 
that  attend  a  rural  life.  He  is  now  in  the 
full  prime  of  his  manly  powers,  and  coming 
from  a  youth  and  manhood  that  have  been 
peaceful  and  orderly,  his  vital  forces  are  not 
depleted,  but  have  rather  increased  and 
strengthened.  It  is  permitted  him  to  ex- 
pect a  peaceful  and  protracted  old  age. 

Mr.  Thiessen  was  born  at  Fond  du  Lac, 
Wisconsin,  February  3,  1855,  and  is  a  son 
of  Carl  and  Sarah  M.  (Green)  Thiessen.  His 


father  was  a  native  of  Mecklenburg  Schwer- 
ein,  Germany,  and  he  was  born  near  Ham- 
burg. He  had  the  usual  privileges  of  edu- 
cation that  the  German  youth  of  his  time 
enjoyed,  and  he  was  early  set  to  work  learn- 
ing the  trade  of  a  cabinet  maker.  After  the 
old  solid  German  fashion  he  ser\ed  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  seven  years,  and  when  it  was 
completed  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and 
after  spending  a  few  months  at  New  York, 
and  nearly  two  years  at  ]\Iartinsburg,  New 
York,  he  came  to  this  state  and  worked  at 
the  carpenter  trade  in  Fond  du  Lac  for  some 
years.  Li  1858  Mr.  Thiessen  came  to  Co- 
lumbia county^  and  the  next  year  he  bought 
forty  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of  Leeds. 
This  was  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  required 
impro\ements  from  the  very  beginning.  He 
built  a  small  house,  and  other  needed  build- 
ings, and  this  was  his  home  until  his  death, 
August  31,  1900.  He  kept  active  and  busy 
almost  e\'ery  day,  and  was  happy  and  con- 
tented throughout  his  long  and  useful  life 
of  seventy-nine  years.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  was  always 
an  active  and  intelligent  Republican.  His 
wife  died  January  4,  1875,  at  the  age  of 
forty-two.  She  was  born  near  Martins- 
burg,  New  York,  and  her  father,  a  native  of 
that  state,  died  in  the  town  of  Leeds  at  the 
age  of  ninety-seven.  The  father  of  Francis 
Green,  and  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Sarah 
M.  Thiessen,  was  killed  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  during  the  boyhood  of  Francis. 
The  mother  of  Mrs.  Thiessen  died  in  Rio 
when  she  was  nearly  eighty  years  old.  Fred- 
erick F.  Thiessen,  the  only  known  brother 
of  Carl  Thiesson,  died  at  Stepney,  Connecti- 
cut. He  was  a  baker  by  trade,  and  followed 
that  occupation  some  years  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  Thies- 
sen were  1)orn  three  sons :  Carlton  M.,  of 
the  town  of  Lowville ;  Eugene  C,  of  Leeds ; 
and  Louis  F.,  of  Oshkosh. 

Eugene  C.  Thiessen    has    li\ed    on    the 


874 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


homestead  from  the  age  of  three  years.  He 
attended  the  district  school,  and  has  become 
a  very  proficient  mechanic  with  a  natural 
aptitude  for  ahnost  any  kind  of  manual 
work.  He  is  a  master  hand  at  a  carpenter 
job,  does  mason  work  to  compare  with  the 
best,  and  is  a  worker  in  leather,  both  in  shoe 
making  and  in  harness  making,  that  does  not 
need  to  be  ashamed  of  his  handiwork.  When 
he  was  twenty-one  he  went  to  Mason  City, 
Iowa,  and  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in  that 
place.  Then  he  came  back  to  the  paternal 
homestead,  which  now  consists  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  and  has  resided  here 
since.  He  has  erected  a  large  barn,  and 
greatly  improved  the  other  buildings,  and 
this  became  under  his  careful  management 
one  of  the  most  desirable  farms  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Thiessen  and  Miss  Nettie  J.  Dela- 
ney  were  married  July  19,  1881.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Simon  and  Rebecca  (Scofield) 
Delaney,  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Low- 
ville.  Her  father  came  to  Wisconsin  from 
the  county  of  Chemung,  New  York,  where 
he  was  born.  He  died  in  the  town  of  Low- 
ville,  in  May,  1896,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
nine.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Delaney  still  lives  at 
Poynette,  and  is  now  seventy-two  years  old. 
Her  father,  Daniel  Scofield,  came  to  Colum- 
bia in  1855,  and  died  in  Lowville  at  the 
age  of  seventy-nine.  His  wife,  Julia  A. 
(Riker)  Scofield,  reached  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  She  was  born  in  Orange  coun- 
ty, New  York.  The  Riker  and  Scofield 
families  are  old  New  England  people.  The 
various  members  of  the  Riker  family  hold 
an  annual  reunion  at  Summit,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thiessen  are  the  parents 
of  a  numerous  and  interesting  family  of  five 
children:  Charles  E.,  aged  eighteen  years; 
George,  seventeen  years;  Mabel,  fifteen 
years;  Harold  A.,  eight  years,  and  Sarah 
K.,  five  years.  Mr.  Thiessen  is  a  member  of 
the  Lowville  Presbyterian  church,  and  be- 
longs to  Poynette  Camp,  No.   1090,  Mod- 


ern Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  agent  in 
the  town  for  the  Arlington  Farmers'  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Company.  He  has  always 
been  a  Republican,  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  party  management.  He  is  president 
of  the  Farmers'  lelephone  Company,  of  the 
town  of  Leeds,  and  is  one  of  the  leading 
men  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He  is  a 
life  member  of  the  Columbia  County  Agri- 
cultural Society,  and  has  been  general  man- 
ager of  the  horse  department  for  some 
years.  He  is  a  successful  breeder  of  fine 
horses,  and  has  exhibited  Hambletonian  and 
Morgan  horses  at  the  county  fairs  on  numer- 
ous occasions.  He  takes  an  active  part  also 
in  school  matters,  and  for  several  years  has 
been  clerk  of  the  second  district,  town  of 
Leeds. 


COMFORT  HAMILTON  KNAPP. 

Comfort  Hamilton  Knapp,  one  of  the 
successful  pioneers  of  Sauk  county,  now 
living  a  retired  life  in  the  village  of  North 
Freedom,  has  had  some  interesting  experi- 
ences in  the  course  of  his  life.  He  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Collins,  Erie  county. 
New  York,  February  19,  1829,  a  son  of 
John  and  Deborah  (Knapp)  Knapp.  The 
Knapp  family  is  of  English  origin.  Sylva- 
nus  Knapp,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
a  cooper  by  trade,  along  which  line  he  car- 
ried on  an  extensive  business  in  Erie  coun- 
ty. New  York,  for  some  years.  He  died  in 
Jamestown,  the  latter  state,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years.  He  married  a  Miss 
Winn,  whose  father  was  a  Tory,  and  moved 
to  Canada  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war. 
Johnson  Knapp,  our  subject's  father,  was 
born  in  Massachusetts,  but  was  quite  young 
when  taken  by  his  parents  to  New  York, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith. 
In  1 844  he  removed  to  Dearborn  county.  In- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


375 


diana,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life  with  the  exception  of  three  years,  when 
living  in  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin.  He  died 
in  Dearborn  county,  Indiana.  His  wife, 
also  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  survived  him 
a  number  of  years,  and  died  in  the  town  of 
Collins,  Erie  county,  New  York,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four.  Her  father,  Comfort 
Knapp,  was  a  brother  of  Sylvanus  Knapp. 
He  was  a  wholesale  merchant  in  Boston  for 
some  years,  but  meeting  with  misfortune  in 
business,  he  moved  to  the  town  of  Boston, 
Erie  county.  New  York,  where  he  cleared 
a  farm  and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  died  in  Pine  Grove,  Warren  county, 
Pennsylvania,  aged  eighty-seven  years.  He 
was  a  close  communion  Baptist,  and  served 
as  deacon  for  over  forty  years. 

Our  subject  is  the  only  one  in  a  family 
of  six  children  who  settled  in  Wisconsin. 
He  has  in  his  possession  a  picture  of  his 
mother  and  four  of  her  descendants,  each 
representing  a  different  generation,  who 
were  living  at  the  same  time.  He  was  fif- 
teen years  of  age  when  the  family  removed 
to  Indiana,  and  soon  afterward  he  began  life 
for  himself  by  working  at  farming  and  other 
occupations.  In  1846  he  returned  to  Erie 
county.  New  York,  where  he  lived  until 
1855,  when  he  came  to  Sauk  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  located  in  the  town  of  Reeds- 
burg.  In  April,  1859,  he  started  v/ith  a 
company  of  prospectors  for  Pike's  Peak,  but 
before  reaching  their  destination  they  re- 
ceived unfavorable  reports  of  the  mining 
there  and  decided  to  go  to  Oregon,  where 
Mr.  Knapp  spent  two  seasons  in  mining  with 
indifferent  success.  The  following  two  sea- 
sons were  spent  in  Washington  and  Idaho, 
'and  he  then  returned  east  by  way  of  the  Isth- 
mus, being  thirty-one  days  in  making  the 
journey.  He  left  San  Francisco  in  Jan- 
uary, 1863,  and  at  Aspinwall  took  passage 
on  the  steamer  "Ariel"  for  New  York.  On 
the  down  trip  this  vessel    had    been    over- 


hauled in  the  West  Indies  by  a  Confederate 
vessel,  and  her  guns,  sails  and  other  val- 
uables confiscated.  Owing  to  the  preva- 
lence of  the  yellow  fever  on  the  islands. 
Captain  Semmes,  of  the  Confederate  steam- 
er, allowed  the  "Ariel"  to  proceed  with  her 
passengers  instead  of  putting  them  ashore, 
as  was  at  first  intended.  He  admonished 
tlie  captain  of  the  "Ariel,"  however,  that  he 
would  sink  the  vessel  if  he  again  caught  her 
on  the  sea  without  the  "treasury,"  or  ship- 
ment of  California  gold,  which  she  was  ac- 
customed to  bring  regularly  from  the  Isth- 
mus. As  the  rebel  cruiser  was  hovering 
about  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  in  plain 
sight  when  ready  for  the  return  trip,  the 
usual  shipment  of  gold  was  left,  and  during 
a  heavy  fog  the  "Ariel"  left  the  harbor  at 
night  without  detection,  and  taking  a  dif- 
ferent course  from  the  one  usually  pm^sued, 
reached  Key  West  in  safety,  and  from  there 
the  voyage  to  New  York  was  made  without 
difficulty. 

In  1864  Mr.  Knapp,  with  his  family, 
moved  to  Idaho,  and  engaged  in  farmin*  on 
the  Boise  river,  thirty  miles  below  Boise 
City.  He  spent  one  summer  crossing  the 
plains  with  ox  teams  and  driving  several 
cows.  He  joined  a  wagon  train  at  Omaha. 
They  had  some  Indian  scares,  but  no  serious 
difficulty  with  the  red  men.  Mr.  Knapp 
arrived  in  Boise  City,  September  11,  1864, 
and  remained  in  Idaho  five  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  by 
driving  to  Ogden,  Utah,  and  there  taking 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  He  has  made 
a  number  of  trips  to  the  Pacific  slope,  and 
twice  crossed  the  plains  with  teams.  After 
his  return  to  Sauk  county,  he  engaged  in 
farming  in  Reedsburg  township  for  some 
years,  but  since  1888  has  made  his  home  in 
North  Freedom,  where  for  a  time  he  car- 
ried on  business  as  a  grain  dealer,  but  is 
now  living  retired. 

On  the   nth    of    October,    1848,    Mr. 


87G 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Knapp  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Prusia  Maria  Fisk,  a  native  of  Darljy,  \'er- 
niont,  and  a  daughter  of  Royal  and  Harriet 
(Mead)  Fisk.  The  father  was  born  in  tlie 
same  place,  of  English  origin,  and  the  mother 
in  Ferrisburg,  Vermont,  of  Scotch  extrac- 
tion. The  first  of  the  Fisk  family  to  come 
to  America  settled  in  Rhode  Island.  Royal 
Fisk,  who. was  a  local  minister  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  came  to  Sauk  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  in  1854,  and  first  located  in 
Reedsburg  township,  but  ilied  in  Freedom 
township,  March  29,  187S,  aged  se\-enty 
years.  His  wife  died  two  years  later  at  the 
same  age.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knapp  were 
born  the  following;  children :  Merritt.  a 
resident  of  Xorth  Freedom;  Edwin,  of 
\\'hitman  county.  Washington :  Harriet,  de- 
ceased wife  of  L.  Dearborn;  Frank,  of  Lew- 
iston.  Idaho:  Mary,  wife  of  James  Randell, 
of  Reedsburg;  Laura,  deceased  wife  of  ^^^ 
W.  Randell ;  Walter,  of  Whitman  county, 
Washington:  and  Alma,  wife  i:>f  Frank  ]\Ior- 
ley,  of  the  town  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin. 
They  also  have  twenty-two  grandchildren 
living  and  eight  great-grandchildren. 

Mr.  Knapp  has  been  an  earnest  advocate 
and  supporter  of  ])rohibition  since  the  in- 
ccpticjn  of  that  mo\-ement.  and  never  with- 
I'lolds  his  influence  from  any  enterprise 
which  he  Ijelieves  will  prove  of  public  ben- 
efit. He  has  ser\-ed  on  the  town  board  of 
Reedsburg  a  number  of  vears,  and  held  other 
local  oflices  of  trust.  \\'liere\er  known  he 
is  held  in  high  regard. 


WARREN    GILBERT. 

^^'arren  Gilliert  may  be  truly  classed  as 
one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Colum])ia  coun- 
t3',  AX'isconsin.  He  lias  an  elegant  home  in 
Lowville  township,  and  for  many  years  was 
one  of  the  most  extensive  agriculturists  of 


\\'isconsin.  He  is  a  pioneer  settler  of  that 
l.icality  and  can  recoimt  many  interesting 
facts  of  early  life  there. 

Otu"  subject  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Schuyler,  Herkimer  county,  New  York,. 
June  22,  1827,  and  is  a  son  of  Erastus  and 
Nancy  (Baker)  Gilbert.  His  father  vsas  a 
r.ative  of  Herkimer  county,  and  while  a  com- 
paratively yoimg  luen  fell  from  the  hay  mow 
0I  his  barn  and  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
fall,  in  183 1.  The  grandparents  of  our  sub- 
ject, Jonathan  and  Susan  Gilbert,  moved 
from  Oakham,  Alassachusetts,  to  New  York, 
when  the  site  of  Utica  was  an  unbroken 
forest.  The  grandfather  was  a  veteran  of 
the  Revolutionary  war.  and  he  cleared  a 
farm  in  Herkiiuer  county,  and  reached  the 
age  of  eighty  years  there.  Two  of  his  sons 
served  in  the  war  of  181 2.  The  mother  of 
our  subject  married  a  second  time,  and  be- 
came the  wife  of  Stephen  Hicks,  and  re- 
niiA'ed  from  Herkimer  count}-.  The  familv 
was  prominent  in  .Schuyler  township  for 
many  years,  and  the  grandmother  of  our 
subject  reached  an  advanced  age  there. 

Warren  Gilbert  was  an  only  son  and  af- 
ter his  father's  death  was  mainly  reared  by 
h.is  grandmother  ( iilbert,  and  it  was  upon 
her  that  he  relied  largeh-  for  comfort  and  ad- 
^•ice  in  his  early  manhood,  and  it  was  upon 
her  ad\ice  that  he  came  west.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  j-ears  he  began  to  struggle  for  a  li^■c- 
lihood  at  farming,  earning  six  dollars  per 
month.  He  worked  for  others  until  the 
spring  of  1848,  when  he  came  to  Wisconsin. 
.\n  uncle.  Jonathan  Gilbert,  had  come  west 
in  1845,  from  his  home  in  the  Empire  state, 
and  had  located  in  Columliia  county.  Jona- 
than Gilbert  lix-ed  here  until  his  death  in 
1889.  It  was  largely  owing  to  his  uncle 
being  here  th;it  tr.rncd  the  steps  of  Warren 
Gilbert  to  Columbia  county.  On  his  ar- 
rival he  entered  a  pre-emption  claim  to  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  section 
26,  of  Low\-ille  township.     Fle  walk'cd  one 


^~ 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


881 


Inmdred  miles  to  the  land  office  at  Green 
Bay  to  prove  his  title,  and  from  time  to  time 
purchased  adjacent  tracts,  and  later  owned 
over  three  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Co- 
lumbia county.  He  has  also  purchased  con- 
siderable land  in  Minnesota  and  South  Da- 
kota. For  some  years  he  hauled  his  wheat 
crops  to  Milwaukee,  with  an  ox  team,  six 
days  being  consumed  in  the  trip.  He  has 
engaged  extensively  in  stock  raising  as  well 
as  grain,  and  at  one  time  owned  one  thou- 
sand sheep,  and  has  also  owned  one  hun- 
dred head  of  horses  at  a  time.  He  was  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  Rio  State  Bank, 
and  has  done  more  or  less  loan  business  for 
some  years.  His  residence  and  most  of  the 
contents  burned  November  9,  1897,  but  in 
1898  he  erected  a  handsome  modern  dwell- 
ing in  which  he  now  makes  his  home,  and 
enjoys  peace  and  plenty  in  his  declining 
years.' 

Mr.  Gilbert  was  married  in  1848  to  Mary 
Widrick,  daughter  of  John  and  Maria  Wid- 
rick,  of  Oneida  county,  New  York.  Mrs. 
Gilbert  was  born  in  Herkimer  county,  New 
York,  and  her  parents  were  of  Mohawk 
Dutch  descent.  Her  father  died  in  the  town 
of  Lowville,  Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one  years.  He  was  possessed  of  a  very 
strong  physique  until  his  last  illness.  His 
wife  also  died  at  Lowville.  Mrs.  Gilbert 
died  of  paralysis,  November  2.  1892,  aged 
about  sixty-five  years.  Of  this  marriage 
were  born  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  Both 
the  latter  died  in  infancy,  one  at  the  age  of 
three  weeks  and  the  other  at  the  age  of  five 
years.  The  sons  were  as  folloWiS :  George 
Henry,  now  living  in  Freeborn  county,  Min- 
nesota; Albert  C..  of  Martin  county,  Minne- 
sota ;  James  Warren,  Charles  L.  and  Eugene 
A.  Each  of  the  three  youngest  sons  con- 
duct a  part  of  the  homestead  farm.  Mr.  Gil- 
bert has  now  twenty-two  grandchildren  and 
two  great-grandchildren.  One  of  his  grand- 
children, Eleanor  Gilbert,  a  great  favorite 


and  pet  of  her  grandfather,  and  who  was 
never  happier  than  when  in  his  company, 
was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  burned  to  death, 
August  27,  1898. 

Mr.  Gilbert  was  reared  in  the  ]\Iethodist 
faith,  and  he  attends  the  Congregational 
church  of  Rio,  and  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
contributors  to  its  support.  He  js  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  \\'iscon- 
sin  Home  Finding  Association.  In  politi- 
cal principles  he  is  a  Democrat,  but  supports 
the  best  man  for  ofifice  irrespective  of  party. 

Naturally  shrewd,  the  early  training  he 
received  developed  in  Mr.  Gilbert  a  most  ex- 
cellent business  ability,  and  his  eminent  suc- 
cess in  the  pursuit  of  wealth  is  entirely  due 
to  his  own  efforts.  Good  judgment  and  well 
directed  energy  have  lifted  him  from  com- 
parative poverty  into  easy  affluence  and 
ease.  His  wide  reputation  for  probity  and 
fairness  in  all  the  concerns  of  life  has 
brought  him  the  warm  esteem  of  all  with 
whom  he  is  brought  into  contact.  A  large 
portion  of  the  community  will  therefore  be 
pleased  to  find  among  the  illustrations  of 
this  work  on  other  pages  portraits  of  both 
Mr.  Gilbert  and  his  wife. 


JOHN    HENRY    DOOLEY. 

John  Henry  Dooley,  an  influential 
farmer  and  representative  citizen  of  Colum- 
bia county,  lives  on  the  old  Dooley  home- 
stead, in  Scott  township.  The  old  farm,  the 
place  of  his  birth,  is  situated  in  section  33, 
and  here  our  subject  first  opened  his  eyes 
upon  the  world  September  24,  1854. 

John  Henry  Dooley^  was  the  only  son 
born  to  Henry  and  Maria  (Barnish)  Doo- 
ley. His  parents  were  natives  of  Stafford- 
shire, England,  and  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1847,  arriving  in  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  in  June  of  that  year.       Henry 


382 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Dooley,  the  father,  had  been  employed  for 
many  years  in  the  potteries  of  Staffordshire, 
becoming  an  expert  plate  maker.  He  joined 
the  Potters'  Emigration  Society,  which  ac- 
quired a  large  tract  of  land  in  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin.  This  land  was  all  in  a 
wild  state,  and  twenty  acres  thereof  was  as- 
signed to  Henry  Dooley,  in  section  33,  town 
of  Scott.  He  found  it  to  be  in  the  midst  of 
an  unbroken  forest.  However,  he  set  about 
making  a  new  home.  He  built  a  log  cabin 
and  began  to  clear  his  land.  He  afterward 
purchased  more  land,  and  acquired  in  all  the 
ownership  of  eighty  acres.  He  had  for 
many  years  been  a  great  sufferer  from 
asthma,  and  on  January  30,  1878,  he  passed 
away,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years,  nine 
months  and  twenty-six  days.  Through  all 
his  life  he  had  been  an  industrious  man,  and 
an  upright  and  respected  member  of  the 
communities  where  he  had  made  his  home. 
His  wife,  Maria  (Barnish)  Dooley,  died 
May  3,  1890,  aged  seventy-one  years,  eight 
months  and  twenty-six  days.  In  her  youth 
she  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  but  united  with  the  Methodist  church 
in  Columbia  county. 

Besides  our  subject,  John  Henrj'  Doo- 
ley, there  were  eleven  chililren  of  this  worthy 
couple,  all  daughters,  but  three  of  whom 
are  now  living,  viz:  Elizabeth,  now  Mrs. 
William  Cook;  Ellen  E.,  widow  of  Ralph 
Deakin;  Maria  Louise,  now  Mrs.  William 
Moore.  The  two  first  named  live  in  Scott 
township,  and  the  latter  in  W^vocena  town- 
ship. 

John  H.  Dooley  was  reared  on  the  home- 
stead farm,  and  attended  the  district  school. 
He  has  added  twenty-five  acres  to  the  origi- 
nal farm,  and  has  enlarged  buildings,  and 
m.ade  a  great  many  other  valuable  improve- 
ments, and  is  the  possessor  of  a  valuable 
piece  of  property. 

Mr.  Dooley  was  married  December  21, 
1 880,   to   Mary    Jane    Clark,    daughter  of 


Samuel  and  Jane  Clark',  of  Randolph  Cen- 
ter, Wisconsin.  They  are  the  parents  of 
four  children,  namely:  Anna  J.,  Stephen 
Henry,  Samuel  Carson  and  John  Wallace. 
Mr.  Dooley  and  his  family  are  connected 
with  the  Methodist  church,  of  which  he  is 
a  trustee.  In  political  faith  Mr.  Dooley  has 
been  a  lifelong  Republican,  and  has  taken 
an  active  interest  in  public  matters.  He 
was  elected  in  1890  to  the  office  of  register 
of  deeds,  and  has  served  two  terms  in  that 
capacity.  He  was  the  only  new  candidate 
on  the  Republican  ticket  of  the  year  1S90 
th.at  was  elected  in  the  county,  all  the  others 
suffering  defeat.  He  was  the  first  native 
born  citizen  of  the  county  that  ever  held 
that  office.  He  has  been  elected  to  several 
local  offices  from  time  to  time,  and  has 
served  for  five  years  as  township  clerk.  He 
is  the  present  chairman  of  the  Scott  town 
board.  He  is  well  known  throughout  the 
county,  and  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  all. 


FRANZ   WOHLFERT. 

Franz  Wohlfert,  a  son  of  the  German 
empire,  whose  career  in  his  adopted  land  has 
Ijeen  crowned  with  success,  is  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Jackson  township,  Adams  county. 
Ide  is  an  ex-soldier,  who  bravely  defended 
our  Union,  and  can  look  back  on  his  ser- 
vice with  justifiable  pride.  His  home  is  one 
of  comfort  and  he  has  added  improvements 
until  it  is  one  of  the  first  farms  of  the  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Wohlfert  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Baden,  Germany,  February  23,  1823,  and 
was  the  son  of  Matthias  and  Elizabeth 
(Krall)  Wohlfert.  His  father  was  a  lum- 
berman and  farmer  who  lived  and  died  in 
Baden. 

Our  subject  came  to  America  about 
1853,  and  resided  three  years  in  New  York 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


88g 


city,  and  then  caine  to  Wisconsin,  and  lived 
for  a  time  at  Sharon,  Walworth  county,  and 
in  1855  removed  to  Adams  county,  settHng 
in  Jackson  township  on  his  present  farm. 
He  now  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
with  a  good  set  of  farm  huildings,  and  car- 
ries on  general  farming.  Me  enlisted  in 
October,  1864,  in  Company  D,  Fourth  Wis- 
consin Heavy  Artillery,  and  served  eleven 
months,  and  was  discharged  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  stationed  at  Brazos  City, 
Louisiana.  On  the  occasion  of  the  assas- 
sination of  President  Lincoln,  while  firing- 
one  hundred  guns,  our  subject  lost  his  hear- 
ing by  the  discharge  of  artillery.  While  in 
the  service  he  also  suffered  from  diarrhea 
and  malaria  for  several  months. 

Mr.  Wohlfert  was  married  at  Sharon, 
Wisconsin,  October,  1853,  to  Dena  Miller, 
daughter  of  George  and  Cornelia  Miller. 
Mrs.  Wohlfert  was  born  in  New  Beiern, 
Germany,  and  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1 85 1.  Her  father  died  in  Germany,  and 
her  mother  died  in  1870,  aged  fifty-five 
years.  Mrs.  Miller  married  after  the  death 
of  her  husband,  becoming  the  wife  of  An- 
drew Hoffman,  who  died  in  Adams  county, 
July,  1890,  aged  over  eighty  years.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wohlfert  were  the  parents  of  the 
following  children:  Irvin  married  Amelia 
Washburn;  Wilhelmina,  now  Mrs.  Horace 
Stalker,  of  Oxford;  Conrad  married  Mrs. 
Cora  Aurbach,  residing  in  Kilbourn;  An- 
drew married  Hattie  Jones,  daughter  of 
Nelson  Jones ;  Jacob  married  Esther  Cart- 
wright;  George  married  Philadelphia  Kel- 
sey;  John  married  Bertha  Burnham ;  Au- 
gust married  Kate  Huffman;  Walter,  and 
Robert.  All  reside  in  Adams  county,  with 
the  exceptions  as  noted.  Walter  carries  on 
the  homestead  farm,  and  was  married  March 
7,  1899,  to  Miss  Millie  Burnham,  daughter 
of  Theodore  Burnliam.  Mrs.  Wohlfei't 
was  born  in  Adams  county.  Our  suliject 
and  wife  have  .seventeen  grandchildren  and 


three  great-grandchildren.  Mr.  \\'ohlfert 
was  reared  in  the  Catholic  church,  and  Mrs. 
Wohlfert  was  reared  in  the  Lutheran  faith, 
in  which  most  of  the  family  are  baptized,  al- 
though they  attend  the  Jonesville  Congrega- 
tional church,  near  their  home.  Mr.  Wohl- 
fert is  a  member  of  A.  J.  Miller  Post,  G.  A. 
K.,  at  Oxford.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politi- 
cal sentiment,  although  his  sons  are  all  Re- 
publicans. He  stands  firmly  for  his  convic- 
tions, is  a  faithful  and  earnest  citizen,  and 
has  aided  materially  in  the  upbuilding  of 
Atfams  county. 


THOMAS   WILLIAM    DUNN. 

Thomas  \Villiam  Dunn,  proprietor  of 
one  of  the  leading  general  merchandise 
stores  of  White  Creek,  Adams  county,  has 
by  dint  of  honest  efforts  gained  a  compe- 
tence for  himself  and  family,  which  is 
worthy  the  undertaking.  He  is  not  a  man 
of  much  physical  vigor,  having  met  with 
an  accident  at  the  age  of  two  and  one-half 
years,  which  made  him  a  cripple  for  life,  but 
he  is  broad-minded  and  practical  and  has 
Uiade  a  success  of  mercantile  business.  He 
also  handles  farm  machinery,  and  is  well 
known  throughout  Adams  county,  and  en- 
joys his  share  of  the  patronage. 

Mr.  Dunn  was  born  in  Jefferson  county, 
New  York,  March  23,  1855.  His  parents, 
Robert  and  Fanny  (Fee)  Dunn,  were  na- 
tives, respectively,  of  England  and  New  York 
city,  New  York,  and  the  father  came  to 
.-\merica  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  He 
is  now  a  resident  of  Springville  township, 
Atlams  county,  Wisconsin,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-two  years,  and  the  mother  is 
aged  seventy-five  years. 

Our  subject  came  to  Springville  town- 
ship. Adams  county,  with  his  parents  when 
but  one  year  and  a  half  old,  and  they  settled 
on  tlie  farm,  which  is  still  their  home.     At 


884 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


the  age  of  two  and  one-half  years  our  sub- 
ject had  his  hip  dislocated,  and  he  was  un- 
able to  attend  school  regularly,  but  by 
studying  at  home  he  acquired  a  good  edu- 
cation, and  prepared  himself  for  business 
life.  He  resided  with  his  parents  unt^l 
about  thirty-two  years  of  age,  assisting  some 
with  the  farm  work,  and  then  established  a 
general  merchandise  store  in  \\'hite  Creek, 
and  soon  after  added  the  farm  machinery. 
I'or  over  twelve  years  he  was  postmaster, 
and  discharged  his  duties  faithfully  and 
well. 

Mr.  Dunn  was  married  April  2j,  iS86, 
to  Amy  Esther  Foster,  daughter  of  Leon- 
ard and  Esther  (Roach)  Foster,  of  Olin, 
Adams  county.  Two  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dunn,  as  follows : 
Oscar  Hilbert,  born  October  30,  1888;  and 
Ira  Glen,  born  September  3,  1892.  In  re- 
h'gious  faith  Mr.  Dunn  is  a  Congregation- 
alist.  He  has  held  various  township  offices, 
and  in  every  instance  has  performed  his  du- 
ties with  rare  fidelity  and  increasyig  popu- 
larity. He  is  a  Republican  in  political  sen- 
timent, but  takes  no  active  part  in  political 
movements.  He  is  content  to  serve  his 
community  as  a  pri\ate  citizen,  lending  his 
influence  for  the  welfare  of  those  around 
him,  but  not  participating  in  public  office. 
He  has  attained  an  assured  position  among 
the  substantial  men  of  his  community,  and  is 
possessed  of  an  indomitable  will,  untiring 
perseverance,  and  energetic  character. 


MANELIOUS  PEARSON,  Deceased. 

Manelious  Pearson,  deceased,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Lavalle  township,  Sauk  coun- 
ty, passed  an  eventful  life  in  that  region,  and 
was  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  his 
community.  He  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 


one  of  the  well-to-do  men  of  the  county,  and 
enjoyed  the  highest  esteem  of  his  fellow 
m,en. 

Mr.  Pearson  was  born  near  Bradford, 
Yorkshire,  England,  in  1810,  and  was  the 
son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  (Mitchell)  Pear- 
son. His  father  was  a  manufacturer  of 
woolen  goods,  and  resided  near  Bradford 
until  his  death.  Our  subject  was  a  weaver 
by  trade,  and  worked  thus  until  thirty-one 
years  of  age,  when,  in  1S42.  he  came  to  the 
United  States.  He  purchased  a  farm  of 
twenty  acres  in  Indiana,  and  later  moved 
to  Columbus,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  conducted  one  of  the  finest  farms 
in  that  region.  He  returned  to  England  in 
1847,  ^"d  the  following  year  brought  his 
family,  consisting  of  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, to  the  Wisconsin  home.  He  moved 
to  Lavalle  township,  Sauk  county,  in  1848, 
where  he  took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  which  has  since  been  the  old 
homestead.  He  erected  the  first  house  in 
the  township,  and  his  daughter,  Mary  Anne, 
was  the  first  white  child  born  in  Lavalle 
township.  The  country  was  wild,  and 
abounded  with  bears,  wolves  and  Indians, 
and  he  saw  many  hardships,  and  lived  in 
wigwams  with  the  Indians  for  some  time. 
At  one  time  he  owned  most  of  the  land 
around  his  homestead,  -and  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  in  possession  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  Lavalle  township, 
and  eighty  acres  in  Palo  Alto  county,  Iowa, 
which  he  visited  frequently. 

Mr.  Pearson  was  married  in  England  to 
Sarah  Wroe,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sa- 
rah ( Worthington)  Wroe.  The  family  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  farming,  and  were 
in  good  circumstances.  Mrs.  Pearson  was 
born  August  13,  181 5,  and  despite  her  ad- 
\anced  age  enjoys  good  health.  She  reads 
without  the  aid  of  glasses,  and  is  active. 
She  now  makes  her  home  with  her  son, 
Christopher.     She  has  crossed  the  Atlantic 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


§85 


three  times,  and  Mr.  Pearson  took  the  jour- 
ney seven  times. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pearson  the  following 
children  were  born :  Charles,  born  Novem- 
ber 27,  1833,  now  living  in  Inmton,  Wis- 
consin; Martha,  born  in  1836,  now  Mrs. 
James  Harrison,  of  Ironton ;  Isaac,  born  in 
1839,  died  in  the  fall  of  1894;  Mary  Anne, 
now  Mrs.  George  Innian,  of  Chicago ; 
Thomas,  living  on  the  homestead  in  La- 
valle  township;  and  Christopher,  living  on 
the  homestead,  which  has  been  divided,  and 
on  which  he  has  erected  a  model  residence. 

Mr.  Pearson  passed  from  this  life  May 
28,  1893,  in  Lavalle,  aged  eighty-three  years. 
He  took  great  interest  in  the  development 
01  the  country,  and  was  a  loyal  citizen, 
Whose  death  was  a  loss  to  the  entire  com- 
munity. He  was  a  stanch  Democrat  in  po- 
litical sentiment,  and  on  the  last  election 
previous  to  his  death  cast  his  vote  for  the 
candidat'es  of  that  party. 

Charles  Pearson,  the  eldest  son  of 
Manelious  and  Sarah  (VVroe)  Pearson,  is  a 
retired  farmer,  and  resides  in  the  village  of 
Ironton.  He  came  to  America  with  his 
parents  in  1848,  and  enlisted  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union  in  September,  1861, 
and  became  a  member  of  Company  B, 
Twelfth  Wisconsin  Infantry.  He  saw  ser- 
vice under  Logan,  Howard,  Sherman  and 
Grant,  and  was  engaged  in  the  sieges  of 
Vick.sburg  and  Atlanta,  and  in  the  latter  en- 
gagement was  wounded  in  the  left  knee, 
September  28,  1864,  and  has  been  a  sufferer 
in  consequence  until  the  present  time.  He 
was  engaged  upon  a  battery,  and  his  hearing 
became  affected,  so  that  now  he  cannot  hear 
well.  He  was  discharged  from  the  ser- 
vice in  November,  1864,  at  Chattanooga. 
Returning  from  the  army  he  engaged  in 
farming  near  Ironton,  and  continued  thus 
until  1890,  when  he  sold  his  farm  to  his  son, 
Charles,  and  has  since  resided  in  Ironton. 

Charles  Pearson  was  married  Tanuarv  i. 


1853,  to  Martha  Harrison,  daughter  of 
George  and  Martha  Harrison,  of  Lavalle. 
Nine  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Pearson,  eight  of  whom  are  .still  liv- 
ing, as  follows :  Eleazer,  now  living  in 
Ironton  township ;  Azilla,  now  M"rs;  Rabuck, 
residing  in  Lavalle;  Jacob,  residing  in  La- 
valle ;  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  Thornton,  of  La- 
valle; Selena,  now  Mrs.  Stowe,  of  Ironton; 
Charles,  residing  in  Ironton ;  Ida,  teaching 
in  the  public  school  of  Ironton;  and  Alina, 
a  teacher  in  the  Lavalle  school.  Mr.  Pear- 
son is  a  member  of  H.  A.  Tator  Post,  G.  A. 
R.  In  political  sentiment  he  is  a  Republi- 
can, and  despite  the  fact  that  his  afflictions 
are  such  as  kept  him  confined  to  his  home, 
he  takes  great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his 
party.  He  is  a  man  who  has  made  his  in- 
fluence felt  in  his  community,  and  is  deserv- 
edly held  in  high  esteem. 


PETER  BAHL,  Deceased. 

Peter  Bahl,  deceased,  while  in  life  was 
an  honored  veteran  of  our  great  Civil  war, 
and  an  honest  and  hard-working  man  all  his 
life,  making  his  home  in  the  town  of  Fort 
Winnebago,  Columbia  county.  More  than 
three-quarters  of  the  century  stretched 
away  behind  him  before  called  to  his  rest, 
and  he  filled  his  years  with  earnest  toil  and 
the  workings  of  an  upright  spirit.  Mr. 
Bahl  was  born  in  Goldhausen,  province  of 
Nassau,  Germany,  July  25,  1824,  and  came 
of  a  family  prominent  in  business  and  agri- 
cultural circles.  His  father,  John  Bahl,  was 
a  prosperous  farmer  and  fruit  grower,  and 
served  for  many  years  as  burgomaster  of 
Goldhausen.  He  was  the  father  of  seven 
sons.  One  of  these  served  in  the  German 
army,  and  three  were  surveyors.  Three  of 
his  sons  and  one  daughter  have  found  homes 
w  ithin  the  limits  of  the  LTnited  States. 


386 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Peter  Bahl  spent  his  earlier  years  un- 
der the  parental  roof  tree,  and  was  bred  to 
the  wagon  maker's  trade  in  Germany.  In 
1854  he  crossed  the  ocean,  and  found  work 
at  his  trade  in  Milwaukee,  where  he  contin- 
ued for  nearly  two  years.  From  Milwaukee 
he  removed  to  Dodgeville,  and  settled  on  a 
farm,  giving  for  many  years  his  chief  atten- 
tion to  his  trade,  lie  was  thirteen  years  in 
one  shop,  and  was  in  demand  in  neighboring 
villages.  His  military  experiences  were 
confined  to  the  closing  months  of  the  Civil 
war,  but  none  the  less  creditable  on  that  ac- 
count. He  enlisted  in  February,  1865,  and 
was  the  color  bearer  seven  months.  He 
was  stationed  at  St.  Louis  and  Rolla,  Mis- 
souri, but  was  taken  sick  at  Springfield,  and 
passed  through  an  exceedingly  painful  expe- 
rience, and  retired  from  the  army  with 
health  much  impaired. 

Mr.  Bahl  was  married  soon  after  coming 
to  this  country  to  Miss  Anne  Mary  Eulberg, 
a  sister  of  Adam  Eulberg,  of  Portage.  She 
died  at  Dodgeville,  Wisconsin,  in  1876,  aged 
thirty-eight  years,  and  was  also  of  German 
extraction,  her  birthplace  being  the  village 
of  Muelt,  Nassau.  She  had  one  brother, 
and  five  sisters :  Ludwig  is  a  professor  of 
music  at  Highland,  Wisconsin.  He  grad- 
uated from  St.  F"rancis"  Seminary,  Milwau- 
kee, and  has  won  a  high  standing  in  his 
chosen  calling.  Mary  is  dead.  Elizabeth, 
Emma  (Mrs.  Theodore  Gloeckler)  and  Su- 
sie are  still  living,  while  Anna  died  an  in- 
fant. Mr.  Bahl  was  an  e.xtensive  reader, 
and  took  much  interest  in  current  affairs. 
Mr.  Bahl  died  May  9,  1900. 


CHRISTOPH    SPIEHR. 

Christoph  S])iehr.  .Among  the  brave 
and  far-sighted  pioneers  (d'  Wisconsin  the 
hardy,  industrious  and  frugal  emigrants 
were  leaders,  and  ha\'e  been  important  fac- 


tors in  developing  and  sustaining  the  va- 
ried activities  which,  combined  in  a  harmo- 
nious whole,  constitute  our  modern  civiliza-  ' 
tion.  A  worthy  representative  of  this  class 
is  Christoph  Spiehr,  who  is  one  of  the  old- 
est settlers  of  Sauk  City  now  living,  hav- 
ing come  here  from  Milwaukee,  August  25, 
1850.  For  many  years  he  was  actively 
identified  with  the  business  interests  of  the 
place,  but  is  now  practically  living  retired. 

Mr.  Spiehr  was  born  September  7,  18 18, 
in  Rehna,  Germany,  ten  miles  from  Ham- 
burg, and  was  educated  in  his  native  land, 
but  his  opportunities  along  that  line  were 
limited.  In  early  life  he  commenced  learn- 
ing the  tinsmith's  trade,  but  before  complet- 
ing his  apprenticeship  found  that  the  busi- 
ness was  injurious  to  his  health,  and  on  the 
advice  of  a  physician  abandoned  it.  Eater 
he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade,  but  it 
seemed  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  under  the 
existing  circumstances  to  accumulate  any- 
thing, as  only  by  the  strictest  economy  and 
careful  management  he  was  able  to  meet  his- 
daily  expenses.  So  a  change  was  deter- 
mined upon,  and  this  country  selected  as 
offering  the  best  inducements  for  a  poor 
man.  At  the  age  of  twenty-nine  he  took 
passage  on  a  sailing  vessel  at  Hamburg,  and 
after  a  rough  and  stormy  passage  of  forty- 
two  days'  duration  finally  reached  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  At  first  the  skies  seemed 
bright,  and  amid  the  regrets  of  parting  from 
friends  and  native  land,  came  hope  for  a 
better  future  in  this  land  of  liberty,  of  which 
he  had  heard  so  much. 

From  New  York  Mr.  Spiehr  went  to 
Buffalo,  and  later  to  Milwaukee,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  and  made  many  friends, 
among  wiliom  were  leather  dealers,  who 
willingly  assisted  him  in  subsequent  years. 
As  previously  stated,  he  came  to  Sauk  City, 
August  25,  1850,  and  as  he  was  without 
money,  and  could  not  afford  to  hire  a  con- 
veyance, he  made  the  journey  on  foot.   This 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


387 


section  at  that  time  was  all  wild  and  unim- 
proved. He  opened  a  shop  in  Sauk  City, 
and  in  order  to  secure  a  start  worked  day 
and  night,  sometimes  until  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  He  thus  proved  to  the  leather 
dealers  in  Milwaukee  that  he  was  honest, 
industrious  and  persevering,  and  he  had  no 
trouble  in  securing  supplies  on  credit.  He 
continued  to  work  at  his  trade  for  many 
years  with  good  success,  but  is  now  living 
retired,  peacefully  passing  his  declining 
years  in  caring  for  his  garden  and  taking 
life  easy.  He  has  platform  scales  upon  his 
place  and  weighs  hay,  etc. 

Mr.  Spiehr  married  Conradina  Biersch- 
wale,  also  a  native  of  Germany,  by  whom 
he  has  had  four  children,  three  now  living, 
namely:  Charles,  a  druggist  of  Chicago; 
Mrs.  Louisa  Weisenborn,  of  ^Milwaukee; 
and  Mrs.  Bertha  Housen,  of  Chippewa 
Falls,  Wisconsin,  whose  husband  is  a  college 
professor.  Mr.  Spiehr  is  a  free  thinker  and 
a  member  of  the  Free  Congregation  of  Sauk 
City,  to  which  he  sold  the  land  on  which 
tlieir  chapel  is  built.  He  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  society,  and  one  of  its  first 
officers.  He  has  witnessed  almost  the  en- 
tire growth  of  Sauk  City,  and  in  early  days 
took  an  active  part  in  every  enterprise  cal- 
culated to  prove  of  public  benefit,  securing 
the  ground  for  a  cemetery,  organizing  the 
fire  company,  and  using  his  influence  for  the 
establishment  of  a  postoftice  here.  He  is 
widely  known  and  highly  respected,  and  on 
the  rolls  of  Sauk  county's  honored  pioneers 
his  name  should  be  among  the  foremost.  He 
and  his  wife  visited  the  World's  Fair  in 
Chicago  in  1893,  and  had  a  very  enjoyable 
time. 


ANANIAS    HARRIS. 

Ai;anias  Harris,  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful farmers  of  Adams  county,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Henderson,  JefYerson   county. 


New  York,  December  13,  1812.  He  has  led 
a  life  of  industry,  frugality  and  temperance, 
and  though  now  in  the  eighty-seventh  year 
of  his  age,  he  still  exhibits  remarkable  activ- 
ity of  mind  and  body.  He  sprang  of  early 
New  England  families,  many  members  of 
which  have  been  conspicuous  for  physical 
longevity,  independent  ideas  and  stability  of 
purpose. 

He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Anthony 
Harris,  senior,  who  was  born  of  Welsh  jiar- 
ents  at  Richmond,  Chester  county.  New 
Hampshire,  in  1736.  Among  his  children 
was  a  daughter,  Lydia,  who  became  the 
mother  of  Reverend  Hosea  Ballon,  the 
famous  pioneer  of  Universalism  in  New 
England.  He  also  had  a  son,  Anthony, 
who  became  the  father  of  Jeremiah  Harris, 
and  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  no- 
tice. Jeremiah  Harris  was  also  a  native  of 
Richmond,  New  Hampshire,  and  lived  at 
different  times  in  New  York,  Canada,  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania.  His  later  years  were 
spent  in  the  last  named  state,  and  his  death 
occurred  in  the  town  of  Springfield,  Erie 
county,  about  1 847,  at  the  age  of  over  eighty 
years.  He  was  an  earnest  adherent  of  the 
Universalist  faith,  and  very  fond  of  relig- 
ious argument,  at  which  he  excelled.  Though 
never  ordained  as  a  minister,  he  frequently 
filled  the  pulpit  and  always  attracted  goodly 
congregations.  He  married  Priscilla  Cole, 
who  departed  this  life  in  1868,  after  attain- 
ing the  age  of  nearly  ninety  years.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Barnabas  Cole,  who  was 
born  at  Chatham,  Massachusetts,  and  en- 
listed from  that  state  in  the  Continental 
army.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  de- 
scendant of  Isaac  Cole,  a  native  of  Sand- 
wich, county  of  Kent,  England,  who  came 
to  Massachusetts  in  1634.  In  civil  life  Bar- 
nabas Cole  was  a  farmer.  He  died  in  the 
town  of  Conneaut,  Erie  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years. 

Jeremiah  and  Priscilla  Harris  w'ere  the 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


parents  of  seven  sons  and  two  daughters, 
several  of  whom  reached  the  age  of  more 
than  eighty  years.  Their  names  were :  Si- 
las, Levi,  Barney,  Luke,  Jeremiah,  Caleb, 
Ananias,  Sarah  (Mrs.  C.  P.  Ellis)  and  Me- 
lissa. All  but  the  last  named  reached  ma- 
ture age,  and  six  of  the  number  became  resi- 
dents of  Wisconsin.  Levi  was  a  Univer- 
salist  clergyman. 

Ananias  Harris,  who  is  the  only  survivor 
of  his  father's  family,  was  about  fourteen 
years  old  when  he  located  with  his  parents 
in  Springfield,  Pennsylvania.  He  lived 
there  until  1856,  when  he  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin. After  spending  one  season  in  the  town 
01  La  Grange,  Walworth  county,  he  settled 
on  his  present  farm  in  the  town  of  Spring- 
ville,  Adams  county.  A  small  clearing  had 
previously  been  made  thereon,  and  he  at 
once  set  about  its  further  improvement. 
From  time  to  time  he  made  additions  to  the 
original  purchase,  and  has  owned  more  than 
a  section  of  land  in  all.  Though  he  has 
given  each  of  his  children  a  farm,  he  still 
has  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  with  sub- 
stantial improvements.  The  farm  is  well 
stocked  and  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion. He  has  concerned  himself  very  little 
with  public  affairs,  but  has  maintained  a 
reputation  for  strict  integrity  and  persever- 
ing industry. 

Mr.  Harris  was  first  married,  January 
20,  1839,  to  Margaret,  daughter  of  Joshua 
and  Margaret  Smith.  She  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  died  at  Springfield,  Oc- 
tober 6,  1 84 1,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
years.  She  left  two  sons:  Milo  and 
Charles  G.  The  latter,  who  served  three 
years  in  Company  E,  Nineteenth  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Lifantry,  was  seized  with  con- 
sumption while  in  that  service  and  died  at 
Springfield,  Pennsylvania,  not  being  able 
to  reach  his  home  in  Wisconsin. 

April  18.  1845,  ^^i'-  Harris  was  married 
to  Phoebe  Cordelia,  daughter  of  Isaac    and 


Jane  (Cole)  Brower.  Mrs.  Harris  was  born 
in  the  county  of  McKean,  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Her  parents  were  natives  of  New 
"^^ork,  her  mother  probably  of  the  same 
family  from  which  Barnabas  Cole  de- 
scended. Six  children  were  born  of  the 
last  mentioned  union,  George  Britton  and 
Cordelia  P.  having  died  in  childhood.  The 
survivors  are:  Margaret  E.  (Mrs.  H.  S. 
Willard),  Edson  B.,  Matilda  Jane  and  Julia 
(Mrs.  George  Ager),  all  living  in  Adams 
county. 


CAPT.    OLE    MATHL-\S    BENDIXEN. 

Captain  Ole  Mathias  Bendixen,  a  well- 
known  ex-sheriff  of  Columbia  county,  has 
for  many  years  been  one  of  its  most  highly 
esteemed  and  valued  citizens.  He  is  of  for- 
eign birth,  but  his  duties  of  citizenship  have 
ever  been  performed  with  a  loyafty  equal  to 
that  of  any  native  son  of  America,  and  when 
the  nation  was  imperiled  by  rebellion  he 
V,  ent  to  the  defense  of  the  Union  and  pro- 
tected the  cause  of  his  adopted  country  on 
many  a  southern  battlefield. 

A  native  of  Norway,  Mr.  Bendixen  was 
born  in  Flekkefiord,  Prestigeld,  April  14, 
1833,  a"d  is  a  son  of  Tollag  E.  and  Anna 
Maria  (Torkelson)  Bendixen,  also  natives 
nf  that  place,  where  the  father  followed 
farming  for  many  years,  as  did  also  the  pa- 
ternal grandfather  and  great-grandfather, 
and  the  maternal  grandfather,  Torkel  Tor- 
kelson.  In  1850,  Tollag  Bendixen,  with  his 
family,  sailed  for  the  United  States,  and  on 
reaching  the  shores  of  this  country  came  di- 
rect to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  locat- 
ii!g  on  a  farm  in  Lewiston  township,  where 
he  died  September  2,  1888,  when  nearly 
eighty-two  years  of  age.  The  wife  and 
mother  died  in  1861.  Of  the  five  children 
born  to  this  worthy  couple,  three  died  in 
Norway,  and  our  subject  is  the  only  one 
now  living. 


CAPTAIH  OLE    M.  BEHDIXEH. 


MRS.  OLE    H.  BEHDIXEN. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


393 


Ole  M.  Bendixen  received  a  limited  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  land,  and 
was  reared  to  farm  life.  He  was  seventeen 
years  of  age  when  he  accompanied  his  par- 
ents on  their  emigration  to  tlie  new  world, 
and  has  since  made  his  home  in  Lewiston 
township,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  on 
the  farm  which  his  father  took  as  a  squat- 
ter's claim.  He  now  owns  six  hundred 
acres  of  valuable  land  divided  into  four 
farms,  and  has  for  many  years  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  hop  culture. 

During  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Bendixen  en- 
hsted  October  29,  1861,  in  Comppmy  D,  Fif- 
teenth Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  which 
was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  at  different  times  was  under  the 
command  of  Commodore  Foote,  Generals 
Buell,  Rosecrans  and  Sherman.  His  first 
engagement  of  any  importance  was  the  siege 
of  Island  No.  10,  which  was  followed  by  the 
battles  of  Perryville,  Stone  River  and  Chick- 
amauga.  At  the  last  named  engagement  he 
was  wounded  and  sent  to  hospital  No.  8, 
Nashville,  and  later  transferred  to  Harvey 
hospital,  Madison,  Wisconsin.  He  rejoined 
his  regiment  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee, 
July  8,  1864,  and  was  detailed  to  take  charge 
of  the  guard  at  the  hospital  on  Lookout 
mountain,  having  been  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  sergeant  previous  to  being  wiounded. 
Three  months  later  he  joined  his  regiment  in 
guarding  Whiteside  Station,  where  he  re- 
mained until  mustered  out  February  13, 
1865.  He  received  a  brevet  captain's  com- 
mission, dated  October  8,  1862,  as  a  recogni- 
tion of  conspicuous  gallantry  at  the  battle  of 
Perryville. 

On  the  22nd  of  January,  1869,  Mr.  Ben- 
dixen married  Miss  Julia  Scott,  also  a  na- 
tive of  Norway,  who  came  to  America  in 
1850  with  her  parents,  Peter  and  Gonel 
Scott,  of  McFarland,  Dane  county,  Wiscon- 
sin. _  Six  children  have  been  born  of  this 
union,  namely:     Anna  Maria,  now  the  wife 


of  Christ  Anset,  of  Lewiston  township;  Jo- 
sephine Tallene,  who  successfully  engaged  in 
teaching  for  several,  years,  and  died  July  15, 
1899;  Ella  Sophia,  now  Mrs.  Robert  Kerr; 
Tollag  Blaine,  Lawrence,  Amanda  G.,  and 
Cora  Mabel,  at  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bendixen  are  prominent 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
of  Portage,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  trus- 
tees, and  was  a  member  of  the  building  com- 
mittee, and  socially  he  belongs  to  Roselle 
Post,  No.  14,  G.  A.  R.,  in  which  he  has 
served  as  senior  vice-commander.  In  politi- 
cal sentiment  he  has  always  been  a  stanch 
Republican,  has  been  a  delegate  to  most  of 
tlie  county  conventions  of  his  party  since  the 
war,  to  the  state  convention  in  1890,  and  to 
congressional  and  other  conventions,  where 
he  has  rendered  his  party  effective  service. 
Being  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  influen- 
tial citizens  of  his  community;  he  has  been 
called  upon  to  fill  a  number  of  local  offices  of 
honor  and  trust,  serving  as  township  treas- 
urer five  years,  member  of  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors and  chairman  of  the  board  in  Lew- 
iston township  for  two  years.  In  18S6  he 
was  nominated  for  sheriff,  and  though  de- 
feated at  that  time  he  was  elected  to  the  same 
office  in  1896.  His  official  duties  were  ever 
discharged  with  the  utmost  promptness  and 
fidelity,  worthy  of  all  commendation,  and 
his  public  and  private  life  are  alike  above  re- 
proach. He  now  resides  on  the  farm  in 
Lewiston  township.  Portraits  of  Mr.  Ben- 
dixen and  wife,  shown  on  other  pages  in  this 
volume,  will  please  a  large  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances  who  are  attached  to  them 
by  admiration  and  regard  for  their  many 
sterling  virtues  and  unblemished  probity. 


MILO   HARRIS. 

Milo  Harris,  an  honored  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen  of  Kill)ourn,  Columbia  coun- 
ty.  \\'isconsin,   who,   after  years  of  active 


894 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


labor  as  an  agriculturist,  is  now  living  a  re- 
tired life,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  former  toil, 
was  born  in  Springfield,  Pennsylvania, 
September  i8,  1839,  and  is  the  only  surviv- 
ing son  of  Ananias  and  Margaret  Harris,  of 
whom  more  extended  mention  is  made  on 
another  page  of  this  volume. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  our  subject  came 
to  Wisconsin,  and  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  has  been  passed  in  z\dams  county.  On 
the  26th  of  September,  1864,  he  enlisted  as 
a  recruit  in  Company  K,  Twenty-fifth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  under  command 
of  Col.  J.  M.  Rusk,  afterward  governor  of 
the  state.  He  joined  Sherman's  army  after 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  went  on  the  celebrated 
march  to  the  sea,  and  was  all  through  the 
Carolina  campaign.  As  a  private  he  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Bentonville,  Golds- 
boro,  and  Salkahatchie,  and  the  capture  of 
Columbia,  South  Carolina.  At  Newbern, 
North  Carolina,  he  was  incapacitated  by 
malarial  fever  and  sent  on  a  transport  to 
New  York,  where  he  remained  in  a  hospital 
at  Willet's  Point  until  honorably  discharged, 
June  8,  1865.  After  the  war  Mr.  Harris 
engaged  in  farming  in  Springville  township, 
Adams  county,  where  he  owned  a  fine  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  forty-five  acres,  and  in 
his  undertakings  met  with  marked  success, 
so  that  he  is  now  able  to  lay  aside  all  busi- 
ness cares  and  spend  his  declining  years  in 
ease  and  quiet,  surrounded  by  all  the  com- 
forts which  make  life  worth  the  living.  He 
now  makes  his  home  in  the  town  of  Kil- 
bourn,  Columbia  county. 

On  the  2ist  of  February,  1866,  Mr. 
Harris  married  Miss  Emma  M.  Willard, 
who  was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  New 
York,  May  26,  1848.  a  daughter  of  Lean- 
der  and  Lucy  A.  Willard.  By  this  union 
were  born  two  sons  :  Charles  A.,  born  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1867,  died  April  14,  1890.  Law- 
rence N.  married  Lillian  L.  Billings,  a 
sketch  of  whose  parents  is  given  elsewhere 


in  this  volume,  and  is  now  operating  the  old 
homestead  farm  in  Springville  township, 
Adams  county. 

Mr.  Harris  was  an  honored  member  and 
held  the  office  of  senior  vice  commander  of 
J.  C.  Miller  Post,  No.  143,  G.  A.  R.,  of 
Oxford,  and  in  politics  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party.  He  has  served  as  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  in  Oxford,  and  has  Ijeen  a 
member  of  the  board  of  education  three 
years.  Upright  and  honorable  in  all  the  re- 
lations of  life,  he  commands  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  those  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact,  and  he  has  a  host  of  friends  in  the 
community  where  he  resides. 


LORENZO   GARDNER. 

Lorenzo  Gardner.  Among  the  great 
agricultural  states  of  the  west  Wisconsin 
stands  well  to  the  front  in  the  variety  and 
quality  of  its  products,  and  the  grains,  stock 
and  dairy,  as  well  as  the  garden  and  vine- 
yard, have  returned  their  full  shares  re- 
spectively of  the  abundance  that  has  earned 
for  this  state  its  enviable  rank.  Sauk 
county  has  not  lagged  behind  in  the  annual 
outpouring  of  nature's  riches,  and  the  gen- 
tleman whose  name  introduces  this  biogra- 
phy, and  whose  home  is  in  Lavalle  town- 
ship, has  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cent- 
ury been  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
and  most  successful  agriculturists  of  the 
county. 

Lorenzo  Gardner  was  born  August  g, 
1838,  in  Pennsylvania,  son  of  Elisha  P.  and 
Phoebe  (Jordan)  Gardner.  Elisha  P.  Gard- 
ner was  born  in  Otsego  county,  New  York, 
and  Phoebe  (Jordan)  Gardner  was  born 
near  Knoxville,  Pennsylvania.  Elisha 
Gardner  brought  his  family  to  Dane  county, 
Wisconsin,  in  the  spring  of  1851,  and  the 
next  year  moved  to  a  farm  near  Reedsburg, 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


895 


Sauk  county,  where  he  remained  three  or 
four  years.  He  afterwards  purchased  a 
farm  in  Winfield  township,  then  sold  it,  and 
purchased  the  farm  whicl:  became  his  home- 
stead, and  is  now  occupied  by  his  son,  W. 
S.  Gardner.  Ehsha  P.  Gardner  died  at  La- 
valle,  February  lo,  1891,  and  his  faithful 
wife  died  in  the  same  village  March  21, 
1898. 

Until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  Lo- 
renzo Gardner,  the  suliject  of  this  review, 
worked  on  the  farm  and  attended  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  neighborhood,  where  he 
picked  up  such  education  as  could  be  gleaned 
under  such  circumstances.  He  has  always 
been  a  great  observer,  and  he  has  in  this 
way  gathered  a  fund  of  practical  knowl- 
edge from  many  sources  that  has  stood  him 
in  good  stead  on  many  occasions  and  af- 
fords him  much  pleasure  and  entertainment. 
When  about  seventeen  years  old  he  went  to 
Grand  Rapids,  and  engaged  in  carpenter 
work.  He  helped  to  erect  the  first  frame 
building  in  the  village  of  Centralia,  now  a 
thriving  suburb  of  Grand  Rapids,  on  the  op- 
posite bank  of  the  Wisconsin  river.  After 
about  five  years  of  this  work  he  returned  to 
Sauk  county  and  purchased  a  farm  near  the 
old  homestead,  and  this  farm  he  has  since 
occupied.  He  has  made  a  success  of  farm- 
ing, and  has  an  estate  of  great  value,  en- 
hanced by  excellent  improvements  and  con- 
veniences suitable  for  the  prosecution  of 
modern  agriculture.  He  is  practical  and 
original  in  his  ideas  and  keeps  pace  with 
advancing  methods  and  progress  in  this 
branch  of  industry. 

Mr.  Gardner  was  married  September  2, 
1862,  to  Sarah  J.  White,  daughter  of  John 
and  Jane  (  Cottrell )  White,  natives  of  Eng- 
land, who  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1848.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gardner  ten  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  six  of  whom  are  now 
living,  named  as  follows :  Etta,  born  April 
3.  1864.  now  Mrs.  Packard,  of  Canton,  Wis- 


consin; Frank  L.,  born  February  10,  1866, 
living  at  Lavalle;  Mary,  born  June  30,  1869, 
now  Mrs.  Stel^bins,  of  Woodland,  Wis- 
consin; Elmer,  born  August  i,  1873;  Isabel, 
born  February  14,  1882;  and  Louisa,  born 
July  20,  1883,  all  at  home.  Mr.  Gardner 
takes  an  active  interest  in  public  matters,  has 
always  been  a  stanch  Republican,  has  been 
elected  to  various  town  offices  from  time  to 
time,  and  has  always  discharged  his  trust 
with  honesty,  fidelity  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  his  constituents. 


AUGUST   RUSCH. 

August  Rusch,  one  of  the  oldest  engin- 
eers on  the  La  Crosse  division  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  and 
an  honored  resident  of  Portage,  Wisconsin, 
was  born  in  Pomerania,  Germany,  April  2, 
1846,  a  son  of  WiUiam  and  Sophia  (  Bartel) 
Rusch,  also  natives  of  that  place,  who  in 
1847  came  to  the  United  States  and  located 
in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  where  the  father 
at  first  worked  at  his  trade  of  blacksmith- 
ing.  After  a  time  he  entered  the  shops  of 
the  Milwaukee  &  La  Crosse  Railroad  at  that 
place,  and  in  1862  was  transferred  to  the 
shops  at  Portage,  where  he  was  employed 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  spent  his  last 
days  in  retirement  from  active  labor,  enjoy- 
ing a  well-earned  rest.  He  died  in  Portage 
September  9,  1893,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty  years.  Li  political  sentiment  he  was 
a  stanch  Republican,  and  for  one  term  he 
most  capably  served  his  fellow  citizens  as 
alderman  from  the  fifth  ward  of  Portage. 
He  was  an  active  and  faithful  memljer  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  which  he  helped  to  or- 
ganize here,  and  was  a  trustee  of  the  same 
for  some  years.  His  estimable  wife  still 
survives  him,  and  is  living  in  Portage  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four  years.     Her  parents  died 


396 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


in  Milwaukee.  Our  subject  is  the  oldest  of 
a  family  of  five  children,  three  sons  and  two 
daughters,  who  reached  years  of  maturity, 
the  others  being  Frank,  a  locomotive  engin- 
eer living  in  Portage;  Frederick,  a  fireman 
of  the  same  place;  Minna,  widow  of  Her- 
man Kuntzman  and  a  resident  of  Stillwater, 
Minnesota;  and  Bertha,  a  resident  of  Port- 
age. 

August  Rusch  was  a  mere  infant  when 
brought  by  his  parents  to  the  new  world, 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Milwaukee.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Milwaukee  &  La 
Crosse  Railroad,  now  the  La  Crosse  divis- 
ion of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad,  with  which  he  has  ever  since  been 
connected.  He  began  as  wiper  in  the  shops 
at  Portage,  later  was  fireman  for  six  years, 
and  since  1869  has  been  a  locomotive  en- 
gineer, being  on  the  passenger  run  between 
Portage  and  Milwaukee  for  several  years 
past.  Being  sober,  industrious  and  pains- 
tc'^king,  he  is  a  most  valuable  employe,  as  is 
evinced  by  his  long  service  with  one  of  the 
leading  railroad  companies  of  the  north- 
west, for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  such 
corporations  keep  in  their  employ  only  those 
who  best  serve  their  interests. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  1882,  Mr.  Rusch 
married  Miss  Augusta  Peterman,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Minna  (Heuer)  Peter- 
man,  of  Milwaukee,  who  were  also  from 
Pomerania,  Germany,  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1839.  For  many  years  the  fa- 
ther was  a  hardware  dealer  in  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  died  January  9,  1897, 
aged  seventy-one  years  and  eight  months, 
and  his  wife  passed  away  April  22,  1882, 
aged  fifty-six  years.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rusch  have  been  born  five  children,  as  fol- 
lows :  Alary,  Julia,  Edna,  Emma  and  Her- 
bert. The  family  occcupy  a  verv  pleasant 
modern  home  on  Cass  street,  which  Mr. 
Rusch   has   recently   remodeled,     and     they 


are  connected  with  the  Lutheran  church  of 
Portage.  Fraternally  Mr.  Rusch  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Division  No.  66,  B.  of  L.  E.,  and 
politically  is  identified  with  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  takes  no  active  part  in  politics 
aside  from  voting.  He  is  widely  known  and 
highly  respected,  and  justly  merits  the  high 
regard  in  which  he  is  held,  for  his  life  has 
always  been  honorable  and  upright. 


JAMES    FRANKLLN    VON    ALSTINE. 

The  dells  of  the  Wisconsin  river  furnish 
ideal  places  for  country  homes,  and  among 
those  who  have  taken  advantage  of  one  of 
the  brightest  spots  on  which  to  locate  is  the 
gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  review. 
Flis  farm  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  vicinity, 
and  he  has  spared  no  pains  to  make  it  such, 
and  the  natural  surroundings  have  aided  in 
liis  \vork.  The  farm  is  part  of  what  Hs 
known  as  Witch's  Gulch,  and  has  almost  a 
mile  of  river  frontage,  making"  it  an  ideal 
spot  for  tourists  and  a  valuable  farm  prop- 
erty. His  homestead  is  located  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  and  he  has  been  a  resident 
of  Adams  county  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  is  well  known  and  enjoys  an  en- 
viable  reputation. 

Mr.  Von  Alstine  was  born  in  Erie,  Erie 
county,  Pennsylvania,  June  16,  1840,  and 
was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Harriet  (Blake) 
Von  Alstine.  His  father  was  born  in  Scho- 
harie county,  New  York,  and  his  mother  in 
Onondaga  county,  New  York.  The  father 
was  engaged  in  early  life  in  the  salt  works 
in  Syracuse,  and  later  followed  farming. 
He  came  west  in  1853,  to  Baraboo,  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  remained  one 
\ear,  and  then  moved  to  Lyndon,  Juneau 
county.  He  removed  to  Springville  town- 
ship. Adams  county,  in  1856,  and  purchased 
land  on  which  he  conducted   farming  until 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


397 


his  death  March  i6,  1874.  His  wife  died 
October  12,  of  the  same  year,  and  both  were 
buried  in  Kilbourn  cemetery. 

Our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin  with  his 
parents  when  thirteen  years  of  age  and  had 
previously  attended  school  in  Pierpont, 
Ohio,  and  when  the  family  located  in  Sauk 
county,  he  attended  school  in  Baraboo. 
After  moving  to  Juneau  county  he  worked 
in  the  pineries  and  was  thus  engaged  fif- 
teen winters,  and  spent  twenty-six  summers 
as  raftsman  on  the  Wisconsin,  Yellow  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  He  moved  to  his  pres- 
ent home  in  1874,  and  has  been  a  continuous 
resident  of  Dell  Prairie  township  since. 

Mr.  Von  Alstine  was  married,  October 
16,  1857,  to  Eliza  O'Connor,  daughter  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  O'Connor,  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Mrs.  Von  Alstine's  father  was 
born  near  Niagara  Falls,  Canada,  and  left 
there  in  181 2,  and  her  mother  was  born  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland.  Her  parents  came  to 
Oconomowoc,  Waukesha  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, in  1844,  and  the  father  was  a  cooper 
by  trade,  but  farmed  while  there.  The  fam- 
ily moved  to  Sauk  county  in  1 854,  and  after 
one  year  came  to  SpringA'ille  township, 
Adams  county,  and  remained  until  1859, 
thence  moved  to  Necedah,  Juneau  county, 
and  the  father  engaged  in  the  lumber  and 
cranberry  business.  He  purchased  a  farm 
in  Lisbon  township,  Juneau  county,  in  1862, 
on  which  he  pursued  farming  until  his  death 
ill  1875.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Von  Alstine 
died  in  1873,  ^^^'^  '^oth  parents  rest  at  New 
Lisbon.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Von  Alstine  are  the 
parents  of  the  following  children :  William 
died  in  1872;  Emmett,  farmer,  in  Dell 
Prairie  township;  Helen,  now  Mrs.  Hamil- 
ton Tyler,  of  Dell  Prairie;  Albert,  in  Big 
Springs,  Adams  county;  Warren,  in  Dell 
Prairie  township;  George,  employed  in  the 
car  service  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad;  Edith,  residing  at  home;  Her- 
bert, at  home;  and  Frederick,  at  home.     Mr. 


Von  Alstine  is  a  Republican  in  political 
sentiment,  but  does  not  seek  public  prefer- 
ment. He  is  interested  in  his  community's 
welfare,  and  supports  feasible  public  meas- 
ures and  enterprises. 


SAMUEL  SAMPSON. 

For  the  past  half  a  century  Columbia 
county  has  had  no  more  energetic  and  able 
representative  among  her  farming  com- 
munity than  the  gentleman  above  named. 
He  is  the  possessor  of  a  fine  estate  in  Ot- 
sego township  and  has  gained  an  abundance 
of  property  to  tide  him  through  his  declin- 
ing years  and  also  possesses  an  enviable 
reputation. 

Our  subject  was  born  near  Bergen,  Nor- 
way, March  6,  1837,  and  was  a  son  of  Tor- 
bm  and  Anna  (Ellingson)  Sampson,  na- 
tives of  Voss,  near  Bergen.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  in  Norway,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1844.  After  spending  four 
years  in  Boone  county,  Illinois,  he  came 
to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  settled 
in  the  town  of  Lowville,  where  he  pur- 
chased wild  land.  He  resided  there  until 
his  death  October  2,  1897,  aged  nearly 
eighty-eight  years.  The  paternal  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  Samuel  Sampson, 
lived  and  died  in  Norway.  Our  subject's 
mother  died  in  the  town  of  Lowville,  Co- 
lumbia county,  December  12,  1897,  aged 
ninety  years.  The  parents  of  Samuel  Samp- 
son were  members  of  the  Lutheran  church, 
of  Bonnett  Prairie,  which  they  assisted  in 
organizing  soon  after  going  to  the  county 
in  1849.  The  following  children  were  born 
to  this  worthy  couple:  Samuel,  our  subject; 
Peter  died  in  Jackson  county,  Wisconsin ; 
Severt,  of  Wilkins  county,  Minnesota; 
Ever,  deceased,  served  four  years  in  the 
U.   S.  army  during  the  Civil  war    in    the 


398 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Thirty-second  \\'isconsin  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, marclied  with  Slierman  to  the  sea 
■  and  participated  in  numerous  battles;  El- 
ling  died  in  Minnesota ;  Anna,  residing  in 
Rio,  \\'isconsin. 

Samuel  Sampson  came  to  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  be- 
gan farming  for  himself.  About  1870  he 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  his  present  farm 
in  the  town  of  Otsego.  His  entire  tract  of 
two  hundred  acres  is  now,  thoroughly  im- 
proved with  substantial  and  commodious 
buildings,  his  own  w^ork,  and  he  has  pros- 
pered to  a  remarkable  degree.  He  has  gi\-en 
attention  to  tobacco  culture  for  the  past  few 
years  and  is  also  interested  in  stock  rais- 
ing. For  twenty-five  years  he  operated  a 
threshing  machine  and  introduced  the  first 
steam  machine  in  the  county.  He  was  a 
stockholder  in  the  first  cooperative  cheese 
factory  at  Rio,  of  which  he  later  became 
sole  owner,  and  he  also  built  a  creamery  in 
the  village  of  Otsego  and  operated  the  same 
three  years. 

Our  subject  was  married  December  25, 
1858,  to  Esther  Christine  Jurgerson,  daugh- 
ter of  Hans  and  Carrie  (Gunderson)  Jur- 
gerson. Mrs.  Sampson  was  born  in  Holden, 
Norway,  and  came  to  the  United  States  with 
her  parents  in  1846.  The  family  spent  one 
wninter  in  Walworth  county  and  then  settled 
in  the  town  of  Otsego,  being  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Columbia  county.  Mr.  Jurgerson 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  and  the 
mother  died  about  1852.  Mrs.  Sampson 
was  adopted  in  childhood  by  her  aunt  and 
uncle,  Peter  and  Kjerste  (Gunderson)  Hal- 
vorson,  with  whom  she  lived  until  her  mar- 
riage. The  present  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sampson  is  the  homestead  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Halvorson,  who  settled  there  in  1846.  Mr. 
Halvorson  died  in  1884.  aged  seventy-six 
years,  and  his  wife  died  two  years  later, 
aged    eightv-two    vears.      Mr.     and     Mrs. 


Sampson  are  the  parents  of  fourteen  children 
now  living,  and  one  other  who  died  in  in- 
fancy. Those  who  reached  maturity  are  as 
follows :  Thomas,  residing  in  Rio,  Wiscon- 
sin, traveling  representative  of  a  grain  firm; 
Mary  C,  now  Mrs.  Rev.  H.  Engh,  of  Thors- 
by,  Alabama;  Anna  C,  now  Mrs.  O.  Jar- 
show,  of  Hazel  Run,  Minnesota  ;Henry,  cash- 
ier of  the  Bank  of  Elbow  Lake,  Elbow  Lake, 
Minnesota ;SinaM., now  Mrs.  Rev.  Otto  Ot- 
tesen,  of  Sioux  Rapids,  Iowa ;  Clara  L.,  now 
Mrs.  Rev.  O.  M.  Vereide,  of  Buffalo  Center, 
Iowa ;  George,  residing  at  home,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Stoughton  Academy,  and  a  commer- 
cial traveler;  Cora  E. ;  William  O. ;  Her- 
man A.,  assistant  cashier  of  a  bank  at  Mon- 
tevideo, Minnesota ;  Walter  O. ;  Elmer  A. ; 
Olga  Rosina  and  Matilda.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sampson  have  twenty-three  grandchildren. 
The  family  has  enjoyed  good  advantages 
and  is  connected  with  the  Bonnett  Prairie 
Lutheran  church,  of  which  Mr.  Sampson 
was  a  trustee  for  many  years.  He  contrib- 
uted toward  the  erection  of  the  stone  church 
edifice  erected  in  1867.  He  is  well  known 
in  local  affairs  of  Otsego  township  and  was 
chairman  of  the  board  for  three  years.  Po- 
litically he  is  a  Republican,  but  in  recent 
years  is  not  active  in  party  affairs. 


HENRY  SARRINGTON. 

Henry  Sarrington,  a  prominent  miller 
and  business  man  of  Delton,  Sauk  county, 
has  been  a  resident  of  that  region  over 
thirty  years,  and  has  aided  in  the  upbuild- 
ing of  his  township  and  county,  and  is  well 
known  for  his  industry  and  honesty.  His 
mill  was  the  first  one  built  in  that  vicinity, 
and  he  enjoys  a  large  patronage  from  many 
miles  around. 

Mr.  Sarrington  was  born  at  Ketter- 
ing, Northampton,  England,  December 
-5-     1835.    and    was    the    son    of     Jonas 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


899 


and  Eliza  Ann  (Baker)  Sarrington.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  l\v  occupatiim  ami 
never  left  his  native  land,  both  he  antl 
his  wife  dying  in  England.  Our  sub- 
ject was  afforded  good  educational  ad- 
vantages, and  attended  school  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  when  he 
was  apprenticed  to  the  trade  which  he  has 
followed  throughout  his  life.  He  was  ap- 
prenticed for  three  years  to  a  miller  and  was 
employed  thus  until  he  came  to  America, 
in  the  winter  of  1856.  He  arrived  at  New 
York  March  6,  1857,  and  at  once  proceeded 
to  Oneida  county,  where  he  located  and  fol- 
lowed his  trade  three  years.  He  then  de- 
cided to  turn  his  way  westward,  and  see 
what  was  in  store  for  a  young  man  of  good 
ability  and  strong  will,  and  accordingly  came 
to  Wisconsin,  and  for  one  year  made  Berlin 
his  home.  He  then  moved  to  Retton,  where 
he  stayed  three  years  as  miller,  and  in  1867 
removed  to  Delton,  Sauk  county,  and  was 
employed  as  miller  until  1882,  when  he  pur 
chased  the  property  and  business  and  has 
continued  as  proprietor  to  the  present  time. 
Dell  creek  furnishes  good  power,  and  the 
mill  does  the  best  of  work.  He  is  a  thor- 
ough miller  and  his  business  steadily  in- 
creases. The  mill  was  the  first  grist-mill 
built  in  that  section  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Sarrington  was  married,  July  4, 
1865,  to  Susan  Bolderson.  Mrs.  Sarring- 
ton died  July  7,  1889,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren, as  follows :  Evelyn,  now  Mrs.  Julius 
Sumner,  of  Detroit,  Michigan;  Leslie  H., 
working  with  his  father  in  the  mill  at  Del- 
tun;  and  Grace,  attending  school  in  Poy- 
iiette,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Sarrington  married 
Emma  Mash,  of  Excelsior  township,  Sauk 
county,  January  2,  1893. 

Mr.  Sarrington  is  a  man  of  excellent 
characteristics,  and  has  devoted  a  great 
share  of  his  time  to  the  interests  of  his  com- 
munity. At  one  time  and  another  he  has 
held  most  of  the  important  offices  of  trust 


in  his  township,  and  in  every  instance  has 
performed  the  duties  with  a  oneness  of  pur- 
pose and  ability  which  has  won  for  him 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  associates. 
He  was  district  treasurer  for  nine  years,  and 
his  popularity  is  marked  throughout  the 
county.  In  political  faith  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  stands  firmly  for  the  principles  of 
his  party.  He  keeps  abreast  of  the  times, 
and  in  all  matters  of  a  public  nature  gives 
his  support  when  the  interests  of  his  com- 
munity will  be  enhanced  by  so  doing.  He 
came  into  the  state  when  it  was  a  wild  coun- 
try, and  has  witnessed  its  transformation 
into  one  of  the  foremost  countries  of  the 
west,  and  it  is  to  his  iniiuence  in  a  great 
measure  the  present  high  state  of  civiliza- 
tion found  in  Sauk  county  is  traceable.  He 
did  his  duty  as  a  pioneer  and  then  contin- 
ued along  the  same  line  working  for  his 
fellowmen,  and  is  now  held  in  their  minds 
and   hearts  as   a   loyal   citizen   and    friend. 


LYMAN   N.   MORSE. 

Lyman  N.  Morse,  an  enterprising  agri- 
culturist of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  is 
the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  near  Big  Spring, 
and  his  management  of  the  place  is  marked 
by  the  scientific  knowledge  and  skill  which 
characterize  the  modern  farmer.  He  was 
bijrn  in  Big  Spring,  Septemlser  2t,.  1851, 
an^l  is  the  oldest  son  of  Uri  Morse,  of  whom 
further  mention  is  made  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  He  was  educated  in  the  common 
and  high  schools  of  Kilbourn  City,  and  as  a 
steady  and  industrious  youth,  he  assisted  in 
the  labors  of  the  home  farm  until  he  attained 
his  majority. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  Mr.  Morse  be- 
gan teaching  school  in  Pittsville,  Wood 
county, Wisconsin,  where  he  successfully  fol- 
lowed that  pursuit  for  three  years,  but  his 


400 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


health  would  not  permit  its  continuance. 
Believing  that  farming  would  prove  bene- 
ficial, he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  very 
fertile  land  in  New  Haven  township,  Adams 
county,  in  1875,  and  not  only  placed  the 
land  under  excellent  cultivation,  but  also 
made  many  substantial  improvements  there- 
on, planting  an  orchard  and  erecting  good 
buildings.  In  1888  he  removed  to  Big 
Spring,  having  come  into  possession  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  near  that  village, 
ninety  acres  of  which  were  under  cultiva- 
tion. Here  he  raises  small  grain  and  clover, 
and  is  quite  extensively  interested  in  the 
breeding  of  horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  In- 
dustrious, persevering  and  enterprisnig,  he 
has  become  one  of  the  most  successful  farm- 
ers in  the  locality. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  1876,  Mr.  Morse 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Georgia 
M.  Wells,  who  was  born  near  Big  Spring, 
September  9,  1856,  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  Her  father,  Simeon  S. 
Wells,  was  born  in  Berlin,  Vermont,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1816,  and  died  January  18,  1874. 
He  was  married,  June  15^,  1842,  to  Mary 
A.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  Hatley,  Canada 
East,  February  25,  1825,  and  now  lives  with 
her  children.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
have  four  children :  Leslie  L.,  born  April 
29,  1880;  Arthur  D.,  born  March  24,  1883; 
Clara  M.,  born  June  26,  1886;  and  Horace 
C,  born  October  16,   1889. 

Mr.  Morse  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  town  iire  insurance  company,  in  which 
he  has  filled  important  official  positions,  and 
through  his  efforts  and  good  management 
the  organization  has  been  placed  on  a  solid 
basis,  the  community  owing  him  a  debt  of 
gratitude  for  being  able  to  secure  cheap  fire 
and  lightning  insurance.  Politically  he  is 
a  Republican  and  has  represented  his  town 
many  times  in  the  conventions  of  the  party. 
He  is  also  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,    in    which 


lodge  he  has  filled  the  most  responsible  of- 
fices. Since  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he 
has  been  an  active  and  influential  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  was  chosen  superintend- 
ent of  the  Sunday  school,  which  position  he 
has  filled  almost  continuously  since.  He 
takes  a  deep  interest  in  everything  for  the 
good  of  the  community,  his  influence  is 
great  and  always  for  good,  and  his  example 
is  well  worthy  of  emulation. 


THADDEUS   LEUTE. 

The  foreign-born  residents  of  Wiscon- 
sin have  contributed  a  large  proportion  to. 
the  development  of  that  state,  and  the  Ger- 
man empire  has  many  able  representatives 
among  the  number,  foremost  of  whom  may 
well  be  mentioned  the  gentleman  whose  name 
is  presented  to  the  readers.  He  has  made  a 
success  of  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  in  his 
adopted  land,  and  his  estate  is  one  of  the 
best  in  Dell  Prairie  township,  Adams  county. 
He  labored  through  many  weary  years  dur- 
ing his  early  settlement  in  this  region,  and 
his  estate  of  the  present  day  bears  little  trace 
of  its  primitive  condition.  He  now  has 
commodious  and  substantial  buildings,  ex- 
cellent land  cleared  for  cultivation,  and  va- 
rious other  improvements  which  would  pre- 
sent themselves  to  the  visitor  in  a  way  that 
would  at  once  call  to  mind  the  lab^>r  neces- 
sary to  bring  it  to  its  present  high  state  of 
cultivation  and  improvement. 

Mr.  Leute  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany, 
October  28,  1832,  and  was  the  son  of  Thad- 
deus  and  Frances  (Matheus)  Leute,  of  Ba- 
den, Germany.  His  father  was  a  shoemaker 
by  trade,  and  passed  his  career  in  his  native 
land.  Our  subject  until  fourteen  years  of 
age  attended  school,  and  was  afterward  en- 
gaged at  farm  work  until  twenty-two  years 
of  aee,  when  he  came  to  America  and  located 


IT 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


■403 


in  Dell  Prairie  township,  Adams  county.  He 
purchased  the  farm  where  he  now  resides, 
and  has  been  a  continuous  resident  of  that 
township  since.  He  owns  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  of  good  land,  and  the  buildings  on 
the  estate  have  all  been  erected  by  him.  It 
took  careful  management  and  earnest  lal)or 
to  accomplish  the  purpose  for  which  he  came 
to  the  new  home,  but  he  never  once  lacked  the 
courage  to  proceed  with  his  task,  and  is  to- 
day one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Leute  was  married  October  28,  1867, 
to  Kunigunda  Naber,  daughter  of  Lawrence 
and  Kunigunda  Naber,  of  Bayern,  Germany. 
Mrs.  Leute's  father  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1866,  and  located  at  Kilbourn, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming  for  about  ten 
years.  His  death  occurred  about  1889,  and 
he  was  buried  at  Kilbourn.  Four  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leute.  as 
follows:  Theodore,  born  June  2^),  1869, 
now  working  with  his  father  on  the  home 
farm;  Mary  Ann,  born  October  12,  1871, 
now  residing  at  home ;  Helena,  born  Alay  30, 
1882,  residing  at  present  at  home,  and  Thad- 
deus,  the  first  born,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
fourteen.  Mr.  Leute  is  a  communicant  of 
the  Catliolic  church  at  Killjdurn.  He  is  an 
excellent  example  of  a  self-made  man,  and 
in  the  gaining  of  a  competence  and  his  pres- 
ent estate  he  has  made  for  himself  an  en- 
viable reputation  as  an  industrious  and  hon- 
est man.  His  vocation  is  one  well  suited  to 
his  characteristics  and  calls  forth  hospitality, 
charity  and  brotherly  kindness.  He  has  not 
been  active  in  political  movements,  but  is  a 
gentleman  who  keeps  abreast  of  the  times  on 
the  important  issues,  and  lends  his  influence 
for  right  and  the  best  in  local  and  national 
government.  The  development  and  exten- 
sion of  the  great  agricultural  interests  in  this 
part  of  the  county  are  in  part  due  to  his  in- 
dustry and  push,  and  the  success  which  has 
been  his  is  justlv  deserved. 


Portraits  of  Mr.  Leute  and  his  estimable 
wife  are  shown  on  another  page  in  this  vol- 
ume. 


FREDERICK  B.   HA^IILTON. 

Frederick  B.  Hamilton,  for  many  years 
a  successful  and  public-spirited  citizen  of 
Waushara  county,  has  a  home  in  Hancock, 
v/here  he  is  interested  in  assisting  his  two 
sons  in  their  business,,  as  far  as  age  and  health 
will  permit.  His  business  standing  is  be- 
yond question,  his  personal  character  above 
reproach,  and  though  he  has  all  but  com- 
pleted the  allotted  measure  of  life  and  is  still 
alert  and  vigorous. 

The  Hamiltons  are  an  old  New  England 
family,  and  Lebbeus,  the  father  of  Fred- 
erick, was  born  in  HaHfax,  Windham  coun- 
ty, Vermont,  in  May,  1794.  After  the 
good  old  American  fashion  he  moved  west 
as  soon  as  he  became  of  age,  and  settled  in 
Pennsylvania.  There  he  presently  found  a 
wife,  Sally  Dickinson,  who  proved  herself 
a  helpmeet  to  him  in  every  relation  of  life. 
In  1856  he  brought  his  family  into  Adams 
county,  where  he  pre-empted  forty  acres, 
and  with  his  sons  Frederick  and  Silas  bought 
in  addition  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
of  unimproved  land,  for  which  they  paid  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre.  In  1864  the 
father  and  Silas  died  of  smallpox.  That 
year  Frederick  sent  his  name  to  Wautoma 
for  enlistment,  but  he  was  taken  sick  and 
for  a  time  could  not  leave  home.  Before 
he  had  recovered  he  was  drafted,  and 
promptly  reporting  at  La  Crosse,  he  was  as- 
signed to  Company  H,  Eighteenth  Wiscon- 
sin Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  through- 
out the  remaining  months  of  the  Civil  war. 
He  was  discharged  at  Troy,  New  York, 
May  26,  1865.  The  most  important  strug- 
gle in  which  he  participated  was  that  known 
as  the  battle  of  Wilcox  Bridge,  North  Caro- 
lina, a  fierce  conflict  that  covered  three  days, 


404 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


from  the  8th  to  tlie  loth  of  March,  1865. 
His-  associations  with  the  great  struggle  for 
the  Union  are  very  precious  to  him,  and 
he  has  long  been  an  earnest  and  hard  work- 
ing member  of  the  Grand  Army.  He  be- 
longs to  Tom.  Ubank  Post,  No.  150,  lo- 
cated at  Hancock,  and  for  }-ears  he  has 
served  as  its  commander,  and  in  e\'ery  way 
has  identified  himself  with  its  prosperity. 

^^"llen  Mr.  Hamilton  returned  from  the 
war  he  sold  the  farm  which  he  had  pur- 
chased with  his  father  and  brother,  settled 
up  all  claims  against  it,  and  bought  an 
eighty-acre  tract  in  section  12,  in  the  town 
of  Leola,  wdiich  he  speedily  converted  into 
a  very  attractive  and  profitable  establish- 
ment. In  1874  he  was  elected  county  treas- 
urer and  remo\'ed  to  Friendship,  which  was 
Ihs  home  for  six  years.  In  1S81  he  re- 
turned to  his  farm,  and  continued  its  culti- 
vation for  the  next  ten  years.  In  1891  he 
took  charge  of  the  general  store  that  was 
inaugurated  by  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  and 
was  its  manager  for  some  several  years. 
At  that  time  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
Alliance  seemed  to  make  it  advisable  to  sell 
the  store,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  settled  and 
severed  his  connection  with  the  Alliance 
and  went  onto  a  small  farm  for  a  time,  after 
which  he  bought  the  property  in  the  village 
cf  Hancock  which  is  now  his  home.  Mr. 
Hamilton  was  born  in  the  town  of  Gibeon, 
Susquehanna  county,  Pennsylvania,  Febru- 
ary 18,  1831,  and  has  put  behind  him  a 
long  and  active  life.  Wherever  he  has  been 
he  has  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  with 
whom  he  has  been  associated.  While  he 
lived  in  Adams  county  there  was  not  a  year 
in  which  he  was  not  associated  in  some 
way  with  the  town  and  county  affairs.  He 
served  on  the  county  board  twelve  years, 
and  was  several  times  its  chairman.  He  is 
a  Republican  and  inclines  to  broad  and 
patriotic  interpretations  of  all  questions, 
He  was  married  to  Harriet  Barnes,  in  iiis 


native  village,  June  26,  1852,  and  is  the  fa- 
tl'ier  of  four  children :  Emma,  Sylvester, 
Stanley  and  Eugene.  Stanley  was  married 
to  Leafy  Fansler,  and  lives  in  Hancock. 
Here  also  lives  his  brother,  Eugene,  whose 
wife  was  known  before  her  marriage  as 
Hattie  Coggins.  Mrs.  Hamilton's  father, 
Amos  Barnes,  was  born  in  Connecticut. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  came  to  Pennsylvania 
ir  early  life,  where  he  married  Mary  Bel- 
cher. His  father,  Nehemiah  Barnes,  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut  and  served  in  the 
Revolution. 

Mr.  Hamilton's  grandfather,  John  Ham- 
iUon,  married  Amy  Angel.  His  maternal 
grandfather,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  married 
Betsy  Bull  at  Hoosick  Fahs,  New  York, 
and  moved  to  Sandy  Creek,  and  was  there 
at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Sacket  Har- 
bor, in  the  war  of  1812.  The  contending 
forces  swept  across  his  farm,  and  his  experi- 
ences became  interesting  matter  for  remin- 
iscences in  after  years. 

Stanley  Hamilton  was  a  man  of  aft'airs 
in  Adams  county,  and  when  his  father  w^as 
county  treasurer  he  taught  school  in  Friend- 
ship and  was  widely  knowti  as  a  capable 
teacher.  After  his  marriage  he  located  in 
Friendship  and  conducted  a  jewelry  store. 
For  six  years  he  was  clerk  of  the  court. 
In  1894  he  removed  to  Hancock  and  went 
into  trade  in  company  with  J.  W.  Gunning, 
and  opened  up  a  combined  jewelry  and  fur- 
niture store.  Eugene  Hamilton  is  also  a 
resident  of  Hancock.  He  owns  a  fine  farm 
in  Adams  county,  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  but  prefers  to  live 
in  town  and  is  carrying  on  an  extensive 
livery  business. 


THOMAS  MAIR. 

Thomas  Mair,  a  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zen of  Poynette,  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, was  born  in  the  parish  of  Loudon,  Ayr- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


405 


shire,  Scotland,  September  30,  1821,  and  is 
the  eldest  son  of  Charles  and  Agnes  (Mc- 
Climont)  Mair,  both  born  among  "Lou- 
don's bonnie  woods  and  braes."  Many 
generations  of  the  Mairs  ha\'e  lixed  in  that 
parish,  and  no  small  number  of  Lhem  were 
employed  in  the  looms  of  that  region. 
Charles  Mair  became  an  expert  weaver  of 
muslin  and  lace  at  New  Milns,  where  he 
reached  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 
Mrs.  Agnes  Mair  reached  the  age  of  sev- 
enty years.  She  was  the  daughter  of  John 
IsIcClimont,  also  a  lace  weaver,  and  his 
family  was  among  the  oldest  in  Ayrshire. 
Charles  and  Agnes  Mair  were  the  parents 
of  thirteen  children,  and  three  of  their  sons, 
Thomas,  Andrew  and  Hugh,  became  resi- 
dents of  the  town  of  Arlington.  Hugh  has 
returned  to  Scotland. 

Thomas  Mair  learned  the  lace-maker's 
trade,  and  turned  many  a  fine  sample  of 
hand-made  goods.  In  1849  '^^  came  to  the 
United  States  and  located  for  a  short  time 
at  Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  where  he  worked 
in  a  foundry  about  a  year,  and  was  then  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  some  time  in  Rock 
county,  and  in  the  fall  of  1855  he  came  to 
Columbia  county.  Here  he  bought  eighty 
acres  of  land.  It  was  utterly  wild  at  the 
time  of  his  purchase,  but  he  gradually 
brought  it  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
and  inade  it  the  nucleus  of  a  fine  farm.  He 
bought  more  land  as  the  years  rolled  by  and 
at  one  time  had  the  title  to  a  handsome  farm 
of  two  hundred  acres.  He  divided  his  at- 
tention between  grain  and  live  stock,  and 
was  a  prosperous  and  successful  farmer. 
In  the  spring  of  1886  Mr.  Mair  sold  his 
land  and  went  to  live  in  the  village  of 
Poynette,  where  he  built  a  substantial  brick 
residence  for  himself,  and  is  the  owner  of 
several  valuable  houses  and  lots  in  the  town. 

Thomas  Mair  and  Agnes  Jamieson  were 
married  in  1844.  She  was  an  estimable 
and   lovely   wife   and   mother,   and    died    in 


1893,  leaving  eight  children.  She  was  born 
in  Loudon,  Scotland,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Poynette  Presbyterian  church.  She 
reached  the  age  of  sixty-six.  The  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mair  are  as  follows: 
Sarah  Anna  died  in  December,  1892,  at  the 
age  of  thirty  years;  Charles  lives  in  the  town 
CI  Arlington;  Janet  is  the  wife  of  William 
Robertson,  of  the  town  of  Arlington ;  Ag- 
nes is  Mrs.  R.  Haddon,  of  Sparta,  Wis- 
consin; Hugh  is  in  Spink  county.  South 
Dakota;  Jean  is  Mrs.  James  W.  Duff,  of 
Arlington;  Mary  is  at  home;  Marion  is  Mrs. 
Charles  Slothower,  of  Madison,  Wisconsin; 
and  Margaret  is  Mrs.  Earle  W.  Drake,  of 
Poynette.  They  have  all  had  good  educa- 
tions, and  several  have  been  teachers.  There 
are  twenty-two  grandchildren  and  one 
great-grandchild  in  the  family.  Mr.  Mair 
is  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Poynette,  with  which  he  has  been  associat- 
ed for  forty  years.  He  has  been  a  Demo- 
crat, but  has  never  cherished  political  am- 
bitions of  any  sort. 


WILLIAM     BEVERIDGE     KENDALL. 

William  Beveridge  Kendall,  one  of  the 
most  intluential  conductors  on  the  Madison 
di\'ision  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad,  residing  at  Baraboo,  Wisconsin, 
was  born  in  Hoosick  Falls,  New  York,  De- 
cember II,  1857,  and  is  a  son  of  Levi  G. 
and  Abbie  (Barrell)  Kendall.  The  father, 
now  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  trusted  em- 
ployes of  the  same  road,  was  born  in  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  October  2,  1827,  a  son  of 
Andrew  L.  and  Ruth  (Fishel)  Kendall. 
The  Kendalls  are  of  English  descent,  and  the 
family  was  founded  in  Massachusetts  about 
1700.  Our  subject's  grandfather  was  born 
in  Royalston,  Woixester  county,  that  state, 
and   for  some  years  followed    the    carpen- 


406 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ter's  trade  in  Boston,  where  he  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-five  years.  His  wife  was  born 
ill  the  same  place,  of  Quaker  Hneage,  and 
died  in  Simsbury,  Massachusetts,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three.  1  he  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  only  six  years  old  when  his  mother 
removed  to  Royalston  with  her  fi\'e  chil- 
dren, the  others  being  Alljert,  who  died  in 
Worcester,  that  state;  Lucius,  a  justice  of 
the  peace  of  Sewell,  Massachusetts ;  Louise, 
widow  of  Nathan  N.  Harlow,  and  a  resi- 
dent of  Shrewsbury,  Massachusetts;  and 
Sophia,  wife  of  George  Newton,  a  con- 
tractor of   Chicago. 

Leaving  home  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  Levi  G.  Kendall  began  work  on  the 
Vermont  &  Massachusetts  Railroad  as  a 
section  man;  was  promoted  to  foreman  six 
months  later ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  follow- 
ing six  months  was  made  baggagemaster 
between  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  and  Boston. 
Subsequently  he  served  as  freight  conductor 
for  some  time,  and  in  1858  came  to  Wis- 
sin  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  Chicago 
&  Northwesern  Railroad,  which  then  had 
but  ninety  miles  of  track.  He  was  foreman 
of  construction  under  contractors,  building 
the  road  from  Harvard  to  Rockford.  In 
1862  he  enlisted  as  second  corporal  in  Com- 
pany H,  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Champion  Hills 
and  Murfreesboro,  but  after  serving  one 
year  he  was  wounded  in  the  right  hand  and 
discharged.  He  was  roadmaster  on  the  Ohio 
&  Mississippi  Railroad  from  1863  to  1870, 
and  in  the  latter  year  hired  one  hundred 
men  in  Chicago,  and  began  the  construction 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad 
from  Madison  toward  Baraboo,  as  assistant 
superintendent  of  construction  under  con- 
tractors Cox  &  Howard  and  others,  continu- 
ing in  that  capacity  until  the  road  was  com- 
pleted past  tunnel  No  i.  Near  there  he 
purchased  one  hundred  acres  of  land  and 


laid  out  a  town  which  was  named  in  his 
honor.  In  1873  he  was  appointed  roadmas- 
ter on  the  Madison  division  and  laid  the 
track  between  Elroy  and  Sparta,  and  after- 
ward relaid  it  with  steel  rails.  Since  1889 
he  has  been  foreman  of  the  Baraboo  railroad 
yards.  Between  the  Kinzie  street  bridge, 
Chicago,  and  Evanston,  Illinois,  he  laid  the 
first  steel  rails  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad,  in  1870,  these  rails  cost- 
ing one  hundred  dollars  per  ton.  In  185 1  he 
married  Abbie  Barrell,  a  nati\-e  of  Ashby, 
Massachusetts,  who  died  in  Vincennes,  In- 
diana, in  1865,  aged  thirty-eight  years. 
They  had  two  sons,  William  B.,  our  sub- 
ject, and  Newton,  who  died  in  infancy.  The 
father  was  again  married,  in  1867,  his  sec- 
ond union  being  with  Louise  M.  Barrell,  a 
sister  of  his  former  wife  and  a  daughter  of 
Nelson  and  Mehitable  Barrell.  By  this 
marriage  there  is  one  daughter,  Abbie,  wife 
of  John  Layden,  of  Baraboo.  Mrs.  Ken- 
dall was  the  first  worthy  matron  of  Baraboo 
Chapter,  O.  E.  S.,  and  for  ten  years  or  more 
has  been  its  representative  to  the  grand  chap- 
ter of  Wisconsin. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  only  a 
small  boy  when  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  where  he  attended  the 
high  school  for  a  time.  In  1873  he  became 
a  brakeman  on  the  Madison  division  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  ;  later  was 
baggage  man  between  Elroy  and  Winona  for 
two  years;  and  on  the  2nd  of  September, 
1883,  was  promoted  to  conductor,  in  which 
c.'ipacity  he  has  since  served,  running  be- 
tween Baraboo  and  Winona  at  the  present 
time.  He  has  a  pleasant  home  on  Fifth  ave- 
nue, Baraboo,  erected  by  him  in  1886. 

On  the  25th  of  December,  1882,  Mr. 
Kendall  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Josephine  McGary,  a  daughter  of  Selime  and 
Alvira  (Fox)  McGary,  of  Norwalk,  Wis- 
consin. The  father  was  born  in  Vermont 
of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  and  the  mother  is 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


407 


a  native  of  Ohio.  About  184S  they  came 
to  this  state  and  located  on  a  farm  near  Nor- 
\\s.\k.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  three 
children  living,  Raymond  Levi,  Walter 
Selime  and  Abbie  May,  while  two  died  in 
infancy.  The  family  attend  the  Methodist 
ch.urch,  of  which  Mrs.  Kendall  is  a  member. 
Mr.  Kendall  is  a  member  of  Baraboo 
Division,  No.  68,  O.  R.  C,  of  which  he  was 
secretary  eight  or  nine  years,  chief  con- 
ductor one  year  and  a  member  of  the  griev- 
ance committee  ten  years,  being  chair- 
man of  the  same  eight  years.  He  also  be- 
longs to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America, 
and  Baraboo  Lodge,  N0.34,  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
Baraboo  Chapter,  No.  21,  O.  E.  S.  Since 
casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  R. 
B.  Hayes,  in  1876,  he  has  been  a  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party  and  its  principles. 


JOHN  LLOYD  W1LLL\:MS. 

John  Lloyd  ^\'illiams,  one  of  the  old- 
est surviving  pioneers  of  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  resides  in  Cambria,  and  is  re- 
tired from  active  pursuits.  He  has  a 
handsome  residence  in  the  town  and  is  an 
honored  citizen. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Brantrion, 
Llanllynfni,  Caernarvonshire,  Wales,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1 82 1,  and  was  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Ann  (Davis)  \\'illiams.  His  mother  died 
on  the  sea  while  coming  to  America  in  1847. 
The  father  completed  the  journey  and  lived 
in  the  town  of  Courtland  until  i860,  passing 
away  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight 
years.  He  was  a  weaver  by  trade,  following 
the  occupation  of  his  father,  William  Will- 
iams. Records  of  the  Williams  family 
have  been  preserved  for  five  hundred  or  more 
years,  and  indicate  that  its  members  have 
generally  been    conrpicuous    for  long  life. 


Another  noteworthy  fact  is  the  large  num- 
1)er  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  other 
professional  men  recorded.  Among  these 
is  Rev.  Michael  Roberts,  a  leading  divine  of 
the  C.  M.  Church  in  his  day.  The  present; 
representatives  of  the  family  of  Daniel  and 
Ann  Williams  in  Cambria  are  as  follows: 
John,  Robert,  and  Daniel,  alt  of  whom 
have  lived  in  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin, 
since  1847.  Their  average  age  is  over 
eighty  years,  a  record  which  probably  can- 
not be  duplicated  in  Columbia  county. 

John  Lloyd  Williams  was  engaged  in  the 
slate  quarries  from  boyhood,  where  two  or 
th.ree  thousand  men  were  employed.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1846.  spend- 
ing six  weeks  on  the  sea.  From  Milwau- 
kee he  drove  to  Columbia  county  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Courtland  and  Springvale  townships  for 
SIX  hundred  dollars.  But  seven  or  eight 
acres  of  this  had  been  broken,  and  he  resided 
on  that  farm  for  many  years  and  thoroughly 
imprcned  the  place.  He  disposed  of  the 
farm  about  1880  and  removed  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Cambria,  where  he  built  a  fine  resi- 
dence and  he  has  since  lived  in  practical 
ritirement,  finding  his  chief  employment  in 
the  care  of  his  grounds.  His  home  is 
one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the  village,  and 
the  house,  with  its  surroundings  and  shade 
trees,  and  well  kept  lawn  bespeak  the  taste 
and  industry  of  the  owner.  Our  subject 
was  married  in  1853  to  Eleanor  Williams,  a 
daughter  of  Richard  P.  and  Jane  (Roberts) 
Williams.  Mrs.  Eleanor  Williams  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  Guffin,  Valley  of  Conway, 
September  26,  1827.  The  homestead  farm 
on  which  she  was  born  was  owned  by  the 
family  of  Mrs.  Jane  Roberts  Williams,  the 
■last  named  lady  being  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Eleanor  Roberts.  Richard  P.  Williams 
came  to  America  in  1848  and  settled  on 
a  farm  in  the  tnwn  of  Spring\-ale,  which 
farm  is  now  owned  by  his  son,  Henry  R. 


408 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Williams.  R.  P.  Williams  reached  the  age 
of  eighty-one  years  and  died  March  4, 
1869.  He  followed  farming  throughout  his 
life.  His  father,  William  Pritchard,  lived 
and  died  in  Wales  on  a  farm  called  "Coid- 
maorw."  Mrs.  Jane  \\'illiams  died  fifteen 
years  before  her  husband.  Ten  children 
were  born  to  them,  of  whom  three  died  in 
Wales.  1  he  surviving  children  were  as  fol- 
lows: Thomas;  Eleanor  (wife  of  our  sub- 
ject) ;  Jans;  William;  Richard;  Henry,  now 
deceased ;  and   David,   now   deceased. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Lloyd  ^Villiams  are 
members  of  the  C.  M.  church  of  Cambria, 
which  church  they  assisted  in  organizing, 
and  are  highly  esteemed  in  the  community 
where  they  have  spent  half  a  century. 


PHILIP  HAYES. 

Philip  Hayes,  one  of  the  old  and  honored 
citizens  of  New  Haven  township,  Adams 
county,  W'isconsin,  whose  time  and  attention 
are  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits,  was 
born  near  Dublin,  Ireland,  ^une  2,  1823, 
and  at  the  age  of  ten  years  went  to  sea  as 
an  apprentice.  During  the  seven  years 
spent  upon  the  water,  he  was  gradually  pro- 
moted until  he  became  boatswain.  He  vis- 
ited many  of  the  im])ortant  ports  of  the 
world,  encountered  many  se\ere  storms- and 
had  many  narrow  escapes.  In  1846  he  be- 
came a  resident  of  New  Orleans,  Louisiana, 
where  he  made  his  home  for  fifteen  years, 
and  during  that  time  he  made  many  voy- 
ages to  Cuba  and  other  islands  of  the  West 
Indies,  also  to  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
when  on  land  was  foreman  of  an  establish- 
ment. He  took  an  acti\-e  part  in  the  Cuban 
troubles  of  1851,  under  General  Lopez,  the 
filibuster,  and  had  some  exciting  experiences, 
being  chased  by  the  Spaniards  and  the 
United  States  government  utticials.  They 
started  from  St.  Catherine's  Island  with  a 


load  of  soldiers,  and  were  captured  by  a 
United  States  cutter,  but  after  receiving  a 
scolding  were  released.  They  also  carried 
soldiers  from  New  Orleans  and  landed  them 
near  Moro  Castle. 

In  1859  Mr.  Hayes  came  to  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  at  a  nominal  price 
bought  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  New 
tiaven  township,  one-half  of  which  he  now 
has  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and 
improved  with  good  and  substantial  build- 
ings, which  stand  as  monuments  to  his 
thrift  and  enterprise.  As  an  agriculturist 
he  has  been  eminently  successful. 

At  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  Mr.  Hayes  was 
married,  in  November,  1849,  to  Miss  Kath- 
erine  McCarty,  who  was  born  in  Preston, 
England,  in  1824,  and  when  quite  young 
came  with  her  parents  to  the  new  world,  lo- 
cating in  New  Orleans.  She  died  in  New 
Haven  township,  Adams  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, in  1889.  By  this  union  were  b(jrn  nine 
children,  of  whom  two  are  successful  miners 
ar.d  fruit  growers  of  California;  one  is  en- 
gaged in  lumbering  in  California;  two  are 
in  Dakota,  engaged  in  merchandising  and 
farming;  one  is  a  prominent  man  in  public 
affairs;  one  is  superintendent  of  a  mine  in 
Montana;  while  Henry  has  charge  of  his 
father's  farm  and  also  owns  and  operates  a 
steam  thresher. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Hayes  was  eni- 
ployed  by  a  government  surveying  party  on 
Fox  river  in  the  capacity  of  cook.  In  his 
political  affiliations  he  is  a  Democrat,  and 
in  religious  faith  is  a  Catholic.  He  is  high- 
ly respected  and  esteemed  by  all  who  know 
him  and  has  a  host  of  warm  friends  in 
Adams  county. 


WILLIAM  COOK. 

William  Cook  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
the  town  of  Scott,  Columbia  cnurty,  \\\\o 
lias  been  a  resident  of  ^^'isconsin   fur  half 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


409 


a  century,  and  in  that  time  what  stupendous 
chang-es  has  he  nnt  witnessed  ?  He  was  born 
at  West  Ferry,  Lincohisliire,  England,  Au- 
gust 6,  1 84 1,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jane 
(Jarvis)  Cook,  liotli  natives  of  West  Ferry. 
His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  also  operated 
a  three-horse-power  tliresliing  machine, 
used  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning  grain  in 
such  a  way  that  it  would  not  be  broken,  and 
be  fit  for  thatching  roofs.  In  1850  he 
brought  his  family  to  Wisconsin,  and  lo- 
cated at  F"ox  Lake,  where  he  spent  six  years. 
At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  bought 
a  farm  in  Scott  township,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, upon  which  he  made  his  home  until  the 
day  of  his  death,  November  7,  1891,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight  years,  eight  months. 
His  wife  died  May  13,  1859,  when  forty- 
three  years  old. 

Mr.  Cook,  the  subject  of  this  article,  has 
lived  on  his  present  farm  since  1856,  with 
the  exception  of  three  years  which  he  spent 
on  a  rented  place  in  the  same  t(_)wnship. 
He  owns  a  quarter-section  of  land,  and  has 
brought  it  forward  to  a  high  pitch  of  agri- 
cultural perfection.  He  has  erected  com- 
fortable and  commodious  buildings,  and  is 
enjoying  those  privileges  that  come  right- 
fully to  the  aged  tiller  of  the  soil,  who  has 
won  his  living  from  the  teeming  earth,  and 
has  put  aside  an  ample  competence  for  his 
declining  years.  He  gives  his  chief  atten- 
tion to  live  stock. 

Mr.  Cook  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Ann  I)(jo- 
ley  were  married  July  22,  1865.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Henry  D(_)oley,  an  early  set- 
tler in  Scott  township,  and  she  is  the  first 
white  child  native  to  the  town.  .She  is  the 
mother  of  six  children:  Jane  M.,  who  is 
Mrs.  F.  Rust,  of  Glidden,  Iowa;  John  H. 
is  a  street  car  conductor  in  Milwaukee ; 
Nellie  M.  is  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Dowell,  of 
Webster  City,  Iowa;  William  B.,  Henry 
D.  and  Lillie  P.  are  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cook  have  six  grandchildren.     He  has  for 


many  years  been  a  recognized  leader  in 
temperance  work,  was  long  associated  v.ith 
the  local  lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Good  Templars,  and  has  taken  a  very  in- 
dependent attitude  in  politics.  He  is  a  man 
of  character  and  the  lesson  of  his  life  is 
a  good  one.  Honesty  and  industry  do 
count,  and  the  man  who  is  willing  to  work 
hard,  endure  privations  and  keep  his  word, 
is  bound  to  succeed. 


CHRISTIAN  OBKECHT,  DECi-.vsED. 

Christian  Obrecht,  deceased,  was  one  of 
the  most  important  factors  in  the  business 
circles  of  Sauk  City,  and  his  life  was  an 
exemplification  of  the  term  "dignity  of 
labor."  The  possibilities  that  America  of- 
fers to  her  citizens  he  utilized,  and,  though 
he  came  to  this  country  in  limited  circum- 
stances, he  steadily  and  perseveringiy 
worked  his  way  upward,  leaving  the  ranks 
of  the  many  to  stand  among  the  successful 
few. 

Mr.  Obrecht  was  born  in  Jenins,  Canton 
Graubuenden,  Switzerland,  July  9,  1830,  and 
had  but  a  limited  opportunity  to  secure  an 
education,  for  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years 
he  was  sent  to  the  city  of  Rezeschow,  Pn- 
land,  to  learn  the  confectioner's  trade.  After 
gaining  a  good  practical  knowledge  of  the 
business  he  returned  to  his  native  land  in 
1849,  and  the  same  year  came  to  the  United 
States,  locating  first  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  until  coming 
to  Sauk  City,  Wisconsin,  in  1855.  Here 
he  was  first  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  store 
and  later  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  on 
his  own  account,  opening  a  general  store 
in  1857.  He  was  soon  firmly  established  in 
business,  and  the  following  year  added  to 
his  growing  business  the  lumber  trade.  This 
gave  him  an  extended  acquaintance  and  un- 


410 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


der  liis  efficient  management  became  tlie 
leading"  iuniher  mart  in  this  section  of  the 
state,  liis  trade  extending  over  a  large 
amount  of  territory.  He  was  quite  popular 
among  the  people  and  very  successful  in 
business  enterprises.  He  was  also  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  and  up- 
building of  the  place. 

In  Sauk  City,  Mr.  Obrecht  married 
Miss  Caroline  Hitzenmeier,  who  was  born 
in  Mengerhausen,  Germany,  November  i6. 
1835,  and  in  1845  came  to  the  new  world 
with  her  parents,  Charles  and  Louisa 
(Goete)  Hitzenmeier.  They  located  in 
Sauk  City,  which  at  that  time  was  a  very 
small  hamlet,  and  in  those  early  days  Mrs. 
Obrecht  knew  e\-ery  dog  and  cat  as  well  as 
every  person  in  the  village.  Here  she 
picked  wild  strawberries  and  in  true  pio- 
neer style  spent  her  girlhood.  Her  father, 
who  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  was  the  first 
contractor  and  builder  in  Sauk  City  and 
erected  the  first  Catholic  church  there,  but 
in  later  years  he  followed  farming  upon 
land  for  which  he  paid  fourteen  dollars  per 
acre.  He  died  here  in  1888,  and  his  wife 
passed  away  July  17,   1870. 

In  his  political  affiliations  Mr.  Obrecht 
was  a  Republican,  but  cared  nothing  for  the 
honors  or  emoluments  of  public  office,  pre- 
ferring to  give  his  entire  attention  to  his 
business  interests.  He  met  with  marked 
success  in  his  undertakings  and  accumulat- 
ed a  large  property,  having  secured  real  es- 
tate in  various  portions  of  the  northwest. 
He  united  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  in 
1862  and  was  connected  with  the  same  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  May  14,  1895. 
He  was  an  ui)right,  reliable  business  man, 
genial  and  pleasant  in  manner,  and  in  his 
death  the  community  realized  that  it  liad 
lost  one  of  its  best  and  most  valued  citi- 
zens. His  widow,  who  is  a  most  estimable 
lady,  still  resides  in  the  beautiful  home  he 
erected  in  Sauk  Citv. 


MILES  TOLCOTT  ALVERSOX. 

IMiles  Tolcott  Alverson,  cashier  of  the 
City  Bank  of  Portage,  Wisconsin,  and  one 
of  the  most  influential  and  progressive  of  its 
citizens,  has  a  wide  reputation  as  a  most  ca- 
pable financier,  and  occupies  a  position  of  no 
little  prominence  in  connection  with  political 
affairs.  His  life  demonstrates  what  may  be 
accomplished  through  energy,  careful  man- 
agement, keen  foresight  and  the  utilization 
(if  the  powers  with  which  nature  has  en- 
dowed one,  and  the  opportunities  with  which 
the  times  surround  him. 

A  native  of  New  York,  Mr.  Alverson  was 
born  at  Rodman,  January  26,  1833,  and  is  a 
son  of  Almanson  and  Sylenda  (Merwin)  Al- 
\-erson.  The  father  was  born  in  V^ermont, 
December  25,  1807,  and  died  in  Herman, 
New  York,  August  2q,  1879.  He  was  the 
eldest  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Frink)  Alver- 
son, the  former  probably  born  in  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  February  11,  1780,  and 
died  in  Jefferson  county,  New  York,  June 
13,  1829.  His  father  was  David  Alverson, 
a  native  of  Scotland,  who  emigrated  to  Nova 
Scotia  about  1774;  from  there  he  removed 
to  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  and  later  to 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  where  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Hannah  Lester,  the  mother  of 
John  Alverson.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  born  in  Pinckney,  Lewis  county, 
New  York,  October  12,  1809,  a  daughter  of 
Jesse  and  Rebecca  (Morris)  Merwin,  and 
was  a  representative  in  the  seventh  genera- 
tion of  both  families,  her  ancestors  on  the 
paternal  side  ha\'ing  located  in  Milford, 
Connecticut,  in  1645,  and  on  the  maternal 
side  at  Ro.xbury,  Massach.usetts,  prior  to 
1652. 

Miles  T.  Alverson  obtained  his  primary 
education  in  the  public  and  select  schools  of 
his  native  county,  and  also  attended  the  Rod- 
man Academy.  In  October,  1854,  he  came 
to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  for  sev- 


a 


/? 


MRS.  MILES  T.  ALYERSON. 


COMPENDIUM    or   BIOGRAPHY. 


415 


eral  years  eng^ag'ecl  in  teaching  at  Dekorra, 
Lowville  and  Poynette.  After  coming  to 
this  state  he  took  a  course  of  study  at  the 
Spencerian  Business  College,  Milwaukee, 
(luring  which  time  he  also  gave  instruction  in 
mathematics  at  that  institution  and  private 
lessons  in  the  same  science.  During  his  early 
residence  in  Columhia  county  he  also  gave 
more  or  less  attention  to  agriculture  and 
house  carpentering.  In  January,  1867,  he 
was  appointed  deputy  county  treasurer,  and 
removed  to  Portage,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home.  He  was  elected  treasurer 
in  the  fall  of  1868,  and  after  filling  that  office 
for  two  or  three  years  was  re-elected,  serv- 
ing in  all  six  years  with  credit  to  himself  and 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. At  the  end  of  that  time  he  purchased  A. 
B.  Alden's  abstract  business,  and,  in  partner- 
ship with  Thomas  Yule,  did  a  general  reales- 
tate,  abstract,  insurance  and  loan  business  for 
some  time.  Since  1881  Mr.  Alverson  has 
been  cashier  of  the  City  Bank  of  Portage, 
and  devotes  most  of  his  time  to  the  transac- 
tion of  its  business.  During  this  time,  and 
mainly  through  his  efforts,  the  bank  has  con- 
stantly maintained  a  position  among  the  lead- 
ing financial  institutions  of  Columbia  county. 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1859,  Mr.  Alver- 
son married  Miss  Melissa  Ann  Low,  a 
daughter  of  Captain  Jacob  and  Catherine 
(Morgan)  Low,  and  a  granddaughter  of 
Captain  Gideon  Low,  of  whom  extended  no- 
tice appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The 
two  sons  born  of  this  union  are :  Charles 
Lewis,  who  was  born  December  23,  i860, 
and  is  now  cashier  of  the  State  Bank  of  Med- 
ford,  Wisconsin;  and  Harry  Bartlett,  who 
was  born  March  27,  1872,  and  is  now  super- 
intendent of  the  distribution  of  Niagara 
Falls  electric  power  at  Buffalo,  New  York. 
Both  sons  graduated  from  the  Uni\crsity 
of  Wisconsin. 

That  Mr.  Alverson  enjoys  the  utmost 
confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens  is  exidenced 


by  the  fact  that  he  has  been  repeatedly  called 
u])on  to  till  imijortant  positions  of  public 
trust,  among  which  may  be  enumerated  the 
offices  of  township  superintendent  of  schools 
and  town  clerk  in  Lowville;  and  chairman  of 
the  board  of  education,  and  chairman  of  the 
county  board  of  supervisors  since  coming  to 
Portage.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  execu- 
tive council  of  the  Wisconsin  Bankers'  As- 
sociation. He  has  always  been  active  in  so- 
cial life  and  in  promoting  any  undertaking 
likely  to  advance  the  standard  of  public  mor- 
als. He  and  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  among  the  fra- 
ternities with  which  he  is  identified  irlay  be 
mentioned  the  Masonic  order  and  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  in  all  of  which  he  has 
filled  important  offices.  Mrs.  Alverson  is  a 
charter  member  of  Wau-Bun  Chapter, 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 
Morally  and  socially  Mr.  Alverson  and 
his  family  are  leaders  in  the  society 
in  which  they  live,  and  their  exem- 
plary and  Ijlameless  lives  are  day  by 
day  proving  excellent  models  lor  the 
younger  generations  springing  up  around 
them  in  the  community.  Portraits  of  both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alverson  grace  pages  in  this 
volume,  where  they  will  be  hailed  with  de- 
light by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances, and  prove  lasting  monuments  to 
the  parts  they  have  taken  in  the  development 
and  improvement  of  the  part  of  the  state  in 
which  they  live. 


HOLVER  HENDRICKSON. 

Holver  Hendrickson,  senior  member  of 
the  mercantile  firm  of  Hendrickson,  Bout- 
well  &  Company,  of  Rio,  is  one  of  the  well- 
known  business  men  of  Columbia  county. 
He  is  progressive  and  energetic  and  has  ac- 
quired a  good  trade  and  enviable  reputation 
a^  a  citizen. 


416 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Our  suljject  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Otsego,  Columbia  county,  August  2,  1863, 
and  was  a  son  of  Hoh'or  and  Emma  (Samp- 
son) Hendrickson,  who  were  natives  of 
Halen,  southern  Norway.  His  parents 
came  to  the  United  States  about  1845  ^""^ 
lived  a  short  time  at  Wiiitewater,  Wiscon- 
sin. From  there  they  moved  to  Otsego 
township,  Cokimbia  county,  and  spent  the 
balance  of  their  lives  there  on  a  farm.  The 
father  died  in  1891,  aged  sixty-eight  years. 
He  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  Norway 
and  followed  the  same  in  this  country,  and 
did  all  kinds  of  mechanical  work,  including 
cabinet  work,  wagon  making,  etc.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  Henry  Hen- 
drickson, was  also  a  mechanic  and  lived  and 
died  in  Norway.  Our  subject's  mother 
died  about  1878,  aged  fifty-four  years.  Her 
father,  Ambrose  Sampson,  was  a  carpenter 
and  spent  his  life  in  Norway.  Our  subject 
was  one  of  eight  children,  as  follows : 
Henry,  living  on  the  homestead  farm ;  Am- 
brose, farming  in  Otsego  township ;  Holver, 
our  subject;  Hans,  a  painter  in  Rio;  Anna, 
now  Mrs.  Ole  Wilson,  of  Hazel  Run,  Min- 
nesota; Thuna,  now  Mrs.  H.  H.  Lee,  of 
Hazel  Run,  Minnesota;  Emma,  now  Mrs. 
O.  H.  Thompson,  of  Rio;  Mary,  now  Mrs. 
E.  Bryant,  of  Randolph,  Wisconsin. 

Holver  Hendrickson  attended  the  public 
school  and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  began  for 
himself  as  a  farm  lal)orer.  He  later  be- 
came a  painter  and  paper  hanger  and  in 
1889  began  clerking  in  a  general  store  in 
Rio,  where  he  continued  for  eight  years. 
In  1897  the  firm  of  Hendrickson  &  Miles 
purchased  a  stock  of  goods  and  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  in  1898  the  present 
firm  of  Hendrickson,  Boutwell  &  Company 
was  organized.  They  occupy  a  large  double 
store  and  carry  an  extensi\e  stock  of  gen- 
eral merchandise. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1894  to  Anna 
Boutwell,    daughter    of    Peter    and    Anna 


Boutwell,  of  Otsego  township.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hendrickson  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  who  are  named,  respectively,  Irene 
Arabella,  aged  three  years;  and  Beulah, 
aged  ten  months.  Mr.  Hendrickson  is  a 
member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica. He  is  a  Republican  in  political  faith, 
but  is  not  an  active  partisan. 


SIMON  BOUTWELL. 

As  an  intelligent  and  enterprising  agri- 
culturist this  gentleman  is  well  known  to 
the  people  of  Columbia  county  and  sur- 
rounding country.  He  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  stock  raiser,  and  has  a  fine  es- 
tate in  Otsego  township. 

Mr.  Boutwell  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Otsego,  February  2,  1870,  and  was  a  son 
of  Peter  and  Anna  (Jellum)  Boutwell,  who 
were  natives  of  Lee,  Norway.  The  father 
left  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  and 
came  to  the  United  States  about  1850,  set- 
tling for  a  time  in  Dane  county,  Wiscon- 
sin. About  two  years  later  he  entered  claim 
to  land  in  section  21,  in  Otsego  township, 
Columbia  county,  and  Iiought  other  land 
from  time  to  time  until  he  owned  two 
hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of  tillable 
land.  He  began  with  limited  means, 
but  acquired  a  well  improved  estate. 
He  died  December  8,  1893,  aged  sixty-one 
years  and  eight  months.  He  was  interested 
in  breeding  Morgan  horses,  and  the  "Bout- 
well stock"  was  well  known  among  farm- 
ers and  horsemen  of  the  county.  He  op- 
erated a  threshing  machine  for  thirty  years 
and  was  progressive  and  enterprising.  He 
was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Lu- 
theran church  of  Bonnett  Prairie.  Our 
subject's  mother  was  born  at  Jellum.  near 
Bergen,  Norway,  anjl  was  a  daughter  of 
Simon  Jellum,   who  came    to    the    United 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


'ill 


States  with  Mr.  Boutwell  and  settled  in 
Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  near  Utica,  where 
he  died  at  tlie  a^e  of  ninety  years.  His 
widow,  Aase  Jelkim,  went  to  Freeborn 
county,  Minnesota,  where  siie  died  at  the 
age  of  about  ninety  years.  Our  subject  was 
one  of  ten  ciiildren,  all  of  whom  are  living 
and  are  as  follows :  Butler,  residing  near 
Aberdeen,  South  Dakota ;  Atley,  near  Aber- 
deen, South  Dakota;  Rhoda,  now  Mrs.  G. 
O.  Johnson,  of  Lowville  township;  Chris- 
tian, of  Aberdeen,  South  Dakota;  Rosa,  now 
Mrs.  L.  Otterness,  residing  near  Kenyon, 
Minnesota;  Simon,  our  subject;  Bertha,  re- 
siding at  home;  Anna,  now  Mrs.  Holvor 
Hendrickson,  of  Rio ;  John,  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  Hendrickson,  Bciutwell  &  Com- 
pany, of  Rio;  and  Temon,  residing  at 
home. 

Simon  Boutwell  received  a  good  educa- 
tion and  has  always  resided  on  the  home- 
stead farm.  He  began  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  after 
his  father's  death  assumed  charge  of  the 
place.  He  and  his  father  were  the  first 
farmers  in  Columbia  county  to  engage  in 
tobacco  culture,  getting  the  plants  some 
forty  miles  distant  from  their  home.  He 
now  raises  ten  to  thirteen  acres  of  tobacco 
annually,  and  has  a  shed  one  hundred  and 
twelve  feet  long,  and  contemplates  building 
another  equally  as  large.  On  the  farm  he 
has  a  small  village  of  buildings  and  op- 
erates more  or  less  of  the  macliinery  of  the 
place  by  steam  power.  He  engages  in  horse 
breeding  and  has  some  excellent  stock,  in- 
cluding a  thoroughbred  French  Percheron 
mare  and  a  French  Coach  stallion,  "Qui- 
beron,"  in  which  he  owns  a  half-interest. 
He  also  breeds  Scotch  shorthorn  cattle  on 
the  farm  and  has  about  fifty  grades,  and 
uses  thoroughbred  sires  exclusively.  He  is 
a  partner  of  the  mercantile  firm  of  Hendrick- 
son, Boutwell  &  Company  at  Rio.  He  is 
an  excellent  judge  of  tobacco   in  the  leaf 


aiid  has  been  employed  for  the  last  two 
seasons  by  a  tobacco  dealer  in  handling  the 
crop  in  his  locality. 

Mr.  Boutwell  is  a  member  of  the  Lu- 
theran church,  and  also  Mt.  Pleasant  Camp, 
No.  1 194,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
In  political  principle  he  is  a  Republican  and 
is  firm  in  his  convictions  and  highly  respect- 
ed and  esteemed  by  those  among  whom  he 
has  spent  his  career. 


JOHN   BOUTWELL. 

John  Boutwell,  of  the  mercantile  firm  of 
Hendrickson,  Boutwell  &  Company,  of  Rio, 
is  one  of  the  rapidly  rising  young  men  of 
Columbia  county.  He  was  born  in  Otsego 
township,  November  7,  1877,  and  is  a  son  of 
Peter  and  Anna  (Jellum)  Boutwell,  who 
were  natives  of  Lee,  Norway. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  came  to 
America  about  i8£;o  and  settled  in  Colum- 
bia county,  and  the  father  acquired  a  valu- 
able farm  in  Otsego  township.  He  bought 
and  sold  more  or  less  real  estate,  and  also 
dealt  in  horses  and  live  stock,  and  operated 
a  threshing  machine  for  some  years.  He 
v.'as  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church. 
The  mother  now  resides  on  the  homestead 
farm  in  Otsego  township,  aged  o\-er  sixty 
years. 

John  Boutwell  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm  and  attended  the  public  school,  and 
also  Stoughton  Academy,  where  he  pur- 
sued a  course  in  commercial  law.  He  be- 
came a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Hendrickson 
&  Miles,  at  Rio,  in  1896,  and  went  rapidly  to 
the  front,  and  in  September,  1898,  became 
a  partner  in  the  present  firm  of  Hendrickson, 
Boutwell  &  Company. 

Mr.  Boutwell  is  possessed  of  a  charac- 
ter of  the  highest  integrity,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  church  of 


418 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Otsego  township.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  .America.  Po- 
hticahy  he  is  a  RepubHcan,  but  takes  little 
interest  in  party  affairs  and  does  not  seek 
public  preferment. 


EDWARD  NELSON  MARSH. 

Prominent  among  the  energetic,  enter- 
prising and  progressive  citizens  of  Bara- 
boo,  W^isconsin,  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  introduces  this  sketch.  He  has  been 
actively  identified  with  the  development  and 
prosperity  of  the  state,  and  his  connection 
Avith  various  business  enterprises  and  in- 
dustries has  been  of  decided  advantage  to 
this  section,  promoting  its  material  welfare 
in  no  uncertain  manner. 

Mr.  Marsh  was  born  in  Lysander,  near 
Baldwinsville,  Onondaga  county,  New 
York,  June  i6,  1833,  a  son  of  Joshua  and 
Elizabeth  (Palmeter)  Marsh.  All  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Marsh  family  in  this  coun- 
try are  supposed  to  be  descendants  of  two 
or  three  brothers  who  came  from  England 
in  the  early  days  of  Massachusetts  colony 
and  settled  in  Braintree.  Joshua  Marsh, 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  born  at 
that  place  in  1745,  and  in  early  life  moved 
to  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  married  Mar- 
garet Corbet,  who  was  born  in  Plymouth, 
]\Iassachusetts,  of  Scotch  ancestry.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  fisherman  by  occupation.' 
He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  his  death 
being  caused  by  an  accident.  His  wife 
reached  the  extreme  age  of  one  hundred  and 
three  years  and  three  months  and  died  at 
Londonderry,  Nova  Scotia.  The  names 
and  dates  of  birth  of  their  children  were 
as  follows:  Isabel,  December  6,  1771  : 
Sarah,  September  26,  1773;  Peleg,  July  8, 
1775;  Elizabeth,  August  29,  1777:  Joshua, 
August  5,  1779;  John,  May  24,  1781  ;  Sam- 
uel, April  9,   1784;  Eleanor,  May  2,   1787: 


Wilson,  April  21,  1789;  Alexander,  April 
21,  1791  ;  and  Charles,  April  23,  1793. 

Joshua  Marsh,  Jr.,  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  Economy,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  in  183 1  moved  to  Onondaga  county, 
New  York.  In  1843  he  went  to  Lake 
county,  Illinois,  and  in  1862  came  to  Bara- 
boo,  Wisconsin,  where  he  died  the  follow- 
ing year,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  His 
wife  had  died  near  Antioch,  in  Lake  county, 
Illinois,  in  1843,  <^t  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years.  She  was  born  in  Cornwallis,  No\'a 
Scotia,  and  her  parents  were  from  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  the  others  being  as  follows :  John 
Palmeter,  born  November  3,  1808,  was  liv- 
ing in  Oregon  when  last  heard  of;  Peleg, 
born  November  23,  1810,  died  in  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin,  in  November,  1896;  Alexander, 
born  April  23,  1813,  is  a  resident  of  Delton, 
Sauk  county;  Margaret,  born  November  3, 
1815,  married  David  Calkins  and  died  in 
1858;  Susan,  born  March  2Ti,  1818,  mar- 
ried David  Kimball  and  died  in  1896;  Mary, 
born  August  23,  1820,  married  Nathan  Pad- 
dock and  died  in  1896;  Lavinia,  born  Feb- 
ruary, 1823,  married  first  William  Pratt,  and 
second  Jacob  Kline;  Joshua,  born  July  20, 
1823,  is  now  living  in  California;  Ann 
Chandler,  born  Juh'  11,  1827,  now  deceased, 
was  the  wife  of  George  Paddock,  of  Bara- 
boo; and  Abigail,  born  May  4,  1830,  is  the 
widow  of  Henry  Willard,  and  resides  in  Del- 
ton,  Sauk  county. 

Edward  N.  Marsh,  of  this  sketch,  first 
came  to  Baraboo  in  1849  o"  ^  hunting  trip, 
and  three  years  later  located  here,  being  em- 
ployed in  the  lumber  woods  and  mills  of 
this  locality  until  18^5.  He  then  turned  his 
attention  to  daguerreotype  and  ambrotype 
work,  and  the  introduction  of  photography 
a  few  }-ears  later  caused  him  to  lose  about 
si.x  hundretl  dollars  in\'ested  in  daguerreo- 
type plates,  etc.     He  was  then  interested  in 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


419 


photography  until  the  Civil  war  broke  out. 
The  next  day  after  the  first  call  for  Wiscon- 
sin troops,  April  i6,  1861,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  E,  First  Wisconsin  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, under  Captain  George  E.  Bryant. 
Although  he  only  enlisted  for  three  months, 
he  served  four  months  under  General  Pat- 
terson in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  taking 
part  in  the  engagement  at  Falling  Water. 
After  his  discharge  he  helped  recruit  several 
W'isconsin  regiments,  and  was  offered  com- 
missions in  both  the  Twenty-third  and  Sixth 
Infantry,  but  could  not  accept  either  owing 
to  physical  disability.  In  186 J  he  accom- 
panied eight  hundred  recruits  to  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas,  there  having  been  recent 
raids  by  Quantrell  and  others  in  that  state, 
and  from  there  he  proceeded  to  Fort  Scott, 
where  he  was  attacked  by  hemorrhage  and 
treated  by  an  Indian  doctor,  who  belonged 
to  a  company  of  Winnebagoes  that  had  en- 
listed in  Wisconsin.  Upon  his  recovery  he 
was  detailed  for  service  in  the  commissary 
department,  but  owing  to  failing  health  he 
was  discharged  in  1864. 

In  1865  Mr.  Marsh  built  the  Minniwa- 
ken  House,  the  first  hotel  at  Devil's  Lake, 
and  though  at  that  time  the  nearest  railroad 
station  was  at  Kilbourn,  he  did  a  good  busi- 
ness until  1868,  when  he  sold  out.  He  af- 
terward conducted  hotels  in  Baraboo  and 
Mauston,  Wisconsin,  and  initiated  another 
summer  resort  at  Elkhart,  Wisconsin.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  securing  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Rail- 
road through  Baraboo,  from  which  event  the 
tc^wn  dates  its  growth  and  development.  He 
was  engaged  in  the  hotel  business  in  Mil- 
waukee for  a  time,  but  owing  to  the  panic  of 
1873  that  enterprise  and  the  one  at  Elkhart 
were  not  financial  successes.  He  then  went 
to  Colorado  and  conducted  hotels  at  Fair 
Play  and  South  Park  with  good  success  for 
two  years.  The  following  three  years  were 
spent  in  Forestburg,  South  Dakota,  where 


he  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  raising  on 
a  large  scale,  and  since  1890  has  given  his 
attention  to  the  real-estate  business  in  Bara- 
boo, Wisconsin,  opening  the  first  office  of 
the  kind  in  the  place,  and  handling  city  and 
farm  property,  together  with  a  general  loan 
and  insurance  business.  Since  the  spring 
of  1897  he  has  also  been  engaged  in  devel- 
oping a  summer  resort  at  Lock  Mirror  Park, 
Sauk  county,  in  connection  with  other  par- 
ties, and  has  constructed  a  fine  trout  pond 
and  made  other  improvements.  This  place 
is  surely  destined  to  become  one  of  the  most 
popular  resorts  in  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Marsh 
is  a  far-sighted,  capable  business  man,  and 
in  his  undertakings  has  met  with  well-de- 
served success. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1855,  Mr, 
Marsh  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
May  A.  Blake,  a  native  of  Devonshire,  Eng- 
land, who  in  1849  came  to  Baraboo  with 
her  parents,  Philip  and  Mary  (May)  Blake. 
They  were  three  weeks  on  a  sailing  vessel  in 
coming  from  Liverpool  to  New  York.  Mr. 
Blake  died  in  Lemonweir,  Wisconsin,  in 
April,  1850,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in 
Baraboo,  October  29,  1895,  aged  eighty- 
three  years.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  have 
two  daughters :  Efiie  May,  now  the  wife 
of  F.  W.  Greenleaf,  of  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sm ;  and  Mabel  A.,  wife  of  C.  B.  Dutcher,  of 
Baraboo.  Fraternally  Mr.  Marsh  is  iden- 
tified with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows. He  cast  his  first  presidential  ballot 
for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  i860,  but  since 
the  war  has  been  a  st:mch  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party  and  its  principles. 


WILLIAM  J.   FOAT. 

William  J.  Foat,  a  representative  and 
prominent  farmer  of  Jackson  township, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  is  a  veteran  of 


420 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


the  Ci\il  war  and  bears  an  honorable  record 
for  brave  service  in  tlie  cause  of  freedom 
and  union,  and  in  the  paths  of  peace  he  has 
also  won  an  enviable  reputation  through  the 
sterling  c|ualities  which  go  to  the  making  of 
a  good  citizen. 

Mr.  Foat  was  born  in  Sullivan,  iladison 
county,  New  York,  September  24,  1842,  a 
son  of  Samuel  and  Maria  J.  (Becker)  Foat. 
The  father,  a  native  of  Kent  countv,  Eng- 
land, emigrated  to  America  in  1833,  'i'''*^ 
located  in  Sullivan  county.  New  York,  where 
he  successfully  engaged  in  farming  until 
1843.  He  died  in  Canada  in  1849.  The 
maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  of 
Holland  descent,  and  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Mohawk  Flats.  The  mother 
died  June  30,  1875. 

When  our  subject  was  a  year  old  he  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Canada,  where  he 
was  reared.  His  opportunities  for  obtaining 
an  education  were  very  meager,  as  he  was 
only  able  to  attend  school  for  about  three 
months,  but  being  naturally  bright  and  in- 
telligent he  has  become  a  well-informed  man 
through  his  own  unaided  efforts.  Leaving 
his  home  in  Canada  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years,  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  traveling  most 
of  the  distance  on  foot,  and  he  located  first 
in  Racine,  but  afterward  removed  to  He- 
bron township,  Jefferson  county,  where  he 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  for  some 
time.  After  his  marriage  he  bought  a  small 
farm  in  that  comity,  which  he  successfully 
operated  until  1885,  when  he  came  to  Adams 
county  and  purchased  eighty  acres  in  Jack- 
son township.  At  that  time  it  was  nearly 
all  wild  land,  but  he  has  placed  fifty-five 
acres  under  the  plow  and  erected  good  build- 
ings, and  made  other  improvements  upon 
the  place,  which  add  to  its  value  and  attract- 
ive appearance.  The  success  that  he  has 
achieved  in  life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own 
perseverance,  good  management  and  untir- 
insr  labor. 


During  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Foat  enlisted, 
August  21,  1862,  in  Company  F,  Twenty- 
second  ^\'isconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
being  disabled  at  Camp  Dick  Robinson, 
Kentucky,  he  was  discharged  February  i, 
1863.  In  1864  he  tried  to  re-enlist,  but  was 
not  accepted  on  account  of  disability.  As 
a  Democrat  he  takes  an  active  interest  in  po- 
litical aft'airs,  but  has  never  sought  office. 
He  is  \ery  much  interested  in  educational 
matters,  and  his  influence  is  always  exerted 
in  behalf  of  good  schools  and  competent 
teachers. 

On  September  23,  1871,  Mr.  Foat  mar- 
ried Miss  Olive  L.  Elmendorf,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Youmans)  Elmendorf, 
who  were  born  in  New  York,  and  were  of 
Holland  descent.  Her  father  was  born 
March  7,  1792,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-four  years,  living  under  the  ad- 
n-iinistration  of  every  president  of  the  United 
States  with  the  exception  of  Harrison  and 
McKinley.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of 
1 81 2,  being  stationed  on  Staten  Island  to 
help  guard  New  York  city.  Our  subject 
and  his  wife  have  two  children :  John  S., 
born  September  29,  1872,  and  Emery  S., 
born  April  26,  1878.  The  younger  son  at- 
tended the  common  schools  and  now  assists 
his  father  in  the  operation  of  the  home  farm. 

John  S.  Foat,  the  older  son,  after  at- 
tending the  district  schools,  entered  Ripon 
College,  in  September,  1892,  and  pursued  a 
scientific  course,  graduating  with  the  de- 
gree of  A.  M.,  in  June,  1899.  He  was  an 
earnest  worker,  and  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar students  of  that  institution,  being  busi- 
ness manager  of  the  "College  Days;"  presi- 
dent of  the  ^olian  Society,  vice-president  of 
the  College  Oratorical  Union,  president  of 
the  graduating  class  and  president  of  the 
Athletic  Society.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
debaters  in  the  college.  Before  completing 
the  course  he  laid  aside  his  text-books  to 
enter  the  service  of  his  country  in  her  war 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


421 


with  Spain,  enlisting  May  12,  1898,  in  Com- 
pany D,  Second  Wisconsin  Voluuteer  In- 
fantry. He  was  made  corporal  in  his  com- 
pany, and  was  afterward  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  sergeant.  After  a  month  spent  at 
Camp  Harvey,  he  went  with  his  command 
to  Camp  Thomas,  Georgia,  and  two  months 
later  sailed  with  the  regiment  for  Porto 
Rico,  where  they  landed  July  28,  1898.  He 
was  in  the  engagement  at  Coamo,  August  9, 
and  was  a  valiant  and  fearless  soldier.  He 
reached  home,  September  10,  much  reduced 
in  flesh,  and  was  mustered  out  November  14, 
1898.  On  the  1st  of  October,  1899,  he  en- 
tered Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  where 
he  expects  to  graduate  in  June,  1902,  and 
then  engage  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 


JOHN   GARDENER   GRIFFIN. 

John  Gardener  Grifiin,  of  Courtland,  Co- 
lumbia county,  was  born  October  30,  181 5, 
in  East  Haddam,  Middlesex  county,  Con- 
necticut, and  was  the  oldest  son  of  Nathan 
and  Sarah  Barber  (Gallup)  Griffin.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  John  Griffin,  and 
his  great-grandfather  bore  the  name  of 
Nathan.  Nathan  Griffin  was  born  in  Lyme, 
New  London  county,  Connecticut,  and 
moved  to  the  town  of  East  Haddam,  and  pur- 
chased land  there  some  time  in  the  early 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century.  This  land 
remained  in  the  family  possession  through 
four  generations,  and  was  still  held  about 
fifty  years  ago  by  descendants  of  this  early 
Nathan  Griffin.  On  this  farm  were  born 
our  subject,  his  father,  his  grandfather,  and 
here  was  also  born  the  oldest  daughter  of 
John  Gardener  Griffin,  Kate.  The  Griffins 
have  always  been  farmers,  though  occasion- 
ally would  be  found  one  who  would  depart 
from  family  traditions  and  engage  in  trade 
or  follow  a  profession.     Such  was  the  career 


of  the  father  of  our  subject.  At  twenty-six 
vears  of  age  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits at  East  Haddam,  and  continued  in  that 
line  until  he  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1845.  He 
was  the  father  of  twelve  children:  John 
G. ;  Sarah  Ann,  now  Mrs.  Julius  C.  Will- 
iams ;  Edwin  B. ;  Betsy  B. ;  Henry  C. ;  Al- 
bert Morgan ;  C?rlos ;  Phoebe ;  Wallace  Fred- 
erick ;  George  Cone ;  Theodore ;  and  one  who 
died  in  infancy.  There  is  a  family  tradition  to 
the  effect  that  about  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  three  brothers  emi- 
grated to  this  country  from  Wales  and  set- 
tled in  various  parts  of  this  country.  One 
brother  located  in  Boston;  another  on  Long 
Island,  and  the  third  in  South  Carolina.  The 
Griffins  of  this  history  belong  to  the  Long 
Island  branch  of  the  family.  Nathan  Grif- 
fin, the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  a  part  of  his  family,  came  west  in  1845, 
and  purchased  land  from  a  previous  settler 
in  this  county.  It  was  described  as  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  15,  township 
12,  range  12  east,  and  on  this  land  he  lived 
until  his  death  in  1862,  when  he  was  over 
seventy-two  years  old. 

Hulda  Cone,  the  great-grandmother  of 
our  subject,  was  the  oldest  daughter  of 
George  Cone  by  his  first  wife.  The  mater- 
nal grandparents  of  our  subject,  Gardener 
and  Betsy  Barber  Gallup,  were  both  born  in 
Groton,  New  London  county,  and  followed 
farming  all  their  lives. 

John  Gardener  Griffin,  being  the  oldest 
son  of  his  parents,  was  named  after  both  his 
grandparents.  He  passed  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  in  Connecticut,  and  was  there 
married.  He  did  not  come  west  until  1857. 
He  came  to  his  father's  farm  in  this  county 
that  year,  bringing  his  own  family  with 
him,  and  remained  with  his  parents  as  long 
as  they  lived.  His  mother  lived  until  Jan- 
uary 2,  1 88 1,  surviving  her  husband  many 
years.  After  her  death  our  subject  bought 
out  the  interests  of  the  other  heirs,  and  is 


42-2 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


now  the  sole  owner  of  the  old  homestead, 
which,  with  other  lands  added  to  it,  now 
constitutes  a  valuable  farm  of  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres.  It  is  cultivated  in 
the  most  modern  and  enlightened  fashion, 
and  is  catalogued  among  the  model  farms 
of  the  county. 

Mr.  Griffin  and  Miss  Ursula  Mack  were 
married  in  Connecticut.  Her  parents  were 
Romancey  and  Mehitable  (Knowles)  Mack, 
and  her  father  was  in  early  life  the  fore- 
man of  a  granite  quarry,  Ixit  later  became  a 
farmer.  She  is  the  grantldaughter  of  Heze- 
kiah  Mack,  a  veteran  of  the  Revolution. 
Her  union  with  Mr.  Griffin  was  lilessed  by 
the  birth  of  three  daughters :  Kate,  who 
died  June  12,  1882,  when  she  was  thirty- 
seven  years  old;  Jane,  the  wife  of  Hiram 
Gilmore,  and  living  in  Cambria ;  Edith,  who 
married  George  Ketchum,  and  with  her  hus- 
band is  living  on  the  farm. 

Mr.  J.  G.  Griffin  is  a  man  of  much  more 
than  the  ordinary  education.  He  attended 
a  select  school  at  East  Haddam,  later  took 
a  course  at  the  Troy  Conference  Academy, 
at  West  Poultney,  Vermont,  and  the  Wes- 
ley Academy  at  Wilbraham,  Massachusetts. 
When  he  was  twenty-one  he  left  school  and 
applied  himself  to  his  lifework,  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  farmer.  When  he  was  seventeen 
he  taught  winter  school,  and  from  that  time 
has  always  been  associated  with  educational 
and  public  affairs.  While  still  a  young  man 
he  was  made  superintendent  of  schools,  and 
when  the  law  provided  for  a  board  of  school 
commissioners  he  was  named  on  the  board 
among  the  very  first  to  receive  that  honor. 
While  in  Connecticut  he  was  twice  a  can- 
didate for  the  legislature  on  the  Free  Soil 
ticket,  and  once  received  within  five  votes 
of  a  majority  of  all  cast.  He  had  been  a 
Democrat,  having  voted  for  Martin  Van 
Buren  in  1848,  but  when  the  parties  divided 
on  the  issue  of  slavery  he  at  once  took  his 
place  with  the  party  of  freedom.     He  cast 


his  first  Republican  vote  for  John  C.  Fre- 
mont, and  since  that  time  has  been  a  stead- 
fast supporter  of  the  party.  Here  in  Wis- 
consin he  has  served  about  twenty-five  years 
as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  represented  his 
district  in  the  legislature  of  1875  and  1876. 
He  has  frequently  served  on  the  jury,  more 
frequently  perhaps  than  any  other  man  in 
the  county.  He  became  a  Methodist  when 
only  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  his  life  has 
been  an  offering  on  the  altar  of  his  faith. 
Through  a  long  and  active  life  he  has  been 
an  earnest  and  faithful  worker  in  the  com- 
munion he  so  early  selected,  and  it  has  hon- 
ored him  in  every  way.  He  has  lived  to  a 
grand  old  age,  and  leaves  his  posterity  the 
inheritance  of  a  noble  name  and  the  memo- 
ries of  a  useful  life. 


KENNEDY  SCOTT. 

Kennedy  Scott  is  one  of  the  most  pub- 
lic-spirited and  influential  citizens  of  Rio, 
Columbia  county,  and  has  been  identified 
with  many  efforts  to  advance  the  moral  and 
material  interests  of  the  village  and  the 
county.  He  was  born  in  Warren,  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio,  the  i6th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1842,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and 
Jane  (Kennedy)  Scott,  both  natives  of 
county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  His  father  came 
to  this  country  in  1840  and  located  at  War- 
ren, his  mother  following  a  year  later.  In 
the  spring  of  1850  the  family  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  settled  in  the  town  of  Spring- 
vale,  Columbia  county,  where  the  father 
bought  wild  land  for  a  farm  at  three  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  an  acre.  He  died  on  his  farm 
in  1877  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  He  was 
justice  of  the  peace  for  twenty  years  in 
Springvale,  though  he  was  never  an  active 
politician.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  local  Congregational  church  with  which 


KEHHEEY  SCOTT. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAniY. 


425 


he  and  his  wife  were  always  identified.  His 
father,  Andrew  Scott,  hved  and  died  on  -x 
farm  in  county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  Mrs.  Jane 
Scott  died  in  Rio  in  1882  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-seven. Her  father.  William  Kennedy, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  British  army,  and  died  in 
tlie  service.  She  was  reared  hy  an  uncle, 
Sanuicl  McKenna.  She  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children,  six  of  whom  were  born  in  Ire- 
land :  Samuel  died  in  Springvale,  aged  sev- 
enty years;  Alary  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Dowd,  and  has  livetl  in  Wyocena  township, 
Columbia  county,  on  the  same  farm  since 
1848:  \\'illiam  is  at  Ellendale,  North  Da- 
kota: Joseph,  Staceyville,  Iowa;  John,  El- 
lendale, North  Dakota;  James,  Oakes,  North 
Dakota ;  Kennedy,  the  subject  of  this  arti- 
cle; Lydia  Ann,  Mrs.  James  H.  Palmer,  died 
in  1863,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years;  Har- 
riet, Mrs.  David  Coff,  Springvale  township; 
Merrilla,  Mrs.  H.  W.  Wisner,  Knapp,  Wis- 
consin. 

Kennedy  Scott  came  to  Columbia  county 
with  his  parents  in  1850,  and  his  home  has 
been  in  or  near  the  village  of  Rio  for  the  last 
fifty  years.  There  are  not  half  a  dozen  peo- 
ple living  in  the  community  who  were  here 
when  he  came.  After  he  had  completed  his 
studies  in  the  district  school  he  went  to  She- 
boygan and  spent  a  year  in  the  city  school, 
and  then  took  the  normal  course  at  the  Fox 
Lake  Female  College.  He  began  to  teacli 
when  nineteen  years  old,  and  had  a  salary  of 
eighteen  dollars  a  month,  and  boarded  him- 
self. As  a  teacher  he  develoi)ed  nuich  abil- 
ity, and  served  successfully  as  principal  at 
Poynette,  Cambria,  Wyocena  and  Rio.  In 
August,  1 874, he  was  appointed countysuper- 
intendent  of  schools  to  fill  a  vacancy,  and  was 
elected  three  times  for  the  same  position, 
making  five  years  that  he  served  the  people 
in  that  responsible  position.  In  the  spring  of 
1880  he  engaged  in  farming  on  a  place  about 
one  mile  south  of  Rio,  a  farm  he  still  owns. 
It  is  a  quarter-section,  and  he  has  made  it  one 


of  the  model  farms  of  the  county.  He  has 
put  up  first  class  buildings,  and  brought 
every  acre  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
For  many  years  he  made  a  specialty  of  potato 
culture  and  the  breeding  of  Poland  China 
swine.  He  has  also  dealt  extensively  in  po- 
tatoes, shipping  from  different  points 
throughout  the  county  for  a  numlier  of 
years.  Since  Noveml:er,  1S99,  he  has  made 
his  home  in  the  village,  where  he  has  erected 
a  fine  modern  residence. 

Mr.  Scott  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  was  Miss  .\nnie  Buchanan,  and 
they  were  married  October  3,  1867.  Her 
father,  Daniel  Buchanan,  is  now  living  in 
Ritzville,  Washington.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  constitutional  convention  of  that 
state.  The  lady  was  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  and  died  March  3,  1880,  at  the  age 
of  forty-two  years  and  five  days.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
left  one  son  ami  four  daughters  :  Daniel  A.  is 
a  farmer  at  Ritzville,  Washington,  and  owns 
over  one  thousantl  acres  of  farm  land  near 
that  city;  Lydia  Ann,  Mrs.  F.  M.  Warner, 
Pingree,  North  Dakota;  Jessie  M.,  Mrs.  F. 
H.  Walker,  of  Rio;  Margaret  and  Anna  M. 
are  living  at  home.  All  have  had  more  or 
less  experience  in  teaching  except  the  young- 
est. Mr.  Scott  was  married  a  second  time, 
March  24,  1891,  Miss  Eleanor  Evans  be- 
coming his  wife.  She  is  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Reese  an.d  Elizabeth  (Jones)  Evans, 
of  Cambria,  and  was  born  at  Mt.  Pleasant, 
Racine  county,  Wisconsin.  Her  father  was 
a  clergyman  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Meth- 
odist church,  and  was  a  speaker  and  pastor 
of  more  than  usual  ability.  When  a  young 
man  he  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  as  a  tem- 
perance speaker.  He  was  born  in  Cardi- 
ganshire, Wales,  and  came  to  this  country 
in  1842,  settling  first  in  Racine  county.  He 
was  ordained  in  1852,  and  spent  the  next 
four  years  as  pastor  of  what  was  then  the 
only   Welsh   Methodist   church    in    Chicago. 


426 


COMPENDIUM    OP    BIOGRAPHY. 


In  1857  he  came  to  Cambria,  and  was 
pastor  of  a  church  in  that  village  for  twen- 
ty-two years.  He  went  to  Oxford,  Iowa,  to 
organize  a  synod,  and  died  there  October  23. 
1882,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  many  excellent  traits,  and 
had  an  inexhaustil;)le  fund  of  humor.  It 
is  told  of  him  that  soon  after  his  ordination 
he  drove  to  Dodgeville,  Wisconsin,  to  attend 
a  church  conference,  and  it  was  expected  of 
him  that  he  should  take  charge  of  a  certain 
service.  On  his  arrival  he  met  some  other 
ministers,  who,  taking  him  for  a  teamster, 
and  hearing  that  he  was  from  Racine,  began 
to  ask  him  about  the  rising  young  clergy- 
man, Reese  Evans.  He  answered  them  ac- 
cording to  the  spirit  of  the  opportunity,  and 
needless  to  say,  they  were  much  surprised  to 
see  him  in  the  pulpit  at  the  appointed  time. 
He  was  married  October  4,  1843,  to  Eliza- 
beth Jones,  and  became  the  father  of  two  sons 
and  five  daughters.  His  wife  was  born  in 
Caernavonshire,  Wales,  and  died  in  Cam- 
bria, \\'isconsin,  in  1893,  when  over 
seventy-two  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  Scott  are  both  in- 
timately associated  with  the  Rio  Congrega- 
tional church.  He  united  v/ith  the  society  in 
1869,  and  has  been  a  deacon  since  1877,  suc- 
ceeding his  father,  who  had  acted  in  that  ca- 
pacity many  years.  He  has  also  been  a 
trustee  of  the  church  since  that  year,  and  for 
a  time  was  the  clerk  of  the  society.  Mrs. 
Scott  !:as  been  clerk  since  1892,  and  is  now 
solicitor  and  treasurer.  Mr.  Scott  is  a  Re- 
publ  can  and  was  chairman  and  clerk  of  Low- 
ville  township.  He  has  been  justice  of  the 
peace  twelve  years,  and  is  a  familiar  figure 
at  almost  all  political  gatherings.  Since 
1 86 1  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Good  Templars,  and  was  grand 
marshal  of  the  state  grand  lodge  in  1867. 
Mrs.  Scott  and  two  daughters  are  also  mem- 
bers of  the  Rio  lodge.  Mr.  Scott  united 
with  the  Odd  Fellows  in  1890,  and  has  filled 


all  the  chairs  in  the  Rio  lodge.  He  is  trus- 
tee and  secretary  at  the  present  time  of  the 
local  lodge.  He  is  a  Modern  Woodman, 
and  his  wife  and  a  daughter  belong  to  the 
Royal  Neighbors,  where  both  are  filling  offi- 
cial  positions. 

As  a  representative  pioneer,  and  one  of 
the  county's  prominent  and  influent'al  cit- 
izens, a  portrait  of  Mr.  Scott  is  properly 
shown  on  a  page  of  this  volume.  A  life  time 
spent  in  the  county,  together  with  the  l)lame- 
less  life  and  sterling  integrity  of  Mr.  Scott, 
have  gained  him  the  esteem  and  respect  of  all 
in  the  community  and  they  will  prize  this 
work  the  more  that  it  contains  the  likeness 
of  their  old  time  friend. 


THOMAS  ROBERT  HASTINGS,  M.  D., 
Oph.  D. 

The  medical  fraternity  has  few  men 
among  its  younger  members  who  ha\'e  at- 
tained the  degree  of  success  possessed  by 
the  gentleman  above  named.  He  has  been 
a  practitioner  comparatively  few  years,  but 
his  skillful  management  of  cases  entrusted 
to  his  care,  and  his  progressive  nature  have 
gained  him  an  excellent  practice  and  as- 
sured his  future.  He  is  a  man  of  deep 
thought  and  intelligence,  and  does  not  cease 
his  studies  with  the  beginning  of  his  prac- 
tice, but  is  perfecting  himself  in  all  of  the 
better  methods  known  to  the  profession,  and 
the  people  in  the  vicinity  of  Lime  Ridge, 
Sauk  county,  know  him  as  a  faithful  physi- 
cian who  stands  at  the  head  of  his  profes- 
sion. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  New  Jerusalem, 
New  Brunswick,  February  17,  1859,  and 
was  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Emily  (Lourie) 
FTastings,  who  are  now  residents  of  Massa- 
chusetts. His  paternal  grandparents,  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth    (Gilanders)    Hastings,  were 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


427 


natives  of  Birmin?-ham,  England,  and  tlie 
grandfather  was  a  mnsic  teacher  and  tailur. 
He  emigrated  to  a  farm  in  New  Brunswick, 
about  1825,  where  the  father  of  our  subject 
also  engaged  in  farming.  Emily  Hastings, 
the  mother  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  New 
Brunswick,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Mary  Ann  (Rennick)  Lourie.  Her 
father  was  a  Scotchman,  wlio  went  from 
Argyle  to  Armagh,  Ireland,  where  he  mar- 
ried and  soon  after  removed  to  New  Bruns- 
wick, in  1825. 

Thomas  R.  Hastings  as  a  youth  had  in- 
dependent ideas,  and,  although  his  parents 
intended  to  fit  him  for  commercial  life,  he 
decided  to  follow  a  professional  career.  Af- 
ter attaining  his  majority  he  went  to  Boston, 
and  the  following  year  to  Ridgeway,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  spent  four  years  in  the 
study  of  medicine,  and  a  part  of  the  time  he 
spent  in  studying  with  his  brother.  Dr.  J. 
W".  Hastings,  of  New  Georgetown,  Ohio. 
Returning  to  Boston  he  studied  architecture 
at  Wells  Memorial  Institute,  and  was 
awarded  some  high  commendations  for  ex- 
cellent work  in  that  line,  but  the  medical 
profession  was  his  aim,  and  he  accordingly 
went  to  Chicago  and  entered  the  Physio- 
IMedical  College,  graduating  with  the  class 
of  1897.  In  April  of  that  year  he  located 
at  Lime  Ridge,  where  he  has  continued  to 
practice  with  ever  increasing  patronage.  He 
has  taken  a  course  at  the  McCormick  0]iti- 
cal  College,  of  Chicago,  and  gives  special 
attention  to  treatment  of  the  eye.  He  car- 
ries his  own  dispensary,  and  his  residence 
and  office  erected  in  1899  is  one  of  the  finest 
buildings  in  the  village  of  Lime  Ridge. 

Our  subject  was  married  July  16,  1890, 
to  Christina  Douglas,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Charlotte  Douglas,  at  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts. Mrs.  Hastings  was  born  in  New  Je- 
rusalem, New  Brunswick,  where  her  parents 
still  reside.  Three  children  have  been  born 
to  bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.   Hast- 


ings, named  as  follows :  Ima  Columbia, 
Delia  Josephine  and  Charlotte  Emily.  Air. 
Hastings  is  a  member  of  Forest  Lodge,  No. 
106,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  at 
Lime  Ridge,  and  also  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America.  He  is  well  known  as  a 
physician,  and  holds  membership  in  the  Illi- 
nois Physio-Medical  Society.  He  is  inde- 
pendent in  political  views. 


EMMONS  TAYLOR,  Deceased. 

This  gentleman  was  for  many  years  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the 
bar  of  Columbia  county,  and  one  of  the  most 
exemplary  and  honored  citizens.  He  was 
born  in  Rupert,  Bennington  county,  Ver- 
mont, June  26,  1828,  and  died  at  Portage, 
Wisconsin,  April  13,  1874. 

For  a  sketch  of  his  jjarents  see  the  bi- 
ography of  his  brother,  Joseph  B.  Taylor. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  our  subject  en- 
tered Williams  College  and  graduated  there 
four  years  later.  He  read  law  in  the  office 
of  J.  C.  Hopkins,  of  Granville,  New  York, 
who  was  later  United  States  judge  for'  the 
western  district  of  \Msconsin.  Our  sub- 
ject was  admitted  to  the  liar  in  New  York, 
and  came  to  Portage,  Wisconsin,  in  1857. 
He  became  a  partner  of  L.  S.  Dixon,  who 
afterward  liecame  chief  justice  of  ^Viscon- 
sin.  In  his  latter  years  our  subject  was  a 
partner  of  his  brother,  Hon.  James  B.  Tay- 
lor, who  at  his  death  was  serving  as  county 
judge  of  Columbia  county.  In  1868  Em- 
mons Taylor  was  elected  district  attorney 
of  Columbia  county,  and  served  six  years 
in  that  capacity. 

Mrs.  Taylor  passed  away  aljout  a  year 
prior  to  her  husbaml.  their  only  child  dying 
a  few  months  before  the  mother.  In  profes- 
sional and  pri\ate  life  Mr.  Taylor  won 
manv  lasting  friends.     The   following  quo- 


428 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


tations  from  some  of  the  eulogies  pro- 
nounced upon  his  character  by  those  who 
knew  him  well  are  best  descriptive  of  his 
life.  "Xature  was  bountiful  in  her  gifts  to 
Mr.  Taylor.  She  ga\e  him  so  full  a  love 
of  justice  that  it  was  the  guiding  star  of  all 
his  actions.  She  bestowed  on  him  the  gift 
of  oratory,  and  an  intellect  of  no  common 
power,  accompanied  liy  an  ambition  that  se- 
cured their  careful  and  generous  culture. 
Victory  never  elated  him  so  as  to  make  him 
forget  the  amenities  of  the  profession  or 
the  courtesy  due  to  the  losing  party,  nor  did 
defeat  e\'er  make  him  unjust  to  the  court,  to 
the  jury,  or  to  an  opposing  counsel.  In 
short,  his  bearing  and  conduct,  imder  all 
circumstances,  were  so  commendable  that 
tlie  man  seemed  greater  than  the  lawyer." 
"His  great  abilities  and  acquirements  placed 
him  in  the  very  front  rank  of  all  his  profes- 
sion. As  an  advocate  he  had  few  superiors,  if 
any,  at  the  l)ar."  "In  social  life  he  was  most 
eminently  fitted  to  both  ornament  and  in- 
fluence society,  and  his  friendships  were 
well  chosen,  most  intimate,  strong  and  last- 
ing. *  *  *  He  was  so  attached  to  the 
scenes,  associations  and  labors  of  his  home, 
that  it  was  with  great  reluctance  and  effort 
that  he  was  e\'er  induced  to  go  al)road  and 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  his  acquaintance,  in- 
fluence and  professional  practice  and  tri- 
umphs. It  was  owing  to  these  local  and 
friendly  attachments,  more  than  to  anything 
else,  that  his  appreciation  and  his  fame  were 
not  as  great  throughout  the  country  as  in 
his  own  state  and  in  the  county  of  Colum- 
bia." Mr.  Taylor  was  very  prominent  in 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  at  the  time  of 
his  death  right  eminent  grand  commander 
of  the  state  for  the  Knights  Templar.  Mem- 
bers of  the  order  came  in  special  trans  from 
most  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  state  to 
attend  the  funeral  services,  nearly  one  hun- 
dred members  attending  from  Milwaukee 
alone.    Among  those  who  participated  in  the 


ceremonies  were :  Henry  L.  Palmer,  past 
grand  master  K.  T.  of  the  U.  S. ;  Past 
Grand  Commander  Alvin  B.  Alden ;  Past 
Grand  Commander  A.  V.  H.  Carpenter,  and 
several  justices  of  the  supreme  court  of 
Wisconsin,  and  other  prominent  members 
of  the  bar. 

April  30,  1 86 1,  the  day  previous  to  the 
departure  of  the  Portage  Light  Guard  for 
the  field,  Mr.  Taylor  presented  them  with  a 
banner  on  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  Portage, 
on  which  occasion  he  delivered  a  patriotic 
address  which  compares  favorably  with  the 
ablest  efforts  of  Patrick  Henry  or  James 
Otis.  A  few  lines  are  quoted  herewith : 
'The  important,  the  momentous  hour  has 
come  which  must  determine  whether  the 
best  government  on  earth  shall  stand  or  fall. 
Everything  is  at  stake  and  at  stake  now. 
Honor,  Interest  and  Duty,  with  one  united 
voice,  call  on  us  for  a  vigorous  and  manly 
exertion.  If  we  should  fail,  then  indeed, 
has  the  decree  of  Omnipotence  gone  forth 
that  freedom  shall  find  no  permanent  rest- 
ing place  on  earth.  Then  shall  we  have 
tasted  its  sweets  only  to  make  more  bitter 
the  cup  of  our  wretchedness,  then  shall  Op- 
pression rivet  anew  her  chains,  while  Liber- 
ty, pouring  out  her  tears  o\'er  a  land  mi- 
worthy  of  her  blessing,  shall  spread  her 
wings  and  speed  her  final  flight  to  her  native 
heavens." 


GEORGE  L.  SWARTZ. 

George  L.  Swartz,  proprietor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  "Press,"  of  Poynette,  has  lieen 
a  resident  of  Columbia  county  for  over 
a  decade  of  years,  and  is  one  of  the  ablest 
editors  of  that  region.  He  is  also  connect- 
ed with  other  business  interests,  and  is  one 
of  the  wide-awake  men  of  the  city,  and  en- 
joys the  respect  of  his  fellow  men. 

Mr.  Swartz  was  born  at  Newtown,  Penn- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


429 


sylvania,  August  5,  1856,  and  is  a  son  of 
D.  L.  and  Frances  (Phillips)  Swartz.  His 
father  was  born  in  Newtown,  in  1831,  and 
was  a  blacksmith  liy  trade.  He  served  in 
the  Civil  war  and  enlisted  in  one  of  the  first 
regiments  to  enter  the  service.  He  went  to 
the  front  as  a  member  of  Company  C,  Third 
Regiment,  known  as  Governor  Curtin  Re- 
serve Corps,  and  served  about  fourteen 
months,  when  he  was  discharged  at  Harri- 
son's Landing  on  account  of  disability. 
The  mother  of  our  suliject  was  born  in  1830. 
and  his  parents  came  to  Wisconsin  in  the 
fall  of  1877.  and  are  now  residents  of  Co- 
lumbia county.  Six  children  were  born  to 
them,  three  of  whom  are  now  living,  as 
follows:  George  L.,  uur  subject;  D.  L.,  a 
resident  of  Columbia  county;  and  W.  G., 
now  residing  in  the  state  of  Washington. 
The  subject  of  this  review  received  his 
education  in  Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  to 
some  extent  in  farming,  antl  learned  his 
trade  in  the  "Xewtown  Enterprise"  office. 
He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1877,  and  after  a 
Slav  of  two  years  returned  to  his  Pennsyl- 
vania home.  He  again  came  to  this  state 
in  November,  1889,  and  purchased  the  pa- 
per which  he  now  owns  and  edits.  It  is 
a  weekly  sheet,  published  Friday,  and  is 
widely  circulated.  It  is  spicy,  and  is  con- 
sidered among  the  best  of  the  newspaper  ex- 
changes, and  under  Mr.  Swartz'  owner- 
ship is  gaining  ground  steadily.  Our  sub- 
ject was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Columbia 
county  December  5,  1899,  and  is  also  inter- 
ested in  the  insurance  business,,  and  is 
netary  public  and  city  clerk.  He  joined 
the  Pennsylvania  State  Miltia,  and  was  first 
corporal  of  Company  K,  Sixteenth  Regi- 
ment, and  during  the  riots  in  1877  was  with 
his  regiment  when  it  assisted  in  quelling  the 
disturbance. 

Mr.  Swartz  was  married  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania.  December  j8.  1887,  to 
Jdiss  Mary   Drake,  a  native  of  Wisconsin, 


who  was  born  in  Columlxa  county.  April 
21.  1857.  One  son  and  one  daughter  have 
been  born  to  ^Nlr.  and  ^^Irs.  Swartz:  Davis 
Watson,  born  Xovemlier  8.  I888:  and 
Hanna,  born  August  29,  1890.  Our  sub- 
ject is  prominent  in  local  affairs.  He  has 
passed  all  the  chairs  in  the  Indepeiident 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  both  of  the  subor- 
dinate and  encampment  branches,  and  is  now 
secretary  of  Poynette  Lodge,  No.  173,  A. 
F.  &  A.  M.  He  is  a  member  and  recording 
steward  of  the  Methodist  church.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  the  highest  character.  In  po- 
litical sentiment  he  is  a  Republican  and 
stands  firmly  for  his  convictions.  He  advo- 
cates progression,  and  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  welfare  of  his  county  and  state 
will  be  found  on  the  side  of  right  and  jus- 
tice. He  performs  his  duties  to  his  com- 
munity with  fidelity,  and  is  one  of  the  in- 
fluential citizens  of  the  village  of  Poynette. 


JOHN   BARTON,   Sr. 

John  Barton,  Sr.,  whose  pleasant  and 
inviting  home  has  been  found  for  many 
years  on  section  15,  tow^nship  of  Colburn, 
has  long  been  known  as  one  of  the  fore- 
most citizens  of  Adams  county.  He  was 
born  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  four 
miles  east  of  Zanesville,  September  25,  181S, 
and  the  earlier  oortion  of  his  life  was  spent 
in  his  native  state.  In  the  course  of  the 
years  he  has  applied  his  hand  to  many  labors, 
and  prospered  in  all ;  and  now  as  the  sunset 
of  life  draws  near,  he  can  look  back  with 
something  like  satisfaction  over  his  eighty 
}"ears  of  honorable  and  successful  labors. 

Mr.  Barton  was  married  to  Mary  E. 
Erelsford,  at  \\'est  Alexander,  Pennsyl- 
vania, April  7,  1836,  and  spent  the  next 
seventeen  years  of  his  life  in  farming  in 
^Morgan  countv,  Ohio.     He  had  a  coal  mine 


430 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


on  his  land,  which  lie  wnri-ced  winters;  and 
also  built  a  saw-mill,  which  he  operated 
some  five  years.  In  1857  he  transferred 
himself  and  all  his  belongings  and  appur- 
tenances to  .\dams  ■  county,  Wisconsin, 
v/here  the  year  before  he  had  bought  eight 
hundred  acres  of  the  government.  Of  this 
extensive  tract  he  now  holds  four  hundred 
acres,  and  with  assiduous  tillage  has  con- 
verted it  into  a  model  Wisconsin  farm. 
He  lives  in  a  handsome  stone  house,  and  has 
ample  and  sufficient  outlniildings  of  every 
kind  and  character. 

Mr.  Barton  bought  an  interest  in  a 
water  power  and  saw-nfiU  on  the  big 
Roacha-Cree  creek,  and  built  a  grist-mill  at 
that  place  in  1863.  He  carried  on  these  en- 
terprises for  some  five  years,  when  he  sold 
out  to  John  Comer  and  returned  to  his 
Adams  county  farm,  where  he  has  main- 
tained his  home  to  the  present  time.  Here 
he  has  taken  much  interest  in  st(->ck  raising, 
and  every  year  puts  up  a  vast  amount  of 
hay,  not  only  for  use,  but  for  sale.  He 
brought  clover  seed  with  him  from  Ohio, 
and  it  was  the  first  e\er  sowed  on  Indian 
land  north  of  the  Fox  ri\-er.  He  has  raised 
it  continuously,  since  that  time,  and  thinks 
very  highly  of  it  as  a  stock  food.  He  baled 
and  shipped  to  Steven's  Point  the  first  bale 
of  hay  ever  put  up  and  sent  from  Adams 
county.  In  the  season  he  has  frequently 
cut  a  hundred  tons  of  tame  hay.  and  as 
much  more  of  wild  from  his  place. 

In  his  time  Mr.  Barton  has  filled  many 
important  local  positions,  though  he  has  set 
his  face  against  ofiice  seeking.  He  was 
county  commissioner  in  1864,  and  has  filled 
the  various  town  offices  in  succession.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  town  board  manv 
years  and  has  exercised  a  marked  infiuence 
on  town  and  county  affairs.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  order,  and  his  name  is 
inscribed  on  the  charter  of  ^^'automa  lodge. 
Later  he  was  transferred  to  Edwards  Lodee 


at  Hancock.  '  He  is  much  re\'ered  in  the 
mystic  circles,  and  for  years  be  was  an  effi- 
cient and  hard-working  member  of  the  or- 
der. He  is  now  a  Republican,  and  in  early 
life  was  a  Whig.  He  voted  for  General 
Harrison  in  1840  and  has  many  interesting 
memories  of  politics  in  those  early  days. 

John  Barton,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  article,  was  born  in  eastern  Virginia, 
where  he  married  Frances  Anderson  in 
1816.  They  removed  soon  after  their  wed- 
ding to  Ohio,  where  they  spent  their  lives 
in  farming.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war 
of  1812,  and  wtis  in  the  battle  of  Bladens- 
burg.  He  was  at  Washington  when  the 
British  looted  the  capitol.  Levi  Barton,  the 
grandfather  of  John,  was  born  in  eastern 
Virginia,  and  was  a  representative  farmer 
and  a  leading  spirit  in  the  Revolutionary 
struggle.  He  was  one  of  the  lirst  men  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  English,  and  one 
of  the  last  to  put  them  tlown.  He  served 
throughout  the  war  with  distinction,  and 
he  was  long  a  leading  character  In  his  own 
community. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barton  are  the  parents 
of  twenty  children,  eight  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Nancy  Jane,  Margaret  Ann,  Hayes, 
Andrew,  Laura,  Charles  Edward,  Ihomas 
and  John,  Jr.  They  had  two  sons  in  the 
Civil  war,  William  F.  and  Hayes.  John, 
Jr.,  is  in  the  Philippines. 


BREMXER  BROS. 

Bremner  Bros.,  proprietors  of  the  Plant- 
ers' Hotel  at  Portage,  are  recognized  as 
being  among  the  most  popular,  enterprising 
and  progressive  pul)lic  caterers  in  the  state 
of  Wisconsin.  Their  house  is  constantly 
filled  with  respectable  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  have  only  words  of  praise  and  approval 
for    the    management  of  the  estal^lishment 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


431 


and  wlio  are  continually  extending-  its  repu- 
latinn  thi-dughnut  the  Cduntry.  In  a  com- 
paratively short  period  of  time  these  two 
g-entlemen  have  demonstrated  the  practica- 
bility of  profitably  conducting  a  first-class 
hotel  at  popular  prices.  This  has  been  ac- 
complished in  the  face  of  sharp  competition 
on  the  part  of  experienced  hotel  men  and 
without  the  aid  of  a  bar  or  other  auxiliaries, 
which  are  often  considered  necessary  in 
order  to  carry  on  a  public  house  at  a  profit. 
The  secret  of  their  success  lies  in  furnish- 
ing clean,  comfortable  accommodations  antl 
according  courteous  treatment  to  their 
guests  at  all  times,  i  he  house  was  erectetl 
in  1897  at  an  expense  of  o\'er  fourteen 
thousand  dollars,  is  a  suljstantial,  three- 
story  brick  l.]uildmg,  eciuipped  with  all 
modern  con\"enienc^s  and  conducted  in  the 
most  respectable  and  business-like  manner. 

George  Henry  Bremner,  the  senior  part- 
ner of  the  firm,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
BufYalo,  Marquette  county,  Wisconsin,  De- 
cember ij,  1864.  His  father,  John  Brem- 
ner, is  a  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and 
came  with  his  parents  to  America  when  a 
boy  of  tweKe  years.  The  family  located 
near  Racine,  Wiscunsin,  in  1844,  and,  two 
years  later,  settletl  in  Marquette  coun.ty, 
which  is  still  the  home  of  John  Bremner. 
He  is  one  of  the  oldest  surviving  pioneers 
of  that  county,  where  he  owns  a  farm  of 
three  hundretl  and  sixty  acres.  He  is  in- 
terested to  a  considerable  extent  in  live 
stock  and  has  devoted  much  of  his  atten- 
tion in  recent  years  to  the  breeding  of  cattle, 
his  herd  being  one  of  the  best  in  a  locality 
which  is  famous  for  the  improved  quality 
of  its  dairy  stock.  Though  he  has  nearly 
attained  the  age  of  three  score  and  ten,  JMr. 
Bremner  is  still  hale  and  hearty  and  noted 
for  the  rugged  hospitality  which  charac- 
i/es  the  home  of  the  Scotch-American 
farmer. 

Adaline  Davis,  who  became  the  wife  of 


the  last  named  gentleman,  was  born  in  In- 
diana. She  departed  this  life,  March  16, 
1 88 1,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years. 

Of  the  seven  children  born  to  John  and 
Adaline  Bremner,  two  died  in  childhood. 
The  names  of  the  others  were  as  follows: 
George  li.,  Charles  \.,  Adaline  (Mrs. 
Frank  Carnegie),  Jennie  (Mrs.  George 
Kerr)  and  Leslie.  Mrs.  Carnegie  is  now 
deceased,  and  the  others,  except  Leslie,  live 
in  Portage. 

Upon  reaching  manhood.  George  H. 
Bremner  became  associated  with  his  father 
and  brother  in  the  operation  of  threshing 
machines,  an  enterprise  which  he  success- 
fully continued  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
1893  he  located  in  Portage.  In  March  of 
the  following  year  he  formed  a  new  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  Charles,  in  the 
purchase  of  the  Farmers  Hotel.  They  ap- 
plied themselves  to  this  enterprise  with  the 
same  interest  and  vigor  which  had  made 
their  previous  undertakings  uniformly  suc- 
cessful and  sdtin  found  the  meager  capacities 
of  this  building  insufficient  to  accommodate 
their  growing  custom.  .Vccordingly  the 
Planters"  Hotel  was  built,  as  previously 
stated,  and  its  popularity  was  ensured  from 
the  start.  Both  proprietors  possess  the 
happy  faculty  of  making  their  guests  feel 
at  home  immediately  on  their  arrival,  and 
the  numerous  details  (.>f  the  business  are 
managed  witli  care  and  intelligence. 

George  H.  Bremner  was  married,  March 
2^,  1894,  to  Miss  Katheri'ue  OAIaley, 
daughter  of  John  and  Julia  O'Maley,  of 
Marquette  county,  Wiscdusin.  Mrs.  Brem- 
ner, who  is  an  industrious  and  capable 
landlady,  is  the  mother  of  two  bright  chil- 
dren, Grace  and  Hazel.  Mr.  Bremner  is 
identified  with  McOueeney  Lodge,  No.  104, 
Knights  of  Pythias.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  political  princi|)les,  lint  is  not  gi\en  to 
the  discussiiin  nf  pdlitics. 

Charles  .\lbcrt  P>remner,  junior  member 


432 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


of  the  firm,  is  also  a  native  of  Marquette 
county,  born  on  the  8th  day  of  June,  1869. 
His  early  years  were  divided  between  farm 
labor  and  attendance  at  the  district  school. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  into  a 
partnership  with  his  father  and  his  brother 
George  in  the  purchase  of  a  steam  thresh- 
ing machine,  which  they  operated  for  some 
time.  The  brothers  bought  out  their  fa- 
ther's interest  and  eventually  added  another 
machine  to  their  outfit,  doing  a  prosperous 
business  in  connection  with  their  other  farm 
work.  In  the  fall  of  1893  lis  liecame  a  resi- 
dent of  Portage  and  spent  the  following 
winter  in  the  employ  of  a  contractor  who 
was  engaged  in  constructing  locks  on  the 
canal  for  the  United  States  government. 
The  next  spriug  he  joined  his  brother  in  the 
operation  of  the  hotel  business,  as  previously 
stated  in  this  article.  He  has  ever  since 
been  connected  with  that  enterprise,  though 
he  has  spent  more  or  less  time  as  local  agent 
for  harvesting  machines.  Whatever  luisi- 
ness  he  undertakes  is  carried  on  with  faith- 
ful and  conscientious  care  and  he  enjnvs  the 
confidence  of  his  associates  in  an  unmeas- 
ured degree.  He  is  independent  in  political 
thought  and  action,  and  the  only  fraternal 
organization  with  which  he  is  connected  is 
Winona  Lodge,  Xo.  132,  Independent  Or- 
der of  Odd  Fellows. 


ROBERT    T.    IvIXG. 

Robert  T.  King,  a  well-known  citizen  of 
Cambria,  has  varied  financial  interests  in  Co- 
lumbia county,  where  he  has  resided 
throughout  his  career.  He  was  born  in  Fort 
\\'innebago  township,  Columbia  county, 
^V'isconsin,  June  i.  1S63.  and  is  a  son  of 
William  and  Janet  (Weir)  King,  both  of 
whiim   were  natixes  of  Scotland. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  son  of 


Robert  King,  of  Lugton  Ridge.  The  family 
is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Scotland,  some  of  its 
early  members  having  suffered  martyrdom 
or.  account  of  their  religious  views.  Robert 
King  sprung  from  the  Kings  of  Giffin  Mill, 
which  was  in  possession  of  the  farm  as  early 
as  1640,  and  two  hundred  years  or  more 
thereafter.  A  number  of  the  members  of  the 
King  family  have  been  prominent  in  busi- 
ness and  professional  life.  Several  were 
ministers  in  Glasgow,  Montrose  and  other 
c'ties.  David  King,  LL.  D.,  was  a  United 
Presliyterian  of  Gray  Parish  church  in  Glas- 
gow. He  married  Elizabeth  Th(_>mass(jn,  a 
sister  of  Lord  Kelvin.  Another  prominent 
ancestor  was  an  electrical  engineer,  wIkt  was 
drowned  in  the  wreck  of  the  La  Plata  in 
the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  born  at  Beith,  Ayrshire,  Scotland, 
January  6,  1810.  He  learned  the  carpen- 
ter's trade  and  in  1840  came  to  America 
and  li\e(.l  in  New  York  City  until  1843, 
when  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  k.icated  in 
the  town  of  Caledonia,  Columbia  county, 
and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  town- 
ship. He  spent  four  years  in  Caledonia 
tLW"nship  and  then  removed  to  Scott  town- 
ship, where  he  entered  a  claim  to  govern- 
ment lantl  on  Portage  Prairie,  where  he 
lived  several  years.  He  went  to  California 
\'ia  Panama,  and  spent  four  years  mining 
with  good  success,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Wisc(jnsin  sold  his  farm  in  Scott  townshijj 
and  purchased  land  near  Portage,  .\fter 
two  years  there  he  again  went  to  Scott 
township  and  bought  a  farm  at  Centerville 
and  another  tract  of  hnul  near  Cambria, 
which  was  his  home  until  his  death,  Jan- 
uary 10,  1899.  He  owned  about  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  and  had  the  best  farm  on 
Portage  Prairie  and  conducted  farming  ex- 
tensively there.  He  engaged  in  raising 
Clydesdale  horses  and  dealt  in  other  horses. 
He  conducted  an  extensi\'e  loan  business 
and  l)ecame  a  stockholder  of  the  Ctv  Bank 


WILLIAM  KIHG.    (Deceased 


MRS.  WILLIAM  KIHG.    (Deceased.) 


COMPENDIUM    or    BIOGRAPHY. 


437 


of  Portage,  in  which  he  was  interested  until 
his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  charitable 
deeds  and  was  a  liberal  contributor  to  many 
undertakings,  and  always  relieved  the  suf- 
fering when  appealed  to  for  aid.  Among 
other  benefices  he  donated  a  bell  to  the  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Cambria.  He  was  a  man 
of  unpretentious  appearance,  and  enjoyed 
physical  activity  until  the  last  years  of  his 
life.  The  mother  of  our  subject,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Janet  Weir,  was  a  native 
of  Shotts,  Lanarkshire,  Scotland,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Barbara  Weir.  She 
survived  her  husband  until  October  12,  1900, 
when  she^  too,  passed  to  her  rest.  The 
parents  of  our  subject  had  a  family  of  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  who  were  as  fol- 
lows :  Janet,  now  Mrs.  Matthew  Kerr,  of 
Bath,  South  Dakota ;  Agnes,  now  Mrs. 
George  Hartman,  of  I-'ardee\ille;  Marion, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  si.\  years;  William, 
deceased,  wh(j  left  one  cliilil,  Anna;  Robert 
T. ;  and  George,  of  Colorado  Springs,  Colo- 
rado. 

Robert  T.  King  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Columbia  county  and  ueceixed  a 
liberal  education.  He  has  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  most  of  his  life,  and  also 
was  engaged  in  the  loan  business.  He  con- 
ducted a  harness  business  at  Grand  Rapids 
for  about  three  years.  He  I  milt  a  modern 
and  pleasant  residence  in  Camljria  in  1895, 
where  he  has  since  resided,  and  is  surround- 
ed by  all  the  comforts  of  life. 

Our  suljject  was  married  in  1895  to  Miss 
Vinna  Blanchard,  daughter  of  Calvin  and 
Jane  Blanchard.  Mrs.  King  is  a  highly  ac- 
complished lady  and  is  a  native  of  Lamar- 
tine.  Fond  du  Lac  count)',  Wisconsin.  She 
is  a  graduate  of  the  high  school  at  Grand 
Rapids,  Wisconsin,  and  taught  nine  years  in 
Wood  countv,  earning-  the  reputation  iif  be- 
ing one  of  the  l)est  teachers  of  the  county. 
Since  residing  in  Camljria  she  has  been  active 
ii;  religious  and  other  public  works,  and  was 


one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Star  Liter- 
ary Society,  the  first  organization  of  that 
character  founded  in  Cambria.  She  and  Mr. 
King  are  connected  with  the  Presbyterian 
church  and  Mrs.  King  is  a  leader  in  Sunday 
school  work,  and  all  social  functions  of  the 
church.  Mrs.  King's  father,  Calvin  Blanch- 
ard, was  born  in  Dexter,  Maine,  and  went 
to  Wisconsin  in  1854.  He  resided  in  Mon- 
ticello,  Minnesota,  at  the  time  of  the  great 
Sioux  massacre  in  1862,  but  is  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Cambria.  He  has  attained  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty  years.  The  maternal 
ancestors  of  Mr.  Blanchard  were  named 
Johnson  and  they  came  to  America  in  the 
Mayflower.  His  grandfather  ser\-ed  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Mrs.  King's  mother 
was  born  in  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Horace  Shaw,  who  came  from 
Scotland.  His  grandfather,  George  Shaw, 
was  a  S(jn  of  a  wealthy  nobleman,  and  came 
to  New  York  City  and  afterwards  married 
a  German  woman.  He  dietl  in  Ohio  and 
never  received  the  inheritance  due  him. 

Portraits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Iving,  repre- 
sentative types  of  the  pioneers  of  the  state, 
are  shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  and  will 
largely  enhance  its  value  to  a  large  circle 
of  friends  and  acquaintances  throughout  this 
part  of  the  state. 


JOHN  GOMAN. 

John  Goman,  one  of  the  most  conscien- 
tious and  reliable  citizens  of  Dellona  town- 
ship, Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  was  born 
near  Montreal,  Canada,  February  15,  1840, 
a  son  of  Abraham  and  Sophia  (Martin) 
Goman,  nati\-es  of  the  same  locality  and  of 
French  descent.  In  1847  the  family  came 
tu  \^■i.sconsin.  after  having  first  spent  three 
years  in  New  York  state,  and  in  1859  took 
up  their  residence  in  Sauk  county.  1  he  fa- 
ther,   who   was   a   devout    meml)er    of    the 


438 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Catholic  cliurch,  died  in  Viroqua,  Wiscon- 
sin, in  1S72,  aged  fifty-eigiit  years,  and  the 
mother,  surviving  him  many  years,  died  in 
Barron  county,  ^^'isconsin,  in  1896,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-nine.  To  them  were  born 
thirteen  children,  of  whom  eleven  reached 
years  of  maturity.  Besides  our  subject,  one 
brother,  Nelson,  li\-es  in  the  village  of  Del- 
ton,  Sauk  county,  and  another,  Thomas, 
makes  his  home  in  Juneau  county,  Wis- 
consin. 

John  Goman  was  only  a  small  boy  when 
he  came  wth  his  parents  to  this  state  and 
for  a  dozen  years  or  more  he  lived  in  Ra- 
cine county,  where  his  father  operated  a  rented 
farm.  Since  1859  lie  has  made  his  home 
ir.  Sauk  county  and  has  been  actively  identi- 
fied with  its  agricultural  interests.  During 
the  Civil  war  he  enlisted,  August  16,  1862, 
in  Company  F,  Twenty-third  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry,  which  was  a  part  of 
the  department  of  the  Gulf  under  the  com- 
mand of  Generals  Smith  and  McClernand. 
He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  Greenville,  Cypress 
Bend,  Port  Gibson,  Champion  Hills,  Black 
River  Bridge,  the  sieges  of  Vicksburg  and 
Jackson,  the  engagements  at  Carrion  Crow 
Bayou,  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  Caine  River 
and  Jackson,  Louisiana,  and  the  sieges  of 
Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakely,  Alabama. 
After  the  return  of  peace  the  regiment  was 
stationed  at  Mobile  until  honorably  dis- 
charged July  4,  1865.  Mr.  Goman  had  many 
narrow  escapes  from  death  and  capture,  es- 
pecially at  Carrion  Crow  Bayou,  where 
most  of  his  brigade  were  taken  jjrisoners. 
He  did  not  hear  the  order  to  retreat  and 
was  deserted  by  most  of  his  comrades  before 
aware  of  it.  For  several  years  after  the 
war  he  lived  in  Reedsburg,  but  in  the  fall  of 
1882  purchased  his  present  farm  of  eighty 
acres  on  section  24,  Dellona  township,  on 
which  he  has  since  resided.  When  he  lo- 
cated  thereon  it  was  all   wild  land,   Init  he 


has  since  cleared  and  placed  under  cultiva- 
tion one-half  of  the  amount,  has  made  many 
other  improvements,  and  in  connection  with 
general  farming  gives  some  attention  to 
fruit  culture. 

In  1867,  Mr.  Goman  married  Miss  Lois 
Charlotte  Jones,  who  was  born  in  New  York 
and  died  in  Reedsburg,  November  24,  1880, 
at  the  age  of  forty-three  years,  leaving 
four  children,  viz. :  Adelbert  Grant,  who 
lives  upon  the  home  farm;  Lilly,  wife  of 
Albert  Hide,  of  Dellona  township;  James 
Sherman,  of  Rockford,  Illinois;  and  Rachel 
Sophia,  wife  of  Fred  Mash,  of  Delton,  Wis- 
consin. Mr.  Goman  was  again  married 
June  22,  1883,  his  second  union  being  with 
Miss  Elizabeth  Ellis,  a  native  of  Watertown, 
Wisconsin.  Her  parents  are  Joseph  and 
Wilhelmina  (Henneman)  Ellis,  natives  of 
England  and  Germany,  respectively.  Her 
father  owned  and  operated  a  woolen  mill 
in  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  for  several  years, 
but  is  now  living  in  Delton.  By  his  sec- 
ond marriage  our  subject  has  seven  chil- 
dren :  Amelia  L,  Andrew  John,  Harrison 
Logan,  Ira  Jeremiah,  Minnie  Louise,  Abra- 
ham L.  and  William  D. 

In  politics  Mr.  Goman  is  a  Republcan, 
but  has  ne\er  been  an  active  partisan.  He 
is  a  true  and  earnest  Christian,  a  convert 
of  the  faith  of  The  Church  of  God,  a  new 
organization  in  his  neighlxirhood,  and  he 
trusts  implicitly  in  the  Lord  for  his  spirit- 
ual and  temjjoral  welfare  and  that  of  his 
family. 


HENRY  GETHERS. 

Henry  Gethers,  a  practical  and  enter- 
prising agriculturist  of  Richfield  township, 
Adams  county,  owns  and  operates  a  well- 
improved  and  highly  cultivated  farm  of  one 
liundred  and  eighty-nine  acres  on  section  12. 
He  is  a  native    of    Pennsvlvania,   born   in 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


43C> 


Venango  connty.  Jnly  12,  1836,  and  is  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Betsy  E.  (Slepy) 
Gethers.  The  fatlier  died  when  our  sul)- 
ject  was  a  small  boy,  and  the  mother  mar- 
ried again,  her  second  husband  being  John 
Hopper,  who  brought  the  family  to  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1849,  ^'^J  after  buy- 
ing and  selling  se\'eral  farms,  he  finally  lo- 
cated at  what  is  now  Coloma  Corners,  where 
he  owned   several   hundred   acres   of   land. 

Air.  Gethers  accompanied  the  family 
on  their  remo\-al  to  Wisconsin  and  in  Adams 
county  he  grew  to  manhood,  early  becom- 
ing familiar  with  the  arduous  duties  which 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  pioneer  farmer.  He  is 
now  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine  acres,  of  which  eighty- 
five  acres  are  under  cultivation,  and  has 
erected  thereon  a  good  substantial  residence, 
it  being  the  second  house  built  upontheplace. 
He  is  an  enterprising  and  progressive  agri- 
culturist, and  is  meeting  with  fair  success 
in  his  labors. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  1S65,  Mr. 
Gethers  married  Miss  Esther  Ann  Parks,  of 
Richfield  township,  Adams  county,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Mary  (Meade)  Parks, 
of  Waushara  county,  Wisconsin.  Her  fa- 
ther enlisted  at  Richford,  during  the  Civil 
war,  in  C(jnipany  E,  Si.xteenth  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  wounded  in 
the  head  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  When  last 
seen  he  had  started  for  the  creek  to  wash 
the  blood  from  his  face,  after  which  all  trace 
of  him  was  lost.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
have  a  family  of  six  children  living,  name- 
ly :  Charles,  Malona  J.,  John  William, 
Mary  E.,  Henry  and  Roy  S. 

Mr.  Gethers  was  also  among  the  boys 
in  blue  during  the  Rebellion,  a  member  of 
Company  E,  Seventh  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  which  was  a  part  of  the  "Iron 
Brigade."'  He  was  the  first  to  enlist  at  Co- 
loma Corners,  and  he  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Fredericksburg,  Gainesville,  the  sec- 


ond battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  the  engagement 
al  South  Mountain  where  he  was  wounded 
in  the  left  shoulder.  He  was  sent  to  Queen 
Street  Newnet  University  Hospital,  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  from  which  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  on  account  of  disability 
December  17,  1862.  His  residence  in 
Adams  county,  covering  a  period  of  over 
half  a  century,  has  numbered  him  among  its 
valued  citizens  who  have  been  devoted  to 
the  public  welfare.  He  has  manifested  the 
same  loyalty  in  days  of  peace  as  in  days  of 
war,  and  all  wlio  know  him  have  for  him 
the  highest  regard. 


LYMAN    A.    MURRAY. 

The  motto  "merit  always  commands  its 
reward,"  is  well  exemplified  in  the  career  of 
our  subject.  He  early  learned  that  knowl- 
edge is  the  key  with  which  the  poor  bov  on 
the  farm  could  open  the  store  house  of  the 
world  and  cull  its  choicest  fruits.  The  re- 
sult is  that  he  is  now  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful business  men  of  Kilbourn  City,  and  is  es- 
sentially the  architect  of  his  own  fortune. 

A  native  of  Sauk  county,  Mr.  Murray 
was  born  in  Dellona  township,  Xoxxmber 
28,  1852,  and  is  the  oldest  son  of  Alexan- 
der and  Charlotte  L.  (Montgomery)  Mur- 
ray, natives  of  Scotland  and  New  Xork.  re- 
spectively, who  were  married  in  Wisconsin 
in  1849.  The  maternal  grandfather  was 
William  Montgomery.  The  father  was  born 
in  Greenock,  Scotland,  July  28,  18 17,  and  in 
early  life  was  a  sailor,  the  last  three  years 
of  his  service  being  with  the  government  in 
the  Mexican  war.  In  1849  he  came  to 
Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  and  entered  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  Dellona  township,  which  he 
cleared,  broke  and  improved  with  good 
buildings.  As  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
lias  been  spent  up(in  the  water,  his  first  at- 


440 


COMPEXDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


tempt  at  farming  was  somewhat  amusing. 
His  first  team  was  a  yoke  of  oxen,  which  he 
hitclied  by  placing  the  yoke  wrong  side  up 
and  attached  them  to  the  plow  with  an 
eleven-foot  chain.  The  team  being  so  far 
in  advance  of  the  plow  the  furrows  w-ere 
ver}^  deep.  His  first  attempt  at  mowing 
was  also  ludicrous,  the  scythe  being  thrust 
into  the  ground  and  bent  double.  But 
being  a  verj-  intelligent  man,  he  soon  learned 
the  mysteries  of  farming,  and  became  a  suc- 
cessful agriculturist.  He  afterward  bought 
eighty-five  acres  of  land  fi\e  miles  from 
Reedsburg,  \\'isconsin,  which  he  improved 
in  a  substantial  manner  He  served  his 
town  in  an  official  capacity,  and  was  ac- 
counted a  very  competent  officer.  His  death 
occurred  August  27,  1900.  His  wife  died 
in  Dellona  township.  Sauk  county.  ^March 
II,  1895. 

During  his  boyhood  Lyman  A.  Murra^• 
attended  the  common  schools  of  Sauk  county 
and  the  high  school  of  Reedsburg,  and  com- 
pleted his  education  at  the  State  University 
of  \\'isconsin,  making  his  own  way  through 
college  by  working  on  the  farm,  teaching 
school  in  Sauk  county,  and  harvesting  in 
Minnesota.  He  was  verj'  industrious  and 
enterprising,  and  his  success  in  life  is  due 
e::tire]y  to  his  own  efforts.  After  leaving 
the  universit}-  he  was  principal  of  the  school 
al  Delton  for  a  time,  and  for  one  year  was 
principal  of  the  high  school  at  Prairie  du 
Sac.  He  was  again  chosen  for  the  latter 
position,  but  on  account  of  ill-health  was 
obliged  to  resign,  and  in  1882  accepted  the 
position  of  state  agent  for  a  school  supply 
company,  selUng  school  charts.  He  later 
sold  a  line  of  general  school  supplies,  and 
thoroughly  canvassed  both  Minnesota  and 
^\'isconsin  until  1888,  when  having  gained 
some  very  valuable  experience  he  was  able 
to  build  up  a  business  of  his  own  along  the 
same  line.  By  perseverance  and  strict  at- 
tention to  his  business  he  has  built  up  an  ex- 


cellent trade  as  a  manufacturer,  importer 
and  dealer  in  school  supplies,  his  orders 
coming  from  far  and  near.  Since  May, 
1884,  he  has  made  his  home  in  Kilbourn 
Cit}^,  Columbia  county,  where  he  purchased 
lots  16,  17  and  18,  block  74,  on  Capital 
street,  and  has  erected  thereon  a  good  resi- 
dence and  office. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1880,  ]\Ir.  Mur- 
ra)-  married  Miss  Robinnia  Murray,  of  Kil- 
bourn City,  who  was  born  in  Sterling,  Scot- 
land, September  12,  1846,  and  in  1851  was 
brought  to  America  by  her  parents,  Thomas 
and  Isabella  Murray.  After  residing  for 
five  years  in  Oswego,  Xew  York,  the  family 
came  west  and  settled  at  Old  Town,  New- 
port, Sauk  county,  \\'isconsin,  in  its  palm- 
iest days. 

^Ir.  ^lurra}'  is  of  a  studious  disposition, 
and,  although  he  takes  no  active  part  in  po- 
litical affairs,  keeps  well  informed  on  the 
questions  and  issues  of  the  day,  and  during 
the  campaign  of  1896  made  many  speeches 
in  the  interest  of  free  silver.  His  business 
has  made  him  well  known  in  many  states, 
and  he  commands  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact. 


THOMAS    HOWLAXD. 

Thomas  Howland.  an  esteemed  veteran 
of  the  great  Civil  war,  residing  at  Reeds- 
burg, was  born  in  the  town  of  Laurens,  Ot- 
sego county,  Xew  York,  June  30,  1832.  His 
parents  were  ^^'ilham  C.  and  Abigail  (El- 
dred)  Howland.  His  grandfather,  Charles 
Howland,  came  from  Dutchess  county,  X'ew 
York,  and  was  a  scion  of  an  English  Quaker 
family  which  located  in  xme  of  the  Xew 
England  colonies  at  an  early  date.  His 
wife's  name  was  Sarah  Irish. 

William  C.  Howland  was  a  native  of 
Xew  Lisbon.  Xew  York,  and  spent  his  life 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


441 


in  Otsego  county,  reaching  tlie  age  of 
seventy-nine  years.  He  was  a  wlieelwright 
by  trade,  the  chief  products  of  his  skill  being 
spinning  wheels,  quill  wheels,  etc..  for  which 
there  was  a  considerable  Incal  demand  in  his 
time.  He  had  learned  the  art  from  his  fa- 
ther and  was  known  as  a  competent  work- 
man and  exemplary  citizen.  Mrs.  Abigail 
Howland  died  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years 
in  the  town  of  Tompkins,  Delaware  county, 
New  York.  Her  father,  Thomas  Eldred, 
was  a  veteran  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  in 
which  a  number  of  his  relatives  also  par- 
ticipated. After  his  death,  his  widow, 
whose  maiden  name  was  W'eatherly,  mar- 
ried Joshua  Card,  who  had  served  his  coun- 
try in  tlie  war  of  1812. 

Thomas  Howdand  is  the  eldest  of  a  fam- 
ily whidi  comprises  six  sons  and  three 
daughters,  all  of  whom  are  now  li\'ing.  Be- 
side the  public  school,  he  spent  a  short  time 
at  a  select  school  in  his  native  town,  making 
the  most  of  his  opportunities  and,  as  he  was 
blessed  with  a  remarkable  memory,  he  has 
retained  most  of  the  information  gleaned  in 
liis  boyhood.  He  taught  for  six  winters, 
working  at  the  carpenter  trade  in  summer, 
and  subsecjuently  learned  the  trade  of  mill- 
wright with  Darwin  Feltor,  since  superin- 
tendent of  water  works  at  Binghamton, 
New  York,  for  many  years. 

In  1868  Air.  Howland  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, locating  at  Cazenovia,  Richland  coun- 
ty; there  he  carried  on  a  farm  and  also  fol- 
lowed the  carpenter  trade.  He  also  spent 
some  time  at  Merrill,  Wisconsin,  as  mill- 
wright and  carpenter.  Since  1894  he  has 
been  a  resident  of  Reedsburg,  and  though 
he  has  nearly  reached  the  allotted  age  of 
man,  he  is  still  conspicuous  for  his  physical 
and  intellectual  activity. 

While  a  young  man  he  joined  the  New 
\ork  militia,  and  was  for  seven  years  a 
member  of  Company  E,  Forty-first  Regi- 
ment, Nineteenth  Brigade,  of  that  organiza- 


tion. August  16,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany A,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth 
New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served 
to  the  close  of  the  great  Civil  war,  being 
honora1)ly  discharged  on  June  26,  1865. 
Ihough  he  repeatedly  declined  any  promo- 
tion, he  was  appointed  a  cor]3oral  Novem- 
ber 21,  1864.  Among  the  engagements  in 
which  he  participated  may  be  mentioned  the 
siege  of  Suftolk,  Virginia,  the  siege  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  liattle  of  John's 
Island,  battle  of  James'  Island,  siege  of  Fort 
Wagner,  and  the  expedition  against  Ander- 
sonville.  South  Carolina.  July  9,  1863, 
while  on  a  forced  march  to  \Varrenton  Junc- 
tion, he  received  a  light  sunstroke,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  was  temporarily  dis- 
abled. July  9,  1864,  at  John's  Island,  South 
Carolina,  he  headed  a  Ijand  of  seven  volun- 
teers to  tear  up  a  bridge  in  close  proximity 
to  the  enemy.  Four  of  the  number  were 
shot  and  their  bodies  fell  into  the  river,  while 
he  received  three  bullet  wounds  in  dift'erent 
parts  of  his  body  almost  simultaneously. 
None  of  his  wounds  were  very  dangerous, 
and  he  continued  to  discharge  his  duty  faith- 
fully until  the  close  of  the  conflict,  though 
suffering  considerably  from  fever  and  ague. 
One  quite  exciting  experience  in  which  he 
and  his  comrades  indulged  was  a  hunt  of 
wild  hogs  on  Bull's  Island,  near  Charles- 
ton. 

Mr.  Howland  was  married  January  i, 
1857,  to  Lydia  George,  daughter  of  John 
and  Mary  George,  of  Laurens,  New  York. 
Mr.  George  was  a  silk  weaver,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  from  England  in  1830. 
Two  sons  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  How- 
land :  Franklin  Eugene,  a  well-known  ar- 
chitect and  business  man  of  Reedsburg,  born 
September  13,  18^7;  and  Burton  Chauncey, 
born  October  25.  1859,  and  died  April  21, 
1897,  at  Rat  Portage,  Ontario,  in  wdiich 
province  he  had  been  engaged  in  prospecting 
for  gold.     Air.   Howland   is  not  connected 


44i 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


with  any  civil  organization  except  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  has  been  a  Repub- 
lican since  casting  his  first  presidential  bal- 
lot for  Fremont  in   1856. 


FLOYD   A.   FIELD. 

Floyd  A.  Field,  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  of  Kilbourn  City,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  has  shown  in  his  successful 
business  career  that  he  has  the  ability  to 
plan  wisely  and  execute  with  energy,  a  com- 
bination which,  when  possessed  by  men  in 
any  walk  of  life,  never  fails  to  effect  notable 
results.  He  is  now  successfully  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business,  and  is  also  interested  in 
several  other  enterprises  which  ha\e  been 
of  material  benefit  to  his  town  and  county. 

A  native  of  Wisconsin,  Mr.  Field  was 
born  in  Plainville,  Adams  county,  August  3, 
1858,  and  is  the  oldest  living  son  of  Henry 
and  Olive  Field,  of  whom  further  mention 
is  made  on  another  page  of  this  volume.  He 
was  educated  in  the  common  and  graded 
schools  of  Kilbourn,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years  began  his  business  career 
in  that  city  as  a  dealer  in  grain  and  farm 
produce,  in  which  he  was  successfully  en- 
gaged for  eight  years.  In  1886  he  bought 
the  pleasure  steamers  plying  between  Kil- 
bourn and  the  Dells  of  the  Wisconsin  river, 
consisting  of  three  boats,  the  "Eola,"  "Alex- 
ander M."  and  "Dell  Queen,"  which  he  im- 
proved. He  put  the  business  on  a  good  pay- 
ing basis  and  continued  his  connection  with 
it  until  1892,  when  he  sold  out  to  the  Dells 
Resort  Company.  In  1896  he  established 
a  lumber  yard  in  Kilbourn,  and  now  han- 
dles a  full  line  of  building  materials.  He 
also  owns  a  cheese  factory  and  grist  mill, 
and  lots  9,  10,  block  75,  Capitol  street,  all  of 
which  property  has  been  acquired  through 
his  own  well-directed  efforts,  good  business 
ability  and  sound  judgment. 


On  the  9th  of  July,  1892,  \h.  Field  was 
united  in  marriage  with  ]\Iiss  Ella  Kane, 
who  was  born  in  New  Haven  township,  Ad- 
ams county,  Wisconsin,  in  April,  1863,  and 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools.  Her 
parents  are  Timothy  and  Mary  Kane,  of 
that  township.  Our  subject  and  his  wife 
have  two  children:  Henry  A.,  born  March 
6,  1894:  and  Floyd  A.,  Jr.,  born  August  30, 
1896. 

Politically  Mr.  Field  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can, never  swerving  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
men  and  measures  of  that  party,  and  as  a 
good  citizen  he  takes  a  deep  and  commend- 
able interest  in  public  affairs,  but  has  never 
aspired  to  official  honors.  He  is  a  cjuiet  and 
unassuming  man,  but  a  deep  thinker  and 
shrewd  business  man  who  commands  the  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he 
comes  in  contact,  either  in  business  or  social 
life. 


WILLIS   PHELPS. 

Willis  Phelps,  a  well-known  farmer  re- 
siding on  section  21,  Lincoln  township,  Ad- 
ams county,  is  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion,  and  is  deserving  of  spe- 
cial mention  in  the  annals  of  his  county, 
state  and  nation,  for  the  part  he  has  played  as 
a  patriotic  citizen.  A  native  of  New  York, 
he  was  born  in  Hastings,  Oswego  county, 
December  3,  1842,  and  is  a  son  of  Edwin  D. 
and  Sally  A.  (Keeler)  Phelps,  the  former 
born  in  Vermont  in  1818,  the  latter  in  New 
York  in  1820.  The  father,  who  was  a 
cooper  by  trade,  came  to  Adams  county, 
W'isconsin,  in  1851,  and  throughout  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  engaeed  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  Fraternally  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  and  politically 
was  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  was  a  recognized  leader  in  his  town,  took 
an  active  and  prominent  jiart  in  public  af- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


443 


fairs  and  filled  several  local  offices,  includ- 
ing that  of  chairman. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  still  resides 
en  the  homestead  of  thirty-five  acres,  being 
a  part  of  the  farm  patented  to  his  father  by 
the  government,  of  which  most  is  now  under 
cultivation,  and  as  a  systematic  and  thor- 
ough agriculturist  he  is  meeting  with  well- 
deserved  success  in  the  operation  of  the 
farm.  On  the  8th  of  February,  1864,  he 
laid  aside  all  personal  interests  to  enter  the 
service  of  his  country,  enlisting  in  the  Eighth 
Wisconsin  Light  Artillery,  under  Captain 
H.  E.  Stiles.  He  was  honorably  discharged 
August  16,  i86^,  and  is  now  an  active  mem- 
ber of  Badger  Post,  No.  122,  G.  A.  R.,  of 
Friendship.  In  connection  with  farming  he 
now  carries  on  blacksmithing  and  does  gen- 
eral repair  work.  In  politics  he  is  an  ardent 
Repulilican,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abra- 
l;ani  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Phelps  was  married  .\pril  12,  1894, 
in  Lincoln  township,  to  Mrs.  Nannie  M. 
Jackson,  formerly  Miss  Hartson,  and  to  them 
have  been  born  three  children:  Willis  E., 
Rudolph  H.  and  Edward  C.  Mrs.  Phelps 
was  born  in  New  Chester  township,  Adams 
county,  December  15,  1862,  and  here  she 
has  spent  almost  her  entire  life,  though  in 
1870  she  removed  with  her  parents,  Orrin 
J.  and  Minerva  (Stevens)  Hartson,  to  Wal- 
worth county,  this  state,  and  remamed  there 
ten  years.  Subsequently  she  spent  some 
time  in  Hebron,  McHenry  county,  Illinois, 
but  in  1893  she  returned  to  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  where  she  has  since  made  her 
home. 

Orrin  J.  Hartson,  the  father  of  Mrs. 
Phelps,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Howland, 
Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  in  1832.  During 
the  dark  days  of  the  Civil  war  he  enlisted 
February  29,  1864,  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany C,  Thirty-sixth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  which  was  assigned  to  the  First 
Brigade,    Second    Division,    Second    Army 


Corps,  and  he  Was  discharged  at  Jefferson- 
ville,  Ind.,  July  12,  1865.  He  participated 
in  the  liattles  of  the  Wilderness,  Cold  Har- 
bor, North  Anna,  Shell  Hollow,  Boydton 
Road,  Hatchie's  Run  and  Petersburg.  Dur- 
ing the  last  named  engagement  he  was 
wounded,  and  at  Ream's  Station  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  but  managed  to  escape  and 
returned  to  his  regiment  in  a  suit  of  rebel 
clothes.  His  companions  then  gave  him 
the  nickname  of  Johnny.  He  was  present 
at  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox 
Court  House,  and  is  now  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  G.  J.  Miller  Post,  No.  145,  G.  A.  R., 
of  Oxford,  Marquette  count}',  Wisconsin. 
His  wife  was  born  in  Ogdensburg,  New 
York,  September  22,  1842,  and  with  her 
grandfather  came  to  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, at  the  age  of  nine  years,  remaining 
here  until  1870,  when  the  family  moved  to 
Walworth  county,  where  she  died  April  15, 
1880. 

By  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Phelps  had  five 
children,  two  now  living,  Ellen  M.  and 
Emma.  By  Mrs.  Phelps"  first  marriage  she 
has  two  children  living :  Florence  AL,  born 
February  12,  1882,  now  the  wife  of  Jerome 
Paddock,  a  farmer  of  Adams  Center;  and 
Garner  A.,  born  August  10,  1887. 


CHARLES    C.  -CLARIv. 

Among  the  energetic  and  successful 
farmers  and  stock  raisers  of  Columbia  coun- 
ty, who  thoroughly  understand  the  occu- 
pation which  they  follow,  is  the  gentleman 
v.hose  name  introduces  this  sketch.  He  is 
actively  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Fort  Winnebago  township,  where  he  owns 
a  well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres. 

Mr.  Clark  was  Ixirn  in  Sandwich,  New 
Hampshire,  July  29,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of 


444 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


Edwin  and  Olive  (Roberts)  Clark,  also  na- 
tives of  that  state,  and  probably  of  English 
and  Welsh  descent,  respectively.  Both 
grandfathers  of  our  subject  spent  their  en- 
tire lives  as  farmers  in  New  Hampshire. 
During  his  boyhood  the  father  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits,  but  later  was  em- 
ployed in  a  machine  shop  at  Laconia,  New 
Hampshire,  for  some  years.  On  coming 
v.'est  in  i8()8  be  spent  a  few  montlis  in  Dow- 
ner's drove,  Illinois,  and  tb.en  located  in 
Marquette  C(.iunty,  ^\'isc(:lnsin,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Moundville  township. 
Nine  years  later  he  came  to  Fort  Winnebago 
towmship,  Columbia  county,  and  in  1892 
removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  died 
in  January,  1895,  ^t  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years.  In  New  Hampshire  be  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  church,  but  after  com- 
ing to  this  state  he  attended  the  Presbyte- 
rian church.  PoHtically  he  was  a  lifelong- 
Democrat.  His  estimable  wife  died  in  Fort 
\Vinnebago  township,  July  26,  1892,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years.  In  the  family  of 
this  worthy  couple  were  only  two  sons : 
Harrison,  a  resident  of  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  and 
Charles  C,  our  subject. 

Charles  C.  Clark  was  about  thirteen 
years  of  age  when  the  family  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  he  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools,  but  coukl  ne\-er  endure  the  confine- 
ment of  the  school  room.  He  remained 
with  his  parents  until  the  mother's  death, 
having  purchased  the  farm  in  partnership 
with  his  father,  and  finally  bought  his 
brother's  interest  in  the  place  after  his  fa- 
ther's death.  In  1896  he  erected  a  fine  resi- 
dence thereon,  and  has  made  many  other 
impro\ements  which  add  greatly  to  the  value 
and  attractive  appearance  of  the  farm.  He 
gives  special  attention  to  stock  raising.  He 
is  a  Democrat  in  principle,  but  at  lucal  elec- 
tions votes  for  the  man  whom  he  believes 
best  qualified  to  fill  the  office  regardless  of 
])arty  lines. 


On  the  27th  of  December,  1882,  Mr. 
Clark  married  Miss  Agnes  Rodger,  a  na- 
tive of  Moundville,  Marquette  county,  Wis- 
consin, where  her  parents,  Alexander  and 
Margaret  (Gregg)  Rodger,  are  still  living. 
Both  of  the  latter  are  natives  of  Scotland, 
and  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1850, 
ai  which  time  they  took  up  their  residence  in 
Marquette  county,  Wisconsin.  The  father 
i.-  now  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  and  the 
mother  over  seventy,  but  both  are  very  active 
for  their  years.  Mrs.  Clark's  paternal 
grandmother  also  came  to  this  state,  where 
she  died  at  an  advanced  age.  Our  subject 
and  his  wife  have  four  children :  Pearl, 
Ivie,  Harold  and  Grace. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  have  Iieen  consist- 
ent and  faithful  meml)ers  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  Oxford  from  yi.iuth,  and  are  high- 
1\'  respected  by  all  who  know  them. 


FRANK  DAVID  HULBURT,  M.  D. 

Frank  David  Hulburt,  M.  D.,  is  rec- 
ognized as  one  of  the  most  influential  citizens 
of  Reedsburg,  and  has  achieved  consider- 
able distinction  in  his  profession.  He  rep- 
resents one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Sauk 
county,  as  well  as  of  the  United  States,  being 
a  descendant  of  the  seventh  generation  from 
Thomas  Hurlbut,  who  landed  in  this  coun- 
try in  1635.  Chronological  records  show 
tliat  Hulburt,  Hurlbut,  Hobart,  Hubbard, 
and  some  others,  are  modifications  of  the 
original  name,  Hubert,  and  as  far  as  known 
all  bearing  these  names  are  remotely  de- 
scended from  "De  Hubert,"  an  officer  in 
the  army  of  William  the  Conqueror,  who 
took  an  active  part  in  the  subjug"ation  of 
England  and  received  an  extensive  grant  of 
land  as  a  reward  for  his  services. 

Thomas  Hurlbut  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, born  in  1610.     He  entered  the  British 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


445 


army  and  came  to  New  England  nnder  com- 
mand of  Lyon  Gardiner,  who  1)nilt  and  com- 
n-ianded  Fort  Saybrook,  Connecticut.  Thom- 
as Hnrlbut  was  wounded  in  the  Pequot  war, 
but  survived  and  settled  at  Wethersfield. 
Connecticut,  where  he  led  an  honorable  and 
useful  life,  filling  a  number  of  civil  offices 
under  the  Colonial  government.  A  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  Honorable  D.  B.  Hul- 
burt,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  these  para- 
graphs, appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred. 

Dr.  Frank  D.  Hulburt,  whose  name 
heads  this  article,  was  born  at  Loganville, 
December  23.  185^.  His  early  life  was 
spent  ujMn  the  farm,  and  though  his  edu- 
cational instruction  was  mainly  limited  to 
the  common  schools,  he  gained  an  ample 
knowledge  of  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  this 
experience,  backed  by  a  goodly  store  of  cour- 
age and  common  sense,  fitted  him  for  un- 
dertaking almost  any  practical  line  of  busi- 
ness. While  a  young  man  he  entered  a  drug 
store  at  New  Boston,  Illinois,  and  later  was 
employed  in  the  same  line  of  business  at 
Reedsburg,  spending  five  years  altogether 
and  becoming  a  registered  pharmacist  in 
1882.  He  then  took  a  course  at  Rush  Col- 
lege in  Chicago,  receiving  his  diploma  from 
that  famous  institution  in  1884.  He  began 
practice  at  Loganville,  but,  two  years  later, 
removed  to  Reedsburg  where  he  has  since 
carried  on  the  general  practice  of  medicine 
and  surgery,  winning  the  confidence  of  the 
people  in  his  professional  skill  in  a  very 
marked  degree.  He  is  examining  surgeon 
for  a  number  of  insurance  companies,  and 
for  five  years  held  the  position  of  visiting 
physician  to  the  Sauk  County  Lisane  Asy- 
lum. 

He  was  married,  February  13,  1887,  to 

Miss  Mina    Markee,    daughter    of  Asa    E. 

ar.d  Caroline  M.    Markee,    of    Reedsburg, 

which  is  the  birthplace  of  Mrs.  Hulburt.  She 

is  the  mother  of  two  bright  boys:     Arthur 
24 


M.  and  Milton  F.  The  family  enjoy  the 
Ijest  of  social  connections.  The  Doctor  is 
identified  with  the  Masonic  order  and  other 
fraternal  organizations.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  Wisconsin  Chapter.  Sons  of  the 
American  Kevtilution,  and  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin and  the  Wisconsin  Central  Medical  As- 
sociations. He  has  served  as  mayor  of  the 
city  of  Reedsburg  and  in  other  local  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  responsibility.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  easy  manners  and  genial  na- 
ture, and  when  occasion  rec^uires  is  capable 
of  expressing  his  views  on  any  subject  in 
public  or  private  in  an  eloquent,  forcible  and 
logical  manner. 


CHESTER    W.    S^HTH. 

Chester  W.  Smith,  principal  of  the  Kil- 
bourn  city  high  school,  and  one  of  the  most 
prominent  educators  of  central  Wisconsin, 
is  a  native  of  this  state,  born  in  Nepeuskun 
township,  Winnebago  county,  April  24, 
1857,  and  is  the  oldest  son  of  William  C. 
and  Sarah  (Foote)  Smith,  who,  in  1848, 
were  the  first  couple  married  in  that  town- 
ship. His  paternal  grandfather  was  Will- 
iam C.  Smith,  Sr.,  of  Genesee,  New  York, 
and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  Percival 
Foote,  a  cousin  of  Solomon  Foote,  United 
States  senator  from  New  Hampshire  and  a 
contemporary  of  Daniel  Webster.  The 
Foote  family  can  trace  their  ancestry  back  to 
the  one  bearing  that  name  who  defended 
King  Charles  I  of  England.  They  possessetl 
a  coat  of  arms. 

During  his  boyhood  our  subject  attended 
school  in  Omro,  Wisconsin,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  under  the  direction  of  Pro- 
fessor O.  T.  Bright,  now  superintendent  of 
public  schools  for  Cook  county,  Illinois.  He 
afterward  graduated  from  the  Berlin  high 
school,  and  now  holds  a  life  state  certificate 
as  a  teacher.     At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 


440 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


tauglit  for  one  year  in  tlie  district  schools  of 
\Vinnel)ago  county,  and  after  graduating- 
from  the  Berhn  liigh  school,  he  taught  in 
that  city  for  two  years.  In  1876  he  went 
to  Winneconne  as  principal  of  the  schools 
of  that  place,  and  remained  there  for  eleven 
years.  He  then  established  the  "Winne- 
conne Enterprise,"  which  he  edited  for  one 
year,  and  afterward  bought  the  "Omro  Stal- 
wart," of  Omro,  Wisconsin,  which  he  con- 
ducted for  the  same  length  of  time.  The 
following  year  he  again  taught  in  \Vinne- 
conne,  and  in  1891  accepted  the  position  of 
principal  of  the  Kilbourn  City  high  school, 
which  he  has  since  so  creditably  and  accept- 
ably filled.  In  1898  he  was  placed  on  the 
force  of  state  institute  conductors,  and  has 
met  with  most  excellent  success  as  a  teacher 
and  conductor  of  summer  schools.  jNIt. 
Smith  is  an  artist  of  considerable  ability,  and 
while  engaged  in  newspaper  work  he  illus- 
trated his  own  journals,  his  engraving  at- 
tracting much  favorable  comment.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Good  Templars  Society, 
and  is  a  great  temperance  worker,  having 
delivered  many  lectures  on  that  subject.  Re- 
ligiously he  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  of  Kilbourn  City,  and 
politically  is  identified  with  the  Republican 
party. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1878,  Mr.  Smith 
was  united  in  marriage  w^itli  Miss  Clara  L. 
Daggett,  who  was  born  in  Attleboro,  Mas- 
sachusetts, January  8,  1851,  a  daughter  of 
Pliny  and  Annie  Daggett.  Her  uncle, 
John  Daggett,  was  chairman  of  the  Repub- 
lican state  central  committee  of  Massachu- 
setts for  many  years.  She  was  educated  in 
the  high  school  of  Avoca,  Wisconsin,  and 
the  academy  of  Attleboro,  Massachusetts, 
and  in  1874  commenced  teaching  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Berlin,  Wisconsin.  She  suc- 
cessfully followed  that  profession  at  difi^er- 
ent  places  for  ten  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  have  four  children. 


as  follows:  Ella  R.,  born  April  6,  1880, 
is  an  accomplished  musician  who  is  now 
teaching  in  Downer  College,  at  Milwaukee, 
\\'isconsin.  She  studied  one  year  at  Osh- 
kosh,  under  the  direction  of  Dunning  P. 
Jones  and  Mrs.  R.  H.  Edward,  and  at  Mil- 
waukee, under  the  instruction  of  Julius 
Klauser.  Grace,  born  July  7,  1882,  has 
taught  for  one  year  in  the  public  schools  of 
Adams  county,  after  ha\'ing  graduated  from 
the  Kilbourn  high  school,  and  is  now  attend- 
ing" the  Milwaukee  Normal,  where  she  will 
graduate  at  the  end  of  the  present  school 
year.  Russell  L.,  born  March  22,  1884,  is 
also  a  graduate  of  the  Kilbourn  City  high 
school,  and  is  now  bookkeeper  in  the  store 
of  A.  C.  Dixon  &  Sons,  of  that  place.  Keith 
D.,  born  May  16,  1892.  is  still  attending 
school  in  Kilbourn  City. 


REV.    MARTIN    HASZ. 

Rev.  Martin  Hasz,  pastor  of  St.  John's 
Evangelical  Lutheran  church,  in  Ouincy, 
Adams  county,  was  born  at  Loganville,  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  June  4,  1871.  He  is 
the  son  of  Nicholas  and  Maria  (Luehrsenl 
Hasz,  of  Hanover,  Germany,  who  emigrated 
to  the  United  States  about  forty  years  ago. 
The  family  located  in  Loganville  during 
the  early  days  of  Wisconsin's  history,  and 
the  father  engaged  in  farming,  and  is  still 
a  resident  of  Loganville. 

Of  a  family  of  eight  children  our  sub- 
ject was  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth,  and  until 
about  fifteen  years  of  age  he  attended  the 
parochial  school  at  Loganville.  He  then 
w^ent  to  Milwaukee,  and  for  six  years  at- 
tended the  Concordia  College  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  synod,  of  Missouri,  Ohio 
and  other  states,  where  he  finished  the  Latiii 
and  classical  course.  He  then  attended 
Concordia  Seminary  at  St.  Louis  three  vearS,' 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


447 


devoting  himself  to  tlieology.  He  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  of  St.  John's  chnrch,  of 
Ouincy,  August  9,  1895,  and  is  also  mission- 
ary to  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  parishes  of 
Oxford,  in  Marquette  county;  Lyndon,  in 
Juneau  county;  Necedah,  Juncfiu  county; 
Cartolville,  Adams  county;  and  the  church 
in  Springville  township,  Adams  county.  The 
work  extends  o\-er  a  large  stretch  of  coun- 
try, requiring  a  drive  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  a  week.  Mr.  Hasz  holds 
confirmation  classes,  and  instructs  about 
four  days  each  week.  Since  accepting  his 
charge  he  has  met  with  excellent  success, 
and  has  organized  the  churches  at  Necedah 
and  Springville,  and  has  built  the  churches 
in  Ouincy  and  Lyndon. 

Mr.  Hasz  was  married  September  14, 
1898,  to  Emma  Gefifert,  daughter  of  John 
and  Dorathea  (Dargel)  Gefifert,  of  Reeds- 
burg,  Sauk  county.  IMrs.  Hasz's  father 
was  born  at  Barum,  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
came  to  America  about  r854  and  settled  in 
Reedsburg,  and  purchased  land  for  farm- 
ing, part  of  which  lies  within  the  city  limits. 
The  mother  of  Mrs.  Hasz  was  born  in  Vo- 
kel,  Hanover,  Germany,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  about  1861,  and  was  married 
to  John  Gefifert  at  Reedsburg  in  1864.  Njne 
children  were  lx)rn  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gefifert, 
Mrs.  Hasz  being  their  fifth  child  in  order 
of  birth. 

Rev.  Hasz  is  yet  a  young  man,  but  his 
labors  have  already  reaped  a  ])i:)untiful  har- 
vest, and  he  is  devoted  to  the  cause  for 
which  he  consecrated  his  life,  and  under  his 
guidance  the  prosperity  of  his  church  is  as- 
sured, and  the  world  made  better  by  his 
teachings.  He  has  gained  many  friends  in 
his  circuit,  and  is  popular  with  his  people 
and  honored  by  them.  He  is  deserving  of 
much  praise  for  what  he  has  accomplished, 
and  is  a  man  of  earnest,  practical  nature,  and 
has  infused  new  life  into  the  church,  and  it 
is  flourishing  under  his  fosterins:  care.     It 


is  a  pleasure  to  meet  a  man  whose  heart  and 
soul  are  in  his  work,  when  the  chosen  labors 
are  fraught  with  benevolence  and  kindness, 
and  such  an  one  is  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view. Withiiut  a  tJKHight  for  his  own  com- 
forts he  goes  the  round  of  his  parishes,  per- 
forming his  duties  with  cheerfulness  and 
love,  and  thinking  only  of  the  good  result- 
ing to  mankind. 


WILLIAM   HURLBUT   HOPKINS. 

\Villiani  Hurlbut  Hopkins  is  one  of  the 
popular  and  successful  young  men  of  Bara- 
boo,  Wisconsin.  The  business  interests  of 
the  city  are  well  represented  by  him,  and 
whether  in  public  or  private  life,  he  is  al- 
ways a  courteous,  genial  gentleman,  well  de- 
serving the  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held. 

Mr.  Hopkins  was  born  in  Baraboo,  De- 
cember 15,  1865,  a  son  of  Charles  Henry  and 
Felicia  (Hurlbut)  Hopkins.  The  first  of 
the  family  in  iVmerica  of  whom  a  record  has 
been  preserved  was  Moses  Hopkins,  who 
was  born  March  13,  1751,  and  died  in  Great 
Barrington,  Massachusetts,  March  9,  1838. 
His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Anna  Whiting,  was  born  November  8,  1754, 
and  died  July  22,  1834.  Their  third  child, 
Mark  Hopkins,  was  born  J-une  29,  1779,  and 
died  in  St.  Clair,  Michigan,  November  27, 
1828.  He  married  Tracy  Lukins  Kellogg, 
at  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts,  and  one 
of  their  sons  was  Samuel  F.  Hopkins,  grand- 
father of  our  subject.  He  was  born  in 
Hinsdale,  Massachusetts,  September  15, 
1803,  and  died  in  St.  Clair,  Michigan,  June 
21,  1884.  By  occunation  he  was  a  carpen- . 
ter.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Ann  Kenney, 
and  among  their  children  was  Orrin  K.,  a 
sharpshooter  in  the  Civil  war. 

Charles  H.  Hopkins,  another  son  of  that 
worthy  coiq)le  and  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject,  was   liorn    in    I'almcr,    now    St.    Clair, 


448 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Michigan,  and  about  1861  came  to  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin,  where,  in  company  with  his 
brother,  Mark  Hopkins,  he  buih  and  oper- 
ated a  sawmill.  Subsequently  he  followed 
the  carpenter's  trade.  He  died  at  Baraboo, 
August  20,  1872,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight 
years.  He  was  married  at  Wyocena,  Wis- 
consin, April  30,  1863,  to  Miss  Felicia  Hurl- 
but,  who  died  in  Baraboo,  July  19,  1884, 
aged  forty-six  years.  She  was  a  native  of 
Clayton,  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of 
Henry  Hurlbut,  who  located  in  Baraboo 
abut  1858,  and  here  engaged  first  in  lumber- 
ing and  later  in  the  hardware  trade.  In 
the  family  of  Charles  H.  and  Felicia  Hop- 
kins were  two  sons :  Harry,  who  was  born 
in  February,  1864,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  months;  and  William  H.,  of  this 
sketch. 

Our  subject  attended  the  public  schools, 
ai;d  later  the  Wayland  Academy  at  Beaver 
Dam,  Wisconsin,  but  owing  to  his  mother's 
ili-health  he  was  obliged  to  return  home  be- 
fore completing  the  course  at  that  institu- 
tion. At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  acquired 
an  interest  in  the  Island  Woolen  Mills,  with 
which  he  was  connected  for  several  years, 
and  in  -May,  1892,  bought  a  controlling  in- 
terest in  the  Baraboo  Gas  &  Electric  Light 
Company,  and  assumed  the  management  of 
the  same.  He  is  now  practically  sole  pro- 
prietor of  the  establishment,  which  furnishes 
illumination  for  the  entire  town,  lighting 
streets  and  buildings,  and  employing  five 
people  in  the  operation  of  the  plant.  Mr. 
Hopkins  is  a  wide-awake,  progressive  busi- 
ness man  of  known  reliability,  and  in  his  un- 
dertakings he  has  met  with  marked  success. 
Besides  the  property  already  mentioned,  he 
owns  a  brick  block  in  the  business  portion  of 
the  town,  and  is  interested  in  real  estate  in 
West  Superior,  Wisconsin,  and  Everett, 
Washington. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1886,  Mr. 
Hopkins  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 


Ellen  F.  Watson,  a  native  of  Abelman,  Wis- 
consin, and  a  daughter  of  Edward  C.  and 
Laura  E.  (Abelman)  Watson,  of  Baraboo, 
who  were  ])ioneers  of  Sauk  county.  The 
onlv  child  born  of  this  union  died  in  infancv. 


WILLIAM    CARL    AUGUST    MEYER. 

William  Carl  August  Meyer,  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  progressive  citizens  of 
Fort  Winnebago  township,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  whose  time  and  attention  are 
devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits,  was  born 
on  the  /th  of  June,  1838,  in  Buessow  by 
Colberg,  province  of  Coslin,  Ponierania, 
Prussia,  and  is  a  son  of  Kaspar  and  Louise 
(Gantz)  Meyer,  also  natives  of  Buessow, 
where  they  spent  their  entire  li\-es.  The 
father  served  as  sergeant  in  the  commissary 
department  of  the  German  army  during  the 
Napoleonic  wars  from  1812  to  1815,  being 
a  member  of  a  cavalry  regiment.  During 
an  engagement  his  pistol  was  shot  from  his 
hand  and  the  stock  shattered,  but  he  leaped 
from  his  horse  and  recovered  the  weapon, 
which  is  now  in  possession  of  his  descend- 
ants in  Germany.  He  was  head  shepherd 
on  a  large  estate,  overseeing  the  work  of  a 
large  number  of  men,  and  the  maternal 
grandfather  of  our  sul)ject  held  a  similar 
position. 

In  his  native  land  William  C.  A.  Meyer 
received  a  fair  common  school  education,  and 
remained  at  home  until  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  when  he  entered  tlie  German  army, 
serving  four  years  on  the  Polish  frontier. 
In  1866  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
being  five  weeks  in  crossing  the  Atlantic 
from  Hamburg  to  New  York.  He  first  lo- 
cated at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
worked  on  a  farm  for  one  season,  and  for  a 
few  months  he  attended  an  English  school, 
there  acquiring  a  fair  knowledge  of  our  Ian- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


449 


On  coming  to  Columbia  county,  Mr. 
j\Ieyer  worked  at  such  em])loyment  as  he 
could  obtain  until  Octolier,  1867,  when  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  in  Fort  Winnebago  township,  of  which 
only  twenty  acres  were  then  under  cultiva- 
tion, but  no  buildings  had  been  erected 
thereon.  He  subsequently  purchased  ad- 
joining land,  until  he  now  has  four  hundred 
and  eighty  acres,  which  he  has  transformed 
into  a  highly  cultivated  and  productive  farm, 
an^l  has  improN-ed  by  the  erection  of  a  good 
set  of  farm  buildings.  He  has  a  fine  herd 
of  high  grade  Jersev  cattle,  a  flock  of  Shrop- 
shire sheep,  and  other  live  stiick,  and  now 
gives  particular  attention  to  the  dairy  busi- 
ness, having  a  good  milk  route  in  the  city 
of  Portage  for  the  past  twelve  years.  He 
is  an  enterprising,  wide-awake  business  man, 
and  has -met  with  well-deserved  success  since 
coming  to  this  country. 

In  1867  Mr.  Meyer  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Otilla  Kutz,  who  was  born 
in  Warlang,  province  of  Coelen,  Pomerania, 
and  came  to  the  new  world  in  1867  with  her 
parents,  William  and  Augusta  (Jsberner) 
Kutz,  locating  in  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin. Her  father  died  upon  his  farm  in  Fort 
Winnebago  township  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty-three  years.  Of  the  children  born  to 
our  subject  and  his  wife  one  died  in  infancy, 
and  the  others  are  as  follows :  Reinhold, 
who  is  employed  in  a  store  in  Portage; 
Anna,  wife  of  Professor  C.  Haase,  of  Mil- 
waukee; Otto,  who  is  also  a  clerk  in  Port- 
age; William,  at  home;  Paul,  a  teacher  of 
Stone  Bridge,  Ontario,  Canada ;  Louise,  at 
home ;  Hugo,  who  is  a  teacher  at  Atwater, 
Minnesota;  Louisand  Edward, bothat  home. 
They  also  have  one  grandchild.  The  chil- 
dren have  all  been  provided  with  good  edu- 
cational ad\'antages,  and  their  home  is  one 
of  culture  and  refinement. 

Since  becoming  a  citizen  of  this  coun- 
trv,  Mr.  Mever  has  affiliated  with  the  Re- 


publican party,  and  has  held  several  local 
offices,  serving  as  township  supervisor,  and 
as  township  treasurer  for  four  years.  He 
has  been  interested  in  the  fire  insurance  Inisi- 
ness  for  some  years.  With  his  family  he 
is  connected  with  St.  John's  Lutheran 
church,  of  Portage,  of  which  he  was  a  trus- 
tee two  years,  and  vice-president  of  the  cdh- 
gregation  for  a  number  of  years  past.  He 
takes  an  active  interest  in  promoting  the 
v,  elfare  of  his  township  and  county,  encour- 
aging and  aiding  all  enterprises  tending  to 
benefit  the  ]niblic,  and  enjoys  in  a  high  de- 
gree the  ccjufidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow 
men. 


THOMAS    J.    WILLL\MS. 

Thomas  J.  Williams  is  a  native  of  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  born  in  Caledo- 
nia township,  November  16,  1864,  and  is  a 
son  of  David  J.  and  Margaret  (Jenkins) 
Williams.  The  father  was  a  native  of  An- 
glesea,  Wales,  and  was  a  son  of  David  and 
Milcah  Williams,  who  spent  their  entire 
lives  in  that  country.  Two  of  their  sons, 
however,  came  to  America,  the  other,  besides 
the  father  of  our  subject,  being  Hugh  T. 
Williams,  who  has  spent  most  of  his  life  in 
Caledonia  township,  but  is  now  li\-ing  in 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin.  It  was  in  1851  that 
David  J.  Williams  crossed  the  Atlantic  and 
took  up  his  residence  in  Racine,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  made  his  home  for  six  years, 
though  a  part  of  the  time  was  spent  in  the 
Wisconsin  pineries.  About  1855  he  vi.s- 
ited  Columbia  county,  and  secured  a  claim 
ijf  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Caledonia 
township,  but  did  not  locate  thereon  until 
the  spring  of  1857,  removing  from  Sheboy- 
gan county,  with  an  ox  team  and  bringing 
with  him  (.mc  or  two  cows.  He  at  once 
commenced  to  ini]>rove  and  cultivate  his 
Irnd,  and  during  the  thirtv  years  he  made 


450 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


that  farm  his  home  he  added  to  it  from  time 
to  time  until  he  had  five  hundred  and  sixt)' 
acres.  In  connection  with  farming  he  gave 
consideraljle  attention  to  the  Uve  stock  busi- 
ness, and  in  both  undertakings  steadily  pros- 
pered, becoming  quite  well-to-do.  In  1887, 
owing  to  ill-liealth  he  remo\-ed  to  Portage, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
retirement  from  active  labor,  dying  there 
February  9,  1890,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven 
years.  He  was  a  consistent  and  faithful 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  that 
city,  and  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  While 
a  resident  of  Caledonia  township  he  served 
as  assessor  and  su]3ervisor.  His  estimable 
wife  passed  away  March  24,  1887,  at  the  age 
of  sixty  years.  She  was  a  native  of  Cardi- 
ganshire, Wales,  and  a  daughter  of  \\'ill- 
iam  and  Ann  Jenkins,  who  came  to  the 
Unietd  States  with  their  family,  in  1847,  '^^''d 
settled  in  Manitowoc  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  they  lived  as  farming  people  until 
called  from  this  life.  Our  subject  is  the  fifth 
in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  six  children, 
the  others  being:  William,  who  lives  on 
the  old  homestead  in  Caledonia  township; 
Sarah,  a  resident  of  Portage ;  Griffith,  of 
Caledonia  township ;  Hugh,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years ;  and  John  C,  a  physi- 
cian of  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Thomas  J.  Williams  acquired  his  edu- 
cation in  the  district  schools  of  Caledonia 
township,  and  remained  at  home  until  he 
attained  his  majority,  after  which  he  spent 
two  or  three  years  in  traveling  in  Minne- 
sota, Iowa  and  the  Dakotas.  In  1889  he 
located  in  Portage,  and  two  years  later  com- 
menced dealing  in  produce,  making  a  spe- 
cialty of  potatoes,  poultry  and  dairy  prod- 
ucts. His  business  steadily  increased,  and 
he  shipped  large  quantities  of  poultry  and 
dairy  products  to  Boston,  while  his  pota- 
toes were  mostly  shipped  south.  He  sold 
out  his  business  June  i,  1900.  He  is  a 
wide-awake,  progressive  business  man,  and 


has  met  with  well-merited  success  in  his 
labors.  He  has  always  affiliated  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  attends  many  politi- 
cal gatherings,  but  has  never  been  a  candi- 
date for  official  honors. 


MARION  JACOBS. 

The  fine  and  well-ordered  farm  lielong- 
ing  to  this  gentleman,  near  Reedsburg,  is 
conspicuous  for  the  manner  in  which  it  has 
been  improved  and  cultivated,  and  is  evi- 
dently the  homestead  of  one  of  the  most  en- 
terprising and  progressive  agriculturists  of 
Sauk  county.  A  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
he  was  born  in  Amitv,  Erie  county.  May  3, 
1842,  and  is  a  son  of  Galen  E.  and  Martha 
M.  (Wadsworth)  Jacobs.  The  father  was 
a  native  of  upper  Canada  and  a  son  of  Gus- 
tavus  Jacobs,  who  removed  to  that  country 
from  Vermont  and  later  to  New  York.  He 
lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age  and  died 
at  Platteville,  Wisconsin.  For  some  years 
he  worked  as  a  stone  mason  and  boat  builder 
on  the  Erie  canal  at  Rochester,  New  York. 
His  grandparents  came  to  America  from 
France,  probably  from  the  province  of  Al- 
sace. The  father  of  Gustavus  Jacobs,  who 
bore  the  same  name,  was  a  member  of  Col- 
onel Stark's  command  at  the  battle  of  Ben- 
nington during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and 
he  also  reached  the  advanced  age  of  over 
ninety  years.  Our  subject's  father  came 
with  his  family  to  Wisconsin  in  1855,  and 
settled  in  the  town  of  Honey  Creek,  Sauk 
county,  where  in  connection  with  the  opera- 
tion of  his  farm  he  also  worked  at  the  car- 
penter's trade.  He  died  at  North  Freedom, 
in  the  fall  of  1894,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years,  honored  and  respected  by  all 
wdio  knew  him.  His  wife,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing at  that  i)lace,  was  Ijorn  near  Attica, 
New  York,  April  19,  181 7,  and  is  a  daugh- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


451 


ter  cif  Rodney  \Va(ls\vortIi.  a  caliinet  maker, 
who  was  eng'at;eil  in  the  manufacture  of 
chairs  by  hand  at  Attica.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  durino-  iiis  residence 
in  tliis  country  made  his  home  at  .Vttica, 
where  his  death  occurred.  Two  great- 
uncles  of  oirr  subject,  William  and  John  Ja- 
cobs, were  soldiers  in  the  Mexican  war. 

Marion  Jacobs  accompanied  his  [larents 
on  their  removal  to  Sauk  county,  and  here 
grew  to  manhood.  Prompted  by  a  spirit  of 
i;atriotism,  he  enlisted  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1862,  in  Company  F,  Twenty-third  Wis- 
consin \'olunteer  Infantry,  for  service  in  the 
Civil  war,  and  was  in  the  department  of  the 
Gulf,  under  the  command,  at  different  times, 
of  Generals  Grant,  Sherman,  Banks  and  Mc- 
Clernand.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Fort  Donelson,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg-  and 
Eanks'  disastrous  expedition  up  the  Red 
river.  Though  never  w>junded  or  taken 
prisoner,  his  health  was  entirely  broken 
down,  and  after  his  return  to  New  Orleans 
from  Banks"  expedition  he  was  confined  to 
the  hospital  at  that  place,  and  later  at  Vicks- 
burg, Jefferson  Barracks  and  Prairie  du 
Chien,  Wisconsin,  being  finally  discharged 
June  26,  1865.  He  has  never  recovered  his 
heal.tli,  but  suffers  constantly  from  chronic 
diarrhea. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Jacobs  worked  for  a 
time  in  a  sawmill,  and  continued  to  make  his 
home  in  Honey  Creek  township  until  1891, 
when  he  bought  a  farm  in  Reedslnrrg  town- 
ship, where  he  now  resides.  He  is  the 
owner  of  two  fine  farms,  aggregating  tw'O 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  tillable  and  hay 
land,  and  also  has  an  eighty-acre  timber 
tract.  Potatoes  and  grain  are  his  chief 
crops,  but  he  also  gives  some  attention  to  the 
breeding  of  Jersey  cattle  for  his  dairy.  He 
has  built  large  barns  and  has  commodious 
accommodations  for  his  stock,  and  every- 
thing ab<.>ut  his  place  betokens  the  thrift  and 
irdustry  of  a  progressive  owner. 


On  the  loth  of  April,  1870,  Mr.  Ja- 
col.)s  married  Miss  Anna  M.  Voss,  wdio  died 
in  April,  1871,  leaving  an  infant  daugh- 
ter, Anna,  now  Mrs.  Walter  Carpenter,  of 
North  Freedom.  He  was  again  married 
November  8,  1873,  his  second  union  being 
with  Miss  Louise  AmljJer,  who  was  born  in 
Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1853 
came  to  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  with  her 
parents,  Thomas  antl  Abigail  Ambler,  wdio 
located  in  Troy.  The  father  died  in  Chicago, 
Illinois,  and  the  mother  at  Trov,  Wisconsin. 
Bv  this  marriage  Mr.  Jacobs  has  two  sons: 
Galen  M.,  a  resident  of  Seattle,  Washing- 
ton ;  and  Seth,  on  the  home  farm.  He  also 
has  one  grandchild. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Jacobs  is  an  honored 
member  of  H.  A.  Tator  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and 
politically  has  been  a  lifelong  Republican, 
casting  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lin- 
coln in  1864.  while  in  the  Union  army  dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  Rel)ellion.  He  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  jjolitical  honors,  though 
for  two  years  he  acceptably  served  as  as- 
sessor of  Honey  Creek  township. 


JOHN    ENOCH    McMAHON. 

John  Enoch  McMahon,  a  leading  citizen 
of  Columbia  county,  has  his  pleasant  and  at- 
tractive home  in  k'ountain  Prairie  township, 
on  section  18,  antl  is  now  enjoying  the  peace 
and  rest  that  follow  the  strenuous  years  of 
an  honorable  and  busy  life.  He  is  a  son 
of  Edward  and  Rosy  McMahon,  mention  of 
whom  is  made  in  the  biography  of  Hugh 
McMahon,  brother  of  our  subject.  He  has 
only  one  other  brcjther  living,  Philip  Mc- 
Mahon. of  Rio.  Thei'e  is  one  sister,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Patrick  Connery,  of  Doyles- 
town. 

(jur  subject  came  to  this  end  of  the  coun- 
ty long  fiefore  the  arrivrd   of  the   railroad. 


452 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


This  was  in  1849,  ^"'1  I'P  to  the  hreaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war  lie  worked  on  a  farm. 
He  was  among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  ap- 
"  peal  of  the  nation  for  help,  and  enlisted  May 
18,  1 86 1,  in  Company  B,  Seventh  Wiscon- 
sin Volunteer  Infantry.  The  regiment  was 
sent  directly  to  Camp  Lyons,  Maryland,  with 
orders  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
IMcMahon  participated  in  many  of  the  fierc- 
est battles  of  the  war.  He  was  wounded 
at  Gainesville,  August  28,  1862,  a  bullet 
passing  through  his  left  hip  and  taking 
away  two  and  a  half  inches  of  the  hip  bone 
in  its  course.  He  was  sent  to  Ebenezer  Hos- 
pital at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  after  a  long 
and  painful  illness  was  discharged  from  the 
service  as  unfitted  by  his  wound  for  farther 
duty.  The  natural  severity  of  such  a  wound 
was  greatly  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  after 
it  was  received  he  lay  on  the  battlefield  with- 
out aid  for  six  days  and  seven  nights.  It  is 
a  wonder  that  he  came  through  alive.  Af- 
ter leaving  the  hospital  Mr.  McMahon  re- 
turned to  Columbia  county,  and  for  more 
than  a  year  was  totally  unable  to  work.  Af- 
ter a  time,  however,  he  was  able  to  resume 
farming,  and  it  has  continued  to  be  his  life 
work. 

John  Enoch  McMahon  and  Miss  Eliza- 
beth A.  Starr  were  married  November  16, 
1864.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Deloss  C.  and 
Susannah  Starr,  of  Kentucky.  Her  grand- 
mother, who  had  four  brothers  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  was  over  one  hundred  years 
at  the  time  of  her  demise.  Mr  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
I\Iahon  have  eight  living  children:  Susan, 
who  is  the  wife  of  ^Villiam  Kennedy,  has  her 
home  in  Fountain  I'rairic;  Jdsephine  is  Mrs. 
Charles  Higgins,  and  lives  in  Chicago; 
^^'illiam  is  at  Doylestown ;  Edward  is  in 
the  same  village;  Steven  is  at  Madison; 
Mary  is  Mrs.  Frank  Baker,  at  Mt.  Horeb, 
\\'isconsin;  Martha  Naomi  and  Ever  are  at 
home.  Our  subject  is  a  devoted  Republi- 
can, and  has  frcduentlv  been  elected  to  im- 


portant local  and  county  offices.  He  is  the 
present  chairman  of  the  town  laoard  of 
Fountain  Prairie.  He  is  an  earnest  and 
wise  friend  of  the  public-school  system,  and 
helps  along  every  public  movement.  He 
belongs  to  the  George  H.  Brayton  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  the  Win- 
nebago Commandery,  K.  T.  He  is  an 
active  and  energetic  man,  and  in  spite  of  the 
ad\'ancing  years  still  plays  the  part  of  a 
man  in  the  great  drama  of  life. 


WILLIAM  R.  EVANS,  Dece.\sed. 

William  R.  Evans,  deceased,  was  for 
more  than  forty  years  one  of  the  most  highly 
esteemed  citizens  of  the  town  of  Caledonia, 
Columbia  county.  He  was  distinguished  for 
I'iis  industrious  habits  and  exemplary  moral 
character,  these  qualities,  together  with  his 
simple  tastes  and  quiet  disposition,  contrib- 
uting to  make  his  home  one  of  peace  and 
happiness. 

Mr.  Evans  was  born  on  a  farm  called 
"Plas  Clocasnog,"  near  Rhuthen,  Denbigh- 
shire, Wales,  January,  1824,  and  his  death 
occurred  at  his  home  in  Caledonia,  Septem- 
ber 2,  1893.  ^'-it  'itt'e  's  known  of  his  par- 
ents or  ancestry,  but  he  was  doubtless  reared 
to  agricultural  ])ursuits,  and  his  intellectual 
training  was  full}-  equal  to  the  advantages 
enjoyed  by  the  average  Welsh  lad  in  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1850  he 
left  the  land  of  his  nati\'ity  and  came  to  seek 
his  fortune  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  led,  no  doubt,  by  the  prospect  of  ac- 
c[uiring  a  home  at  nominal  expense,  and  in 
this  commendable  ambition  he  was  destined 
to  meet  with  gratifying  success.  After 
spending  a  year  or  so  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  he  came  to  Columbia  county,  \Viscon- 
sin,  and  secured  a  nice  piece  of  land  in  the 
t(jwn  of  Caledonia.       It  required  no  small 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


453 


amount  of  patient  toil  to  make  of  tliis  a  till- 
able farm,  but  he  diil  not  hesitate  at  the  task, 
and  eventually  had  the  pleasure  of  making 
it  a  well  improved  farm.  At  lirst  the  near- 
est market  for  his  products  was  at  Madison, 
a  point  only  to  be  reached  l)y  a  tedious  jour- 
ney, but  he  was  seldom  away  from  home  on 
any  errand  but  business  with  the  exception 
of  one  trip  to  the  home  of  his  childhood. 

Though  he  had  little  inclination  to  par- 
ticipate in  public  matters,  Mr.  Evans  always 
aimed  to  discharge  his  duty  as  a  citizen  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  his  knowledge.  He 
became  identified  with  the  Republican  party 
in  the  infancy  of  that  organization,  and  al- 
ways gave  conscientious  support  to  its  prin- 
ciples. He  aimed  to  give  his  family  the  best 
educational  and  social  advantages  that  his 
means  would  allow,  and  was  always  ready 
to  assist  the  needy  and  deserving  who 
sought  to  better  their  condition  in  life  by 
honest  "efifort. 

One  of  the  few  errands  which  called  Mr. 
Evans  from  home  in  the  early  days  was  the 
seeking  of  a  helpmeet  to  share  his  humble 
home.  The  lady  who  became  his  bride  was 
Miss  Laura  Roberts,  daughter  of  (jriffith 
and  Ann  (Richards)  Roberts.  She  was 
born  at  Hendre,  Llandanog,  Merionethshire, 
Wales,  and  came  alone  to  the  United  States 
in  1 85 1.  She  stopped  for  a  short  time  at 
Portage,  but  soon  went  to  La  Crosse,  being 
a  passenger  on  the  first  trip  made  over  a 
stage  route  opened  between  those  places. 
1  he  jovtrney  consumed  three  days,  and  the 
fare  was  five  dollars.  She  found  employ- 
ment at  La  Crosse,  and  Mr.  Evans  went 
thither  from  Caledonia  on  foot  to  visit  her 
during  their  courtship.  The  date  of  their 
marriage  was  September  2,  1854.  Mrs. 
Evans,  who  still  resides  upon  the  homestead 
farm,  relates  a  number  of  interesting  anec- 
dotes of  pioneer  days.  She  became  house- 
keeping in  a  small  log  cabin,  but  her  present 
home  is  a   commodious   dwelling   with    all 


modern  conveniences  and  luxurious  furnish- 
ings. Of  her  seven  children,  but  three  sur- 
vive, though  eight  children  call  her  grand- 
mother. The  record  of  her  children  fol- 
lows: Anne  (Mrs.  Griffith  E.  Davis)  was 
born  September  29,  1855,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  years ;  John,  born  April 
16,  1857,  died  at  six  years  of  age;  Eliza- 
beth and  Griffith  both  died  in  infancy ;  Mar- 
garet (Mrs.  John  Davis)  lives  at  Manches- 
ter, Green  Lake  county,  Wisconsin;  Laura 
June  is  the  widow  of  John  Rowlands  and 
lives  on  the  homestead  in  Caledonia;  and 
Clara  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Charles  Smith,  of 
Boody,  Illinois.  She  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Woman's  Medical  College,  Chicago,  and 
practiced  the  healing  art  for  some  time. 


DAVID  NOAH  BACON,  Deceased. 

The  community  in  which  a  good  man 
passes  his  life  suft'ers  a  loss  in  his  death,  al- 
though he  may  leave  an  influence  that  widens 
as  the  years  roll  by,  through  the  better  lives 
of  those  who  were  directly  benefited  by 
him.  When  the  late  David  N.  Bacon  was 
called  from  his  life  work  many  felt  a  per- 
sonal sense  of  loss,  due  to  a  knowledge  of 
his  good  citizenship,  and  habits  of  indus- 
try and  prudence.  He  was  an  early  settler 
of  Wisconsin,  and  for  many  years  resided 
in  Adams  county,  where  he  was  proprietor 
of  a  pleasant  estate  near  Point  BlutT.  He 
had  become  known  to  a  large  circle,  and  had 
pursued  a  career  that  had  won  an  al.nmdant 
reward  in  a  financial  sense. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  born  in  Bath,  Steuben 
county.  New  York,  March  26,  1834,  and 
was  the  .son  of  Noah  B.  and  Charlotte 
(York)  Bacon,  both  natives  of  Steuben 
county.  His  father  went  to  \\'ahvorth  coun- 
t\',  Wisconsin,  in  1843,  '^''"1  later  moved  to 
White  Creek,  Adams  county,  where  he  pur- 


454 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


chased  a  farm  and  lived  there  until  about 
1855,  when  he  sold  his  land  and  purchased 
a  residence  in  White  Creek,  where  he  re- 
sided until  the  death  of  his  wife  in  1877.  He 
now  resides  with  his  son,  E.  F.  Bacon,  in 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  and  reached  his  one  hun- 
dredth birthday  December  19,  1899.  He 
possesses  good  health,  and  is  able  to  enjoy 
his  life. 

Our  subject  came  with  his  parents  to 
Wisconsin,  and  attended  school  and  assisted 
with  the  work  on  the  farm  until  he  reached 
his  twentieth  year.  He  was  fitted  for  any 
kind  of  business,  and  was  well  educated  and 
capable.  He  learned  the  trade  of  black- 
smith, which  he  followed  in  White  Creek 
until  alxjut  thirty-live  years  of  age.  He 
then  purchased  a  mercantile  business  in  that 
place  which  he  conducted  three  years,  and, 
on  account  of  failing  health,  disposed  of  his 
business  interests  and  purchased  a  farm  at 
Point  Bluff,  which  is  now  in  possession  of 
Mrs.  Bacon. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  married  in  1855  to  Caro- 
line Dewing,  of  Sugar  Creek.  Mrs.  Ba- 
con died  in  1861,  leaving  two  children:  Ad- 
dison, born  in  1856,  now  an  agriculturist  of 
Springville  township;  and  May  L.,  born  in 
1 86 1,  now  ]Mrs.  G.  Reynolds,  of  Spring- 
ville. ]\Ir.  Bacon  married  Mrs.  Sarah  L. 
Coulson.  widow  of  Irani  Coulson,  of  Au- 
rora, Illinois.  February  17,  1864,  who  still 
survives  him. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  for  over  twelve  years 
postmaster  of  the  village  of  Point  Bluff,  and 
was  an  efficient  and  ])opular  man.  He 
served  as  sheriff  two  years,  and  was  treas- 
m"er  of  his  township  and  chairman  of  the 
board,  serving  in  \arious  capacities  for 
about  eighteen  years.  He  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  several  positions  faithfully  and 
well,  and  gained  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple whom  he  served.  In  political  sentiment 
he  was  a  Republican,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  the  affairs  of  his  party.     He  was  public- 


spirited,  loyal,  intelligent  and  progressive. 
His  death  occurred  April  16,  1898,  and  he 
was  laid  to  rest  at  White  Creek.  The  state 
and  community  was  better  for  his  having 
lived,  and  his  career  afforded  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  the 
judicious  use  of  the  traits  of  character  which 
dominated  his  career. 


JOHN  ROWLANDS,  Deceased. 

The  death  of  this  gentleman,  which  oc- 
curred at  his  home  in  the  town  of  Caledonia, 
Columbia  county,  on  the  12th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1895,  depri\-ed  the  community  of  one  of 
its  most  upright  and  respected  citizens,  and 
affords  one  of  the  saddest  instances  which 
the  historian  is  called  upon  to  record. 

Mr.  Rowlands  was  born  at  Pen  Bryn, 
Llwyn,  near  Llanrhaeder,  Denbighshire, 
Wales,  March  16,  1857.  He  was  a  second 
cousin  of  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the  famous  Af- 
rican explorer,  and  sprang  of  goodly  ances- 
tors, from  whom  he  inherited  many  lofty 
ideals  and  manly  qualities.  His  father,  Ed- 
ward Rowlands,  was  a  Welsh  farmer,  who 
li\'ed  and  died  in  his  native  land,  and  his 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ann 
Evans,  was  called  from  earth  during  the  in- 
fancy of  the  son.  Though  deprived  of  a 
mother's  care,  the  latter  enjoyed  excellent 
schooling  advantages,  and  learned  at  an 
early  age  to  put  the  same  to  practical  use. 
When  sixteen  years  old  he  went  to  Liver- 
pool and  secured  employment  in  a  wholesale 
grocery  and  provision  establishment.  Here 
he  remained  until  1880,  when,  owing  to  his 
father's  death,  he  returned  for  a  time  to  his 
former  lidme.  In  1881  he  tirst  came  to 
America,  spending  the  first  season  at  De- 
troit, Michigan.  From  there  he  came  to 
Wisconsin,  and  passed  the  next  year  in  the 
town  (if  Caledonia.       A  few  months  more 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


455 


were  devoted  to  business  in  IMihvaukee,  but 
in  1884  be  became  a  permanent  citizen  of 
Columbia  county,  and  spent  the  balance  of 
his  life  in  the  improvement  and  cultivation 
of  the  farm  which  had  been  originally  set- 
tled by  his  father-in-law,  William  R.  Evans. 
He  entertained  the  most  exalted  moral  con- 
ceptions, and  this  fact,  together  with  his 
genial  manners  and  general  stability  of  char- 
acter, rapidly  won  the  confidence  and  good 
will  of  his  new  neighbors.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  \\"elsh  Calvinistic  Methodist 
church,  and  about  one  year  previous  to  bis 
demise  was  appointed  a  deacon  of  that  so- 
ciety. A  Republican  in  principle,  he  did 
not  concern  himself  with  the  distribution  of 
political  honors. 

October  i,  1884,  occurred  the  wedding 
of  Mr.  Rowlands  with  Miss  Laura  J.  Evans, 
daughter  of  William  R.  and  Laura  Evans, 
of  whom  further  notice  api^ears  elsewhere  in 
this  viilunie.  Mrs.  Rowlands,  who  is  a  lady 
of  culture  and  refinement,  has  exhibited 
commendable  strength  of  character  in  her 
untimely  bereavement,  and  displays  note- 
worthy tact  and  business  capacity  in  the 
management  of  her  farm  and  the  rearing  of 
her  three  children,  who  are  named,  respect- 
ively; Edward  Evans,  \\'illiani  E.  and 
Anna  Laura. 


JACOB  HYMAN  REIGHARD,  De- 
ceased. 

Jacob  Hyman  Reighard,  deceased,  was 
for  many  j^ears  one  of  the  respected  and 
prosperous  farmers  of  Sauk  county.  His 
home  was  on  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  West- 
field  township,  and  the  family  residence  was 
on  section  7.  The  estate  is  now  conducted. 
by  his  son,  Ellis  W.  Reighard,  and  has  all 
the  adjuncts  of  a  model  country  home. 

Jacob  H.  Reighard  was  born  in  Will- 
iamsport,  Pennsylvania,  April  24.  1824,  and 
was  a  son   of   Jacob    and    Lucy    (ITyman) 


Reighard.  His  father  was  a  blacksmith  and 
conducted  the  business  in  Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania,  and  later  kept  a  hotel  at  Jer- 
sey Shore,  Pennsylvania.  He  died  at  La 
Porte,  Indiana,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years.  His  wife  survived  him  several  years, 
her  death  occurring  at  -La  Porte,  Indiana, 
aged  over  seventy  years.  The  father  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  church  and  a  man 
of  exemplary  character. 

Our  subject  attended  the  pulilic  schools 
at  Jersey  Shore,  Pennsylvania,  and  after 
completing  his  education  learned  the  ma- 
chinist's trade  at  Wheeling,  West  Virginia. 
He  started  a  flint  glass  works  at  Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war.  In  the  fall 
of  1 86 1  he  enlisted  in  Company  G,  Four- 
teenth Pennsylvania  Cavalry,  and  was  com- 
missioned first  lieutenant.  He  spent  about 
two  years  in  West  Virginia  in  opposition 
to  the  noted  Confederate  leader,  Mosby,  in 
the  campaigns  about  W'inchester  and  Low- 
den  Heights.  He  was  injured  by  his  horse 
falling  upon  him,  and  never  fully  recovered 
from  the  accident.  He  resigned  his  com- 
mission and  was  discharged  from  the  serv- 
ice, antl  when  sufficiently  recovered  was  en- 
gaged as  manager  of  the  flint  glass  works 
at  Wheeling,  Virginia,  wherein  he  contin- 
ued his  interests  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  purchased  a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres 
of  wild  land  in  Westfield  township,  Sauk 
county,  W'isconsin,  in  1854,  and  from  time 
to  time  added  improvements  to  the  place, 
and  about  1875  'i^oved  onto  the  estate.  He 
conducted  farming  and  also  dealt  in  farming 
implements  on  his  place  until  his  death. 

Mr.  Reighard  was  married  October  2, 
1S44,  at  Lock  Haven,  Pennsylvania,  to 
Caroline  Dorneck,  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  (Palmer)  Dorneck,  of  Lock  Ffa\en. 
Mrs.  Reigbard's  father  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  was  of  German  or  Prussian 
and   English  descent.      His    father   was  an 


456 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


importer  of  indigo  and  was  lost  at  sea  while 
on  a  voyage  to  India.  His  mother  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  EHza  Wilson.  ]\lrs. 
Reighard's  father  carried  on  the  saddlery 
business  at  Salona,  Pennsyh'ania,  many 
years,  and  later  moved  to  Ohio,  and  fr(.)m 
thence  to  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
died  in  1870,  aged  over  seventy-three  years. 
Mrs.  Reighard's  mother  was  born  in  Mary- 
land and  lived  for  some  years  in  Baltimore, 
and  died  in  Flushing,  Ohio,  early  in  the 
'60s.  Mrs.  Caroline  Reighard  was  born  in 
Lancaster  county,  Pennsyh'ania,  March  15. 
.1825,  and  is  still  enjoying  good  health,  and 
is  active  in  mind  and  body.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Reighard  were  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The 
-only  surviving  child,  Ellis  W.,  now  con- 
-ducts  the  homestead  farm.  Jacob  H.  Reigh- 
ard passed  away  in  Westfield  township, 
Sauk  county,  November  19,  1888.  He  was 
respected  as  an  earnest  worker  and  loyal 
■citizen,  and  his  death  was  mourned  by  a 
large  circle  of  friends. 

Ellis  W.  Reighard  was  Ixjrn  at  Jersey 
Shore,  Pennsylvania,  January  9,  1846.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen years  became  shipping  clerk  in  a  whole- 
sale establishment  at  Pittsburg.  When  the 
Civil  war  broke  out,  although  he  was  but 
fifteen  years  of  age,  he  was  almost  a  man 
in  stature  and  was  enthused  with  the  Union 
cause.  He  accordingly  enlisted  in  the 
Fifth  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry.  Init 
his  father  declined  his  consent  to  his  going 
into  the  service.  Soon  after,  however,  he 
ran  away  from  home  and  in  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  assisted  in  recruiting  Company  A, 
Nineteenth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry. 
He  was  entitled  to  a  lieutenant's  commis- 
sion, but  the  governor  of  Indiana,  learning 
his  extreme  youth,  refused  to  grant  the  com- 
mission. He  soon  after  joined  his  father 
and  spent  one  year  in  the  field.     After  the 


close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Wisconsin, 
since  which  time  he  has  conducted  the  home 
farm,  with  the  exception  of  three  years  spent 
as  bookkeeper  for  the  wholesale  hardware 
firm  of  A.  J.  Tucker  &  Company,  of  Grand 
Rapids,   Michigan. 

Mr.  Reighard  introduced  the  steam 
thresher  into  Sauk  county,  and  continued 
the  operation  of  a  machine  for  twenty  years. 
The  farm  which  he  now  conducts  covers 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  is  well 
adapted  to  general  farming.  The  family 
residence  is  situated  on  an  eminence  com- 
manding a  charming  view  of  Narrows 
Prairie,  and  in  both  exterior  and  interior 
appointments  bespeaks  the  taste  and  culture 
of  its  inmates. 

Ellis  W.  Reighard  was  married  in  1868 
to  Ada  Holmes,  daughter  of  Joshua  and 
Rosy  Holmes,  of  Sandusky,  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Reighard's  father  was  a 
native  of  Ohio,  and  lier  mother  was  born 
in  New  York.  They  were  early  settlers  of 
Sauk  county,  and  her  father  died  at  San- 
dusky in  1862,  aged  forty-tive  years.  The 
mother  died  about  1892,  aged  sixty-four 
years.  Two  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Reighard,  as  follows:  Clyde  and 
Grace.  Mr.  Reighard  is  an  active  member  of 
his  community,  and  has  held  office  on  the 
school  board  for  the  paij^t  sixteen  years.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  political  sentiment,  hold- 
irig  the  views  advocated  by  his  father.  He 
has  attended  as  delegate  numerous  county 
conventions  and  three  congressional  con- 
ventions. He  is  a  man  of  broad  mind  and 
good  character  and  highly  respected  in  his 
communitv. 


OSCAR  ATCHERSON. 

Oscar  Atcherson,  an  influential  and 
well-to-do  member  of  the  farming  com- 
munity of  Plainville  township,    where    his 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


457 


homestead  is  located  on  sections  5  and  8,  is 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Adams  county. 
He  is  from  a  long-lived  family,  who  were 
without  exception  prominent  citizens  in  the 
community  in  which  they  resided,  and  from 
whom  he  inherited  the  excellent  character- 
istics which  have  influenced  him  through- 
out his  career  to  the  betterment  of  his  fel- 
low men. 

Mr.  Atcherson  was  b(jrn  in  Rockingham, 
\'ermont,  September  10,  1822,  and  was  the 
son  of  Thomas  and  Charlotte  (Johnson) 
Atcherson.  The  father's  family  had  resided 
in  that  vicinity  since  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  from 
Petersham,  Massachusetts,  where  the  family 
was  well  known.  Our  subject's  father  fol- 
lowed farming  as  an  occupation,  and  came 
to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1856,  where 
he  purchased  land,  but  on  account  of  his  ad- 
vanced age  did  not  actively  engage  in  farm- 
ing, but  lived  in  retirement  until  his  death. 
He  passed  away  at  Plainville,  February  3, 
1873,  aged  ninety  years,  and  his  wife  in 
Plainville  August  2,  1869,  aged  iseventy- 
nine  years,  and  both  were  laid  to  rest  in 
Plainville  cemetery. 

Our  subject  until  twenty  years  of  age 
attended  school  and  worked  on  the  farm 
with  his  father.  He  then  went  to  work  in 
the  woolen  factories  at  Cambridgeport,  Ver- 
mont, where  he  learned  the  trade,  and  after- 
word worked  in  various  other  mills  in  New 
Hampshire  and  ^Massachusetts.  He  gave 
up  the  work  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years, 
and  having  two  brothers,  Walter  and  War- 
ren, located  at  Plainville,  Wisconsin,  de- 
cided to  purchase  lapd  and  live  near  them. 
He  bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
on  sections  5  and  8,  and  which  form  his 
present  homestead.  His  son,  John,  now 
engages  in  farming  the  land. 

Mr.  Atcherson  enlisted  March  7,  1865, 
at  Kilbourn,  Wisconsin,  in  the  Fifty-second 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantrv,  and  was  de- 


tailed as  guard  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  which 
v.-as  then  building  from  St.  Louis  to  Kansas 
City.  He.  was  discharged  from  the  service 
August  5,    1865,  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

Our  subject  was  married  at  Brattleboro, 
Vermont,  January  13,  1848,  to  Mary  A. 
Mixer,  daughter  of  John  M.  and  Olive 
(Richardson)  Mixer,  of  Brattleboro,  Ver- 
mont. Mrs.  Atcherson's  parents  were  early 
settlers  of  that  vicinity,  and  passed  away 
there.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atcherson  three 
children  were  born,  as  follows:  Flora  E., 
born  January  29,  1852,  now  Mrs.  J.  Fo- 
gerty,  of  Tomahawk,  Wisconsin;  Ada  A., 
born  September  22,  1858,  now  Mrs.  C. 
ISIiner,  of  Guilford,  Vermont;  John  iL, 
born  May  29,  i860,  now  residing  on  the 
home  farm.  The  son  was  married  October 
24,  1883,  to  Abbie  F.  Billings,  of  Spring- 
ville. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  John  Gil- 
lispie  Post,  No.  50,  G.  A.  R.  He  has  held 
numerous  township  offices,  and  has  been  as- 
sessor, supervisor,  and  as  an  interested 
worker  for  education  has  served  as  clerk 
and  school  director  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  takes  an  active  interest  in  local  affairs, 
and  is  among  the  foremost  men  of  his  town- 
ship. Although  seventy-eight  years  of  age, 
he  enjoys  the  best  of  health,  is  active  and 
ix)ssessed  of  all  his  faculties.  During  the 
winter  of  1898  he  paid  a  visit  to  his  daugh- 
ter in  Guilford,  Vermont,  and  spent  some 
time  visiting  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood. 


JOHN  HASEY. 

John  Hasey,  an  honored  pioneer  and 
highly  respected  citizen  of  Columbus,  Co- 
lumbia county.  Wisconsin,  was  born  in 
Londonderry,  Vermont,  April  6,  181 7,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Rhoda  (Emmons) 
Hasey,  also  natives  of  Londonderry.     The 


458 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Hase_v  family  is  of  English  origin.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  who 
also  bore  the  name  of  John  Hasey,  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  Londonderry,  Vermont, 
having  removed  thither  from  Maine  at  a 
very  early  day.  He  aided  the  colonies  in 
their  struggle  for  independence  as  a  soldier 
of  the  Continental  army  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary \\ar,  and  the  father  of  our  subject 
took  arms  against  the  mother  country  in 
the  war  of  1812,  ])articipating  in  the  battle 
of  Plattsburg.  He  was  born  January  10, 
1794,  and  (lied  in  Columbus,  Wisconsin, 
January  10,  1876.  He  came  to  this  state  in 
1844  and  settled  in  York,  Dane  county,  be- 
coming one  of  its  representative  and  promi- 
nent citizens.  He  was  one  of  the  leading 
Democrats  in  his  community,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  general  assembly  from  Dane 
county.  His  wife,  Vv'ho  was  born  December 
22,  1792,  also  died  at  Columbus,  Wisconsin, 
May  25,  1866.  The  children  of  this  worthy 
couple  were  John,  our  subject;  Alfred, 
Samuel  and  Austin  D.,  all  residents  of  Co- 
lumbus, except  Austin  D.,  who  was  killed  in 
a  railroad  accident  at  Albany,  Illinois,  April 
21,   1881. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  lad  of 
eleven  years  when  the  family  removed  from 
Vermont  to  Genesee  county.  New  York, 
and  located  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Cov- 
ington, which  he  assisted  in  improving  and 
cultivating.  In  1845  he  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, and  after  three  years  spent  in  Dodge 
county,  took  up  his  residence  on  a  farm 
in  Columbus  township,  Columbia  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
for  ten  years.  Since  then  he  has  made  his 
home  in  the  city  of  Columbus,  and  for 
twenty  years  dealt  quite  extensively  in  grain 
and  farm  produce,  since  which  time  he  has 
practically  lived  retired,  enjoying  the  fruits 
of  his  former  toil,  free  from  the  cares  and 
responsibilities  of  business  life. 

In   1843   Mr.   Hasey  married   Miss  Al- 


bina  S.  Farnham,  a  native  of  Auburn,  New 
York,  and  a  daughter  of  Frederick  Chapin 
and  Mary  (Andrews)  Farnham,  of  Genesee 
county,  that  state.  Her  father,  a  native  of 
Vermont,  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1857  from 
New  York,  and  died  in  Columbus,  in  De- 
cember, 1879,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
nine.  He  was  also  a  veteran  of  the  war  of 
1 81 2,  and  had  taken  part  in  the  battle  of 
Plattsburg.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hasey  are  active 
and  prominent  members  of  the  Universalist 
church  of  Columbus,  which  they  helped  to 
organize,  and  he  has  ser\-ed  as  treasurer  of 
the  society  for  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
After  a  useful  and  honorable  career  he  can 
well  afford  to  lay  aside  all  business  cares 
and  live  in  ease  and  retirement,  surround- 
ed by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances who  esteem  him  highly  for  his  sterl- 
ing worth. 


EDWARD  ROSE  BROWN. 

Edward  Rose  Brown,  an  honored  vet- 
eran of  the  Civil  war  and  a  highly  esteemed 
citizen  of  Portage,  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin, was  born  in  Lower  Canada,  August 
I,  1827,  a  son  of  David  H.  and  Lucinda 
(Batchelor)  Brown,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York,  respectively.  The  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Jesse  Brown,  a  mill- 
wright by  trade,  was  also  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, while  his  wife  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many. When  a  young  man  the  father  went 
to  New  York,  where  he  was  married,  and 
in  1827  removed  to  Canada,  but  after  a 
few  months  spent  there  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Macomb  county,  Michigan,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  upon  a 
farm  near  the  present  village  of  Utica,  dying 
there  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two 
years.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Baptist  church  and  influential  in  local  pol- 
itics, first  as  a  Whig  and  later  as  a  Demo- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


459 


crat.  He  filled  several  offices  of  honor  and 
trust.  The  mother  of  our  subject  tlied  near 
Utica,  Michigan,  about  1834. 

Edward  R.  Brown  is  the  imly  mie  in  the 
family  of  six  children  living  in  Wisconsin. 
He  received  a  common-school  education  and 
during  his  youth  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade,  at  which  he  woi-ked  at  intervals 
throughout  life.  In  1853  he  first  came  to 
Portage,  Wisconsin,  where  he  spent  one 
winter  in  the  pineries,  and  then  engaged  in 
farming  in  Adams  county  for  aljmit  twelve 
years,  after  which  he  located  in  Lewiston, 
Columbia  county.  Selling  his  property  here 
in  1881,  he  went  to  Dakota,  but  not  finding 
a  suitable  location  he  returned  to  Wiscon- 
sin. In  1884,  however,  he  removed  with 
his  family  to  Walworth  county,  South  Da- 
kota, where  he  took  up  a  homestead  claim 
and  lived  for  about  eight  years,  dividing  his 
attention  between  the  cultivation  of  grain 
and  stock  raising.  Since  June,  1892,  he  has 
made  his  home  in  Portage,  Wisconsin,  and 
has  followed  the  carpenter's  trade. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1864,  Mr.  Brown 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  Forty-fourth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  and  with  his 
command  reached  Nashville  in  time  to  take 
part  in  the  battle  at  that  place,  under  General 
Thomas,  against  General  Hood.  There  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  take  a  position  one 
morning  at  daybreak  in  the  front  of  the 
lines,  but  was  soon  afterward  replaced  by  a 
colored  regiment,  nearly  all  of  whom  fell 
victims  to  a  Confederate  battery  wdiich 
opened  fire  on  that  part  of  the  works  a  few 
niinutes  later.  Tlie  Forty-fourth  Wiscon- 
sin supported  Fort  Negley  during  that  en- 
gagement. Just  previous  to  the  battle  a  de- 
tachment of  one  hundred  men,  including 
Mr.  Brown,  were  ordered  to  take  a  drove  of 
fifteen  hundred  head  of  cattle  to  Pulaski, 
Tennessee,  through  a  district  infested  by 
bushwhackers,  but  they  were  able  to  avoid 
them  by  information  given  by  the  negroes 


along  the  way.  They  were  two  weeks  in 
reaching  Pulaski,  and  then  returned  to 
Nashville  by  rail.  From  there  the  regiment 
went  to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  and  were  finally 
discharged  in  Septemljer,   1865. 

Mr.  Brown  was  married  Ma}'  31,  1853, 
to  Miss  Sarah  C.  Worden,  a  native  of  Wil- 
loughby,  Ohio,  and  a  daughter  of  Holley  G. 
and  Mary  (Warner)  Worden,  of  Portage, 
who  came  to  this  state  in  1851.  Of  the  eight 
children  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife 
four  are  now  deceased :  Ella,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eight  years ;  Charles,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  five;  Herbert,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  seven ;  and  Kinney  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen. Those  living  are  Albert,  a  resident 
of  Walworth  county.  South  Dakota ;  and 
Uzell  E.,  \\'innie  M.  and  Hol.ley  N.,  all  of 
Portage.  The  family  are  connected  with 
the  Baptist  church,  and  Mr.  Brown  is  an 
honored  member  of  the  Grand  Army  Post 
of  Portage,  in  which  he  has  served  as  ad- 
jutant. He  is  independent  in  politics  and 
has  filled  a  number  of  local  offices,  serving 
as  town  clerk  and  assessor  in  Jackson, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin ;  supervisor  in 
Lewiston,  Wisconsin;  and  justice  of  the 
peace  in  Walworth  county,  South  Dakota. 
He  proved  a  very  efficient  and  capable  offi- 
cer and  in  all  the  relations  of  life  has  been 
found  true  to  every  trust  reposed  in  him. 


CHARLES  MARTL\. 

Charles  Martin  iis  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  and  active  business  men  of  Dell 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  wdio  op- 
erates a  well-drilling  machine  and  deals  in 
windmills.  Until  a  short  time  ago  he  owned 
a  large  and  well-improved  farm  of  three 
hundred  acres  of  land,  forty-seven  acres  of 
which  was  the  homestead  farm  and  was 
known  as  the  L.  S.  Carter  place,  the  latter 


460 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


being  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
county.  Our  subject  improved  the  property 
and  made  a  model  farm  of  it,  but  sold  it 
in  the  early  spring  of   1900. 

Mr.  Martin  was  born  in  Newark,  Lick- 
ing county,  Ohio,  March  29,  1854,  and  was 
the  son  of  William  and  Sarah  (Showman) 
Martin.  His  father  moved  from  Maryland 
to  Ohio,  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  that  state.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, and  in  1861  went  to  Elkhart,  Indiana, 
v.'here  he  followed  his  calling  until  his  death 
in  December,  1864.  His  wife  survived  him 
twenty-five  years  and  upon  her  death,  July 
8,  1890,  was  laid  to  rest  beside  her  husband 
at  Elkhart. 

Our  subject  early  began  to  assist  in 
the  support  of  his  mother  and  the  family 
of  children,  but  did  not  slight  his  oppor- 
tunities for  education.  He  was  an  apt  pupil 
and  possessed  a  studious  nature,  and  made 
use  of  every  chance  to  improve  his  condition. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  came  to 
Dell  Prairie,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
was  employed  by  B.  S.  Bement,  one  of  the 
prominent  farmers  of  the  county.  After 
leaving  his  employ  he  purchased  and  sold 
land  for  some  time,  and  then  located  on  the 
farm  mentioned  above,  which  is  situated  in 
the  best  part  of  Dell  Prairie  township.  Since 
about  1892  he  has  conducted  a  well-drill- 
ing, pump  and  windmill  business,  and  finds 
all  the  work  which  two  men  can  do.  The 
labor  and  overseeing  of  the  business  calls  him 
from  home  a  great  part  of  the  time,  and  a 
comfortable  income  results  from  his  work. 

Mr.  Martin  was  married  July  27,  1873, 
to  Libbie  Carter,  daughter  of  Lyman  S.  and 
Elizabeth  Carter,  of  Dell  Prairie  township, 
who  came  to  this  region  from  Pennsylvania 
at  an  early  day.  Mrs.  Martin's  parents  were 
married  February  3,  1837,  in  Washington 
county,  Maryland.  Her  mother  died  May 
3,  1885,  and  her  father  died  August  5,  1890, 
and  both  were  buried    at    Kilbourn,   Wis- 


consin. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  are  the  par- 
ents of  six  children,  as  follows :  Sarah,  now 
Mrs.  E.  Barton,  of  Hancock,  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin;  Leslie,  in  partnership  with  his 
father  in  the  pump  business;  Lottie,  Louis, 
Clarence  and  Minnie.  The  four  yotmgest 
children  are  at  home  with  their  parents. 
Mr.  Martin  is  a  Democrat  in  political  senti- 
ment, but  does  not  take  an  active  part  in 
the  movements  of  his  party,  nor  accept  any 
public  offices,  his  business  claiming  his  at- 
tention from  his  home  district  so  often. 
He  is  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity, and  has  done  all  in  his  power  to 
further  its  development  and  is  one  of  the 
upright  citizens  of  Dell  Prairie  township. 
He  has  resided  among  the  people  of  that  vi- 
cinity long  enough  to  gain  from  them  their 
respect,  and  they  willingly  accord  him  a 
name  as  a  gentleman  of  excellent  character 
and  business  ability.  His  home  is  one  of 
the  pleasant  places  within  that  fertile  dis- 
trict, and  he  has  devoted  much  time  in  the 
improvement  of  his  property,  and  he  accepts 
advanced  ideas,  and  uses  modern  methods 
and  machinery  in  every  available  way.  He 
\z  progressive,  industrious  and  honest,  and 
well  merits  his  success  and  good  reputation. 


CARL  SCHNEIDER. 

Carl  Schneider,  an  influential  and  promi- 
nent citizen  of  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, now  living  at  Portage,  in  practical  re- 
tirement, was  born  near  Mainz,  Germany, 
December  15,  1824,  a  son  of  John  and 
Catherine  (Stoll)  Schneider.  The  paternal 
grandfather  was  John  Peter  Schneider,  a 
farmer  near  Mainz,  and  the  maternal  grand- 
father, whose  name  was  Stoll,was  a  cabinet- 
maker. The  father,  who  had  been  a  forester 
in  the  employ  of  the  government  of  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1840,  and  located  at  New  York  City,  but 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


461 


worked  at  Groton  Point,  W'estclicster  comi- 
ty. New  York,  where  he  lodk  charge  of  a 
nursery.  He  (hed  in  Xew  York  City  in 
1853,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  and 
his  wife  passed  away  ni  1S51,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one. 

Carl  Schneider  received  a  common- 
school  education  in  his  nati\e  land  and  after 
ccming-  to  Xew  York  attended  an  evening 
school  for  a  time,  thus  acquiring  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  English  language.  While 
a  \-oung  man  he  enlisted  in  the  Washington 
Rifles,  Thirty-eighth  Regiment  Xew  Y'ork 
Militia.  His  only  serxdce  was  in  garrison- 
ing Fort  Hamilton  during  the  absence  of  the 
regular  troops  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  in 
suppressing  a  riot  between  the  Catholics 
and  Orangemen  in  New  York  Cit3^  He  was 
employed  as  state  inspector  on  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Erie  canal,  near  Rome,  New 
York,  and  subsecjilently  became  foreman  for 
the  contractor.  During  the  four  years  de- 
\oted  to  that  enterprise  he  became  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Governtir  Horatio 
Seymour  and  other  state  officers.  In  1859, 
by  the  advice  of  the  Governor,  he  came  to 
Wisconsin,  expecting  to  secure  employment 
on  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  river  improve- 
ments, but  when  he  arrived  in  Portage  the 
company  having  the  work  in  charge  had 
become  bankrupt  and  work  was  suspended. 

Mr.  Schneider  then  opened  an  eating 
house  in  Portage,  in  connection  with  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  railway  sta- 
tion, but  soon  afterward  the  building  was 
burned  with  all  its  contents  and  he  lost  three 
thousand  doll.ars — his  entire  capital.  He  then 
pre-empted  forty  acres  of  land  on  the  bank 
of  Silver  Lake,  within  the  city  limits  of  Port- 
age, and  to  the  improvement  of  this  wild 
tract  he  at  once  turned  his  attention,  erect- 
ing substantial  buildings  and  planting  a 
vineyard  and  small  fruits.  He  now  raises 
considerable  fruit,  which  he  sells  to  the  city 
markets. 


In  1848  Mr.  Schneider  married  INIiss 
Lucetta  Mehrhof,  a  native  of  Hesse-Darm- 
sladt,  Germany,  and  a  daughter  of  Philip 
and  Catherine  Mehrhof,  of  Groton  Point, 
Xew  York.  She  died  in  Portage  in  1849, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-two  years,  leaving  five 
children,  namely :  Catherine,  now  the  de- 
ceased wife  of  Henry  Smith,  of  Hacken- 
sack,  Xew  Jersey;  Eliza,  wife  of  Washburn 
Snow,  of  Portage;  Amelia,  wife  of  T.  C. 
Cunningham,  ex-secretary  of  state  of  Wis- 
sin,  and  a  resident  of  Chippewa  Falls;  Isa- 
bel, a  resident  of  the  same  city;  and  Charles, 
a  railroad  contluctor,  who  was  accidentally 
killed  at  Water  N'alley,  Mississippi.  Mr. 
Schneider  was  again  married  in  1859,  his 
second  union  being  with  Elizabeth  Burbach, 
who  was  born  in  Braunfels,  Germany,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1855.  To  them 
were  born  seven  children,  three  sons  and 
four  daughters:  William;  Louise,  now  the 
wife  of  Andrew  Kiefer,  a  railroad  mail  clerk 
of  Portage;  Lillie,  wife  of  Rev.  Hermann 
Breckner,  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin; 
John,  who  died  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  twen- 
ty-three; Louis,  who  died  in  1895  at  the  age 
of  twenty-six;  Helen,  a  teacher  of  Portage, 
and  Jessie,  who  died  in  1885,  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years.  The  children  were  provided 
with  good  high  school  educations,  and 
Amelia,  Lillie  and  Helen  have  all  been  suc- 
cessful teachers.  Mr.  Schneider  also  has  ten 
grandchildren  li\-ing. 

In  1863  he  was  app(.)inted  by  the  United 
States  government  engineer  as  overseer  of 
construction  on  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox 
river  improvements,  and  spent  four  years 
in  that  capacity,  constructing  dams,  locks, 
etc.,  between  Portage,  Sauk  City  and  Prince- 
ton, Wisconsin.  He  served  as  an  alderman 
in  Portage  for  four  years,  highway  com- 
missioner two  years,  city  marshal  two  years, 
and  in  1877,  ^^79  ^""^  ^^^7  had  charge  of 
the  documents  of  the  Wisconsin  assembly, 
and  held  a  similar  position  in  the  state  sen- 


4G2 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ate  in  1893.  He  has  discharged  his  various 
official  duties  with  promptness  and  fitlehty 
and  tu  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  con- 
cerned, and  his  public  and  pri\ate  life  are 
alike  above  repr(iach.  He  is  a  consistent 
and  faithful  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  while  some  of  his  family  attend  the 
German  Trinity  church.  He  cast  his  first 
presidential  vote  for  Zachary  Taylor  in 
1848,  but  since  the  organization  of  the  Re- 
publican party  has  been  one  of  its  stanch  sup- 
porters, taking  an  active  part  in  its  work 
and  doing  all  in  his  power  to  insure  its  suc- 
cess. He  has  learned  by  observation  and 
practical  experience  that  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  depends  largely  upon  the  policy 
of  the  government,  in  regard  to  revenue  and 
has  witnessed  the  disastrous  results  of  a 
low  tariff  several  times.  He  has  always  been 
a  close  student  and  extensive  reader  and  has 
accumulated  a  well-selected  library,  with 
the  contents  of  which  he  is  familiar. 


GUS  DRAGER. 

Gus  Drager,  a  well-known  conductor  on 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  and 
a  worthy  citizen  of  Baraboo,  has  made  his 
own  way  in  the  world  from  an  early  age  and 
now  holds  an  honorable  position  with  one 
of  the  greatest  railroad  corporations  in  the 
United  States.  He  was  born  in  Jefferson, 
Wisconsin,  December  25,  1864,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Rosa  (Drager)  Drager,  na- 
tives of  Germany,  who  came  to  the  new 
world  in  1850  and  located  near  Jefferson, 
Wisconsin,  where  the  father  died  upon  his 
farm  during  the  infancy  of  our  subject. 
The  mother  died  at  Fort  Atkinson,  Wis- 
consin, October  20,  1896,  aged  seventy 
years.  Her  father,  Frederick  Drager,  died 
in  Jefferson,  Wisconsin,  about  1872,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-six  years.     He  was 


acti\e  and  vigorous  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death. 

The  early  boyhood  of  our  subject  was 
spent  with  his  [laternal  grandfather  and  an 
uncle  in  Jefferson,  anil  at  the  age  of  ten 
years  he  began  earning  his  tiwn  livelihood 
Ity  working  on  a  farm.  Three  years  later  he 
entered  the  chain  factory  at  Fort  Atkinson, 
where  he  was  employed  until  attaining  his 
majority,  and  then  secured  a  position  as 
brakeman  with  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  Company,  with  which  corpora- 
tion he  has  been  continued  almost  continu- 
ously since.  In  1891  he  was  made  con- 
ductor, and  most  of  the  time  has  run  a 
train  on  the  Madison  division  of  the  line. 

j\lr.  Drager  was  married,  in  1891,  to 
Miss  Nellie  Niland,  a  daughter  of  Patrick 
and  Ellen  (Boyle)  Niland,  of  Fort  Atkin- 
S(_)n.  Her  parents  were  both  nati^•es  of 
Dublin,  Ireland,  and  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1823.  After  living  for  some 
years  in  Vermont,  they  came  to  Wisconsin 
about  1856.  The  father  died  in  Fort  At- 
kinson, August  8,  1875,  aged  fifty-three 
years,  and  the  mother  died  in  the  same  place 
September  30,  1896,  aged  seventy-two.  Mrs. 
Drager  is  a  member  of  St.  Patrick's  Cath- 
olic church  of  Baraboo.  Politically  our  sub- 
ject is  independent,  and  fraternally  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Order  of  Railway  Con- 
ductors since  1898.  His  success  in  life  is 
due  to  his  integrity  of  character  and  faithful 
performance  of  duty,  and  he  is  held  in  high 
regard  by  all  win;)  know  him. 


MARTIN  R.  WOODRUFF. 

I 

Martin  R.  Woodruff,  a  native  of  A\-on, 
Hartford  county,  Connecticut,  born  April 
8,  1827,  is  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  and  has  done 
much  to  promote  its  growth.     He  is  a  resi- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


46B 


<lcnt  of  Ouincy  township,  and  has  gatliered 
about  him  an  estate,  and  a  competence  to 
tide  him  through  his  declining  years.  He 
is  a  progressive  agriculturist,  and  his  farm 
bears  evidence  of  modern  methods  for  the 
tilling  of  the  soil  and  the  care  of  his  prod- 
ucts. He  engages  extensively  in  stock  rais- 
ing, and  has  some  fine  specimens  of  sheep 
and  hogs.  He  has  erected  a  comfortable 
residence  and  commodious  l.iarns,  and  every 
detail  of  the  work  is  dune  with  the  least 
labor  possible  and  in  the  most  approved 
method. 

Mr.  Woodruff  was  the  son  of  Romanty 
and  Nancy  (Robbins)  Woodrufif.  His  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  John  Robbins,  fought  in 
the  Revolutionary  war.  His  father  was  born 
v.\  Avon,  Connecticut,  of  English  extraction, 
and  the  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in 
Wethersfield,  Connecticut.  The  father  died 
in  Avon,  Connecticut,  in  1839,  and  the 
mother's  death  occurred  in  the  same  town 
in  1880,  aged  about  eighty  years,  and  both 
were  buried  in  Avon. 

Martin  \\'oodrufif  attended  school  and 
assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  until  his 
twenty-second  year,  wdien  he  took  a  farm 
of  Benjamin  Sedgwick,  of  Goshen,  Connecti- 
cut, father  of  General  Sedgwick,  which  he 
conducted  for  about  three  years.  In  1854  he 
decided  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  west,  and 
accordingly  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  engaged 
in  lumbering  above  Steven's  Point  and  on 
the  Yellow  river.  He  stayed  for  a  short 
time  with  his  brother,  Julius  R.,  of  Baraboo, 
a  prominent  farmer  of  Sauk  county,  and  in 
1880  came  to  Ouincy  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, and  purchased  about  five  hundred. 
acres,  on  which  he  makes  his  present  home. 
Mr.  Woodruff  was  married,  December 
25,  1869,  to  Mrs.  Mary  Chase,  of  Ouin- 
cy, widow  of  Samuel  Chase,  and  daughter 
of  Winthrop  and  Roxanna  (Sanborn)  Had- 
lock,  of  Bath,  New  Hampshire.  Mrs.  W'ood- 
ruff  was   born   in   Bath,    New    Hampshire, 


September  12,  1837,  and  moved  when 
twelve  years  of  age  with  her  parents  from 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  to  Quincy,  Wiscon- 
sin. They  went  by  way  of  the  lakes  to  Mil- 
waukee and  thence  by  ox  team,  one  week 
being  required  for  the  overland  trip.  The 
country  around  (Quincy  was  a  wilderness, 
and  there  were  hut  three  white  families  in 
that  vicinity.  They  went  to  Portage  for 
mail  and  provisions.  Bear  and  deer  were 
plentiful,  and  other  evidences  of  wild  life 
were  to  be  found.  The  Indians  were  nu- 
merous, but  quiet,  and  no  difficulties  were  ex- 
perienced on  their  account.  Her  parents 
built  a  log  house  about  two  miles  from 
where  she  now  has  her  home,  and  there  were 
no  schools,  but  before  going  to  Wisconsin 
she  had  learned  to  read  and  write,  and  con- 
tinued her  studies  alone  and  gained  a  good 
education.  \\'hen  eighteen  years  of  age, 
February  6,  1857,  she  married  Samuel 
Chase,  of  Ouincy.  Mr.  Chase  enlisted  in 
the  Civil  war,  and  went  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  died  after  three  months'  service. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cdiase  three  children  were 
born,  as  follows:  Alvin,  born  May  3,  1859, 
residing  at  home;  George,  born  Oct.  14, 
1861,  mnv  at  home;  and  Samuel  H.,  born 
November  20,  1863,  now  at  work  in  the 
woods  of  Wisconsin.  Mrs.  \Voodruff"s  fa- 
ther met  his  death  in  a  sawmill  a  short  time 
prior  to  the  death  of  the  mother,  who  died 
in  Delton,  Sauk  county,  in  March,  1893. 
She  was  the  tlaughter  of  Benjamin  and 
Marin  Sanborn,  of  Bath,  New  Hampshire. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woodruff  are  the  parents 
of  three  children,  as  follows:  Alice  M., 
born  August  26,  1868,  now  Mrs  J.  Austin, 
of  Vernon,  Waukesha  county,  Wisconsin ; 
Annie,  born  July  4,  1871  ;  and  Winthrop, 
born  August  20,  1873,  a  mechanic,  employed 
in  the  machine  shops  in  Chicago,  Mr. 
Woodruff  is  a  memlicr  of  Ouincy  Lodge, 
No.  72,  \.  F.  &  .\.  M.  In  political  faith 
he  is  a  free  silver  man  ;uid  well  versed  on  the 


464 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


topics  of  tlie  day.  He  has  been  called  upon 
to  fill  various  township  offices,  and  in  every 
possible  way  has  promoted  the  general  wel- 
fare of  Adams  county.  He  is  well  kmnvn 
and  has  a  host  of  friends  wlio  hold  him  in 
the  hishest  esteem. 


ALFRED  ERXEST  VAX  AERXA.M. 

Alfred   Ernest   Van   .Vernam,   an   influ- 
ential citizen  of  Rio,  Columbia  O'unty,  Wis- 
consin, represents  one  of  the  pioneer  fam- 
ilies of  that  thriving  village.     Pie  was  Ijorn 
in  the  t(.iwn  of  Otsego,  August  30,  1853,  and 
is  a  son  of  Abram  and  Helen  F.   (Knight) 
\'an  Acrnam.     An  ancestor  of  the  family 
came  from  Holland  and  settled  in  the  jNIo- 
hawk  valley.    Abram  \'an  Aernam  was  born 
in  Easton,  Xew  York,  and  died  in  Rio,  Jan- 
uar)'  2j,  1868,  aged  sixty.     While  a  boy  he 
was  taken  by  his  parents    to    Cattaraugus 
county,  Xew  York,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood on  a  farm.     He  was  the  oldest  of  ten 
children,  and    as    his    father  was   in  poor 
health  much  of  the  care  of  the  family  early 
fell  on  his  shoulders.     When  grown  up  he 
went  to  Virginia  where  he  became  an  ex- 
tensive contractor   on   public   works.        He 
settled  in  W'isconsin,  in  1845,  ^"d  found  a 
home  in  Racine  county,  where  his  brother, 
Nathaniel  Van  Aernam,  was  already  located. 
Some  two  years  later  he  removed  to  \Vater- 
loo  and  engaged  in  the  tnanufacture  of  fan- 
ning mills,  being  associated  with  a  Mr.  Ely 
imder  the  firm  name  of  Van  Aernam  &  Ely. 
In  1850  he  sold  out,  and,  coming  into  Co- 
lumbia county,  took  up  government  land,  and 
made  a  home  for  his  declining  years  on  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  6,  Otsego  town- 
ship.    He  put  up   the  largest  barn   in   the 
countv  at   that   time.     It   was   48x60   feet, 
and  he  li\  ed  in  a  part  of  it  for  a  few  months 
until  lie  could  erect  a  handsome  and  com- 


modious frame  house.  The  house  is  still 
standing,  but  the  liarn  was  struck  Ijy  light- 
ning in  i8q2  and  consumed  Iiy  fire.  He 
Iiecame  the  owner  of  live  hundred  acres  of 
land  and  carried  his  agricultural  operations 
on  an  extensive  scale.  He  was  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  filled  several  of  the 
town  offices.  He  was  a  generous  and  pub- 
lic-spirited man,  and  he  donated  the  right 
of  way  through  his  farm  to  the  Chicago, 
^Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  on  condi- 
tion that  a  station  be  maintained  in  the  pres- 
ent village  of  Rio.  He  also  guaranteed  the 
site  for  the  station.  His  father's  family 
included  seven  sons, '  he  being  the  oldest : 
Abram.  X^athaniel,  John,  William,  Lafay- 
ette, Hiram,  Henry  and  two  daughters. 
Henry  became  a  prominent  physician  at 
Franklinville,  New  York.  He  was  a  strong 
Republican,  and  represented  his  district  for 
two  terms  in  Congress.  William  and  John 
\\ent  to  California  in  1849  ^"<-l  '^■'^d  there. 
Mrs.  Helen  Van  Aernam  still  lives  in  South 
Milwaukee  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  After 
the  death  of  Mr.  Van  Aernam  she  mar- 
ried G.  C.  Bush.  She  was  born  in 
Rennsylvania.  Ller  father,  Cyrus  Knight, 
came  to  this  state  about  1848,  locating  at 
Lake  Mills.  Later  in  life  he  removed  to 
Minnesota,  and  died  in  that  state  at  the  age 
of  sixty.  Abram  and  Helen  Van  Aernam 
were  the  parents  of  three  sons:  Alfred  E. ;  ■ 
Judson,  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Charles 
A.,  of  Rio. 

Alfred  E.  Van  Aernam  was  born  in  his 
father's  barn,  while  it  was  being  used  tem- 
porarily as  a  house,  according  to  the  notation 
above.  The  farm  has  always  been  his  home 
with  the  exception  of  about  one  year,  wdren 
he  tried  Minnesota.  This  was  shortly  after 
h.is  twenty-first  birthda}'.  He  came  back 
to  his  birthplace  and  took  charge  of  the 
homestead  farm.  He  now  owns  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  acres,  and  is  a  careful  and 
successful    farmer.      He  gives  much  atten- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


405 


tion  to  tlie  culti\'ation  of  tobacco  and  the 
raising  of  potatoes.  He  is,  howex-er,  a  gen- 
era! farmer,  and  has  his  land  in  fine  condi- 
tion. He  is  a  Repnljlican  and  has  served 
as  a  delegate  to  tiie  county  and  state  coinen- 
tions  on  several  occasions.  He  has  been 
president  of  the  village,  assessor,  treasurer 
and  other  officers  as  the  times  seemed  to 
demand.  He  was  married  in  1879  to  Miss 
E\-a  A.  Rice.  She  was  born  in  Xeosha, 
Wisconsin,  and  her  parents  died  during  her 
early  childhood.  She  is  the  mother  of  three 
children,  one  tlying  in  infancy;  the  others 
are:  Blanche  R.  and  Harold  H.  Mr.  \'an 
Aernam  is  a  memlier  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America  and  a  charter  memlier  of 
the  Equitable  Fraternal  Aid. 


GEORGE  PERRY  STAXTOX. 

George  Perry  Stanton,  a  retiretl  farmer, 
and  a  resident  of  Fall  River,  Columbia  cnun- 
ty,  Wisconsin,  is  a  son  of  Ledyard  and 
Laura  (Buck)  Stanton,  and  was  born  in 
Constantia,  Oswego  county,  Xew  York,  in 
1842.  His  father  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
and  when  (piite  young  was  taken  by  his 
parents  to  Xew  York.  They  were  sturdy, 
honest  people,  and  stood  well  in  the  com- 
munity. The  .grandmother  of  our  subject 
was  a  cousin  of  the  illustrious  Commodore 
Perry.  The  lines  of  the  family  history  can 
be  easily  traced  as  far  back  as  1600.  Led- 
yard Stanton  and  his  family  came  west  in 
1848,  and  made  their  first  stopiiing  place 
i.i  Whitewater,  \\'isconsin.  Their  stay  here 
was  brief,  however,  as  they  came  to  Foim- 
tain  Prairie  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  and 
bought  government  land.  From  that  time 
they  continued  in  Columbia  county  and  here 
they  spent  their  lives.  He  died  June  29, 
1871,  and  his  wife  April  12,  1899,  aged 
eighty-seven  years. 


i\Ir.  Stanton  had  his  early  education  in 
the  F'all  River  schools,  and  within  a  very 
few  days  after  the  breaking  (jut  of  the  Civil 
war  he  enlisted,  IMay  ir,  1861,  in  Company 
B,  Se\'enth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry. 
The  regiment  was  sent  directly  to  the  na- 
tional capital,  and  was  there  incoriioratetl 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Mr.  Stan- 
ton was  in  the  liattle  of  Gainesville.  He  es- 
caped ludiurt,  but  shortly  afterwards  was 
prostrated  with  a  se\-ere  sunstroke.  He  re- 
mained with  the  arm\',  howe\'er,  and  com- 
])leted  his  service.  He  was  mustered  out 
October  28,  1865,  and  made  an  honurable 
record,  of  which  his  friends  are  proud.  Just 
before  his  return  home  he  was  seized  with 
a  se\xre  fe\er,  and  \\hen  he  reached  Wiscon- 
sin he  weighed  less  than  one  hundretl 
pounds.  He  worked  on  the  farm  after  his 
health  was  regained,  and  in  1876  married 
Adelia  F.  Montville,  a  ladv  of  French  de- 
scent. She  died  July  19,  1886,  leaving  one 
son,  Perry,  born  in  1877.  Mr.  Stanton  was 
remarried  in  1892  to  Airs.  Mary  A.  Buck. 
By  a  f(jrmer  marriage  she  was  the  mother 
of  two  children :  \\'illiam  G.  Buck,  Marion, 
Iiiwa,  in  the  ser\'ice  of  the  ^Milwaukee  Rail- 
road; and  Susie  M.,  the  wife  of  Will 
Swarthout,  an  engineer  on  the  Soo  road. 
With  the  exception  of  two  years,  which,  he 
spent  in  a  saw-mill  in  Clark  county,  Wis- 
consin, Mr.  Stanton  has  always  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Columbia  county.  He  was  appoint- 
ed postmaster  in  Fall  River  under  President 
Harrison,  and  served  from  1889  to  1893. 
He  has  been  town  clerk  se\'eral  terms,  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  fourteen  years,  and  is  now 
a  notary  public.  He  has  been  a  Republi- 
can since  he  attained  voting  age,  and  is  en- 
thusiastic in  support  of  its  principles.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  serves  as  its  trustee  and  record- 
ing steward.  He  is  associated  with  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  .America.  Columbia 
Camp  436,  and  of  George  A.  Brayton  Post, 


4G6 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repuljhc.  This 
is  a  brief  and  inadetjuate  notice  of  a  ni)ble 
hfe,  though  modest  and  hum1)Ie,  yet  always 
true  and  genuine.  He  has  been  an  hi)n- 
orable  and  useful  member  of  the  community, 
and  has  well  served  his  sreneration. 


WILLIAM  STEVENS. 

William  Stexens,  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  born  in  Meredith,  July  iQ, 
1S19,  has  contributed  much  to  the  prosperity 
and  good  citizenship  of  .Vdams  county, 
Wisconsin,  by  his  hdeht}'  to  principles  of 
■right  and  justice,  and  his  industry,  energy 
and  good  management. 

William  Stevens  was  the  only  child  lx)rn 
to  John  and  Sarah  Ann  (St.  Clair)  Stevens. 
His  father  was  of  Scotch  descent  and  his 
mother's  family  were  English.  The  Stevens 
family  settled  in  Maine  at  an  early  day,  anil 
his  father  became  a  sailor,  making  many 
voyages  from  Boston,  New  York  and  other 
leading  eastern  ports.  When  William 
Stevens  was  Ijut  three  days  old  his  mother 
died,  and  the  father  died  when  the  child 
had  reached  the  age  of  nine  years.  On 
the  death  of  his  parents  he  was  placed 
in  the  care  of  an  aunt  (Elizaljeth  St.  Clair), 
and  he  remained  with  her  until  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age.  After  that  he  lived 
about  three  years  with  an  uncle  at  Cabot, 
\  ermont.  His  education  was  somewhat 
neglected  in  those  early  days,  ancf  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years  he  went  to  sea.  During 
the  four  years  that  followed  he  made  many 
trips  from  New  York,  a  number  of  voyages 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  two  trips  to  Liver- 
pool. England.  He  was  also  in  a  fishing 
fleet  off  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 
^^"hen  he  was  about  twenty  years  old  he 
became  a  boatman  on  the  Erie  canal  a:id 
followed  that  calling  for  seven  ^'ears.     In 


1850  he  made  a  trip  to  California,  .giving  i;y 
way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  the  vessel  was  Icist 
near  Acapulco,  and  the  passengers  were  de- 
tained there  about  \\\o  months.  Mr. 
Stevens  returned  to  New  York  in  1855,  and 
soon  after  again  rtarted  for  California,  this 
trip  taking  about  three  months.  He  remained 
in  California  about  five  years  this  time,  and 
engaged  in  mining,  with  fair  success.  He 
then  returned  to  New  York,  and  immediate- 
ly left  for  Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  in  i860. 
He  purchased  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  near 
Oregon.  .After  living  there  seven  years 
he  left  the  farm  to  his  son,  Weston  O. 
Stevens,  and   came  to   .-Vclams  county. 

Mr.  Stevens  settled  on  section  3 1 ,  near 
the  village  of  Easton,  in  1867,  where  he  has 
since  resided.  He  is  the  owner  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  e.xcellent  land,  en- 
hanced by  valuable  improvements,  a  fine 
residence  and  a  large  barn.  He  has  been  a 
prosperous  agriculturist,  and  his  thrift,  good 
judgment  and  honesty  ha\'e  won  for  him 
not  only  a  valuable  property,  but  the  con- 
fidence and  esteem  of  the  entire  community 
in  which  he  resides. 

Mr.  Stevens  enlisted  in  November,  1863, 
in  Company  I,  Second  Wisconsin  Cavalry. 
He  saw  severe  service  around  Vicksburg 
and  endured  much  privation  and  hardship. 
He  was  never  wanting  in  courage,  and  bore 
his  trials  without  complaint.  He  was  Imn- 
oraldy  discharged  in  January,  1865,  at 
.\ustin,  Te.xas. 

Decernber  i,  1840,  occurred  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Stevens  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann, 
daughter  of  Abraham  and  Elizabeth 
(Smith)  De  Remmer.  Their  marriage  was 
celebrated  in  Genesee  county.  New  York. 
To  this  union  three  children  have  been  liorn, 
named  in  order  of  birth  as  follows :  Weston 
O.,  born  October  12,  1843,  "ow  farming 
near  Glidden,  Iowa;  Charles  H.,  born  No- 
vember 17,  1848,  now  in  the  state  of  Wash- 
ir.gton;  George  W.,  born  Septem'ier,    1858, 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


467 


nenv  operating  the  homestead  farm.  Though 
a  man  of  many  and  varied  experiences,  and 
one  who  has  enchnx-d  great  hardship  at  vari- 
iius  times  in  his  hfe.he  retains  liis  mental  and 
physical  vigor  with  wonderful  tenacity.  His 
eye  is  still  bright  and  his  step  steady  and 
strong,  and  liis  four  score  years  seem  to  set 
lightly  upon  his  shoulders.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  G.  A.  R.  Post,  No.  122,  at  Friend- 
ship, and  in  political  faith  has  always  been 
a  Repulilican  since  the  party  was  organized. 


J.VAIES  HENRY  HASEY. 

James  Henry  Hasey,  the  present  chair- 
man of  the  town  board  of  Hamixlen,  Co- 
lumbia county,  and  one  of  the  most  active 
and  enterprising  young  farmers  to  be  found 
in  that  region,  is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
(Anderson)  Hasey,  and  was  born  in  Dan- 
ville, Wisconsin,   May  5,    1853. 

]\lr.  Hasey  comes  of  good  ancestry. 
His  father  is  a  native  of  \'ermont,  and  his 
mother  of  New  York.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, John  Hasey,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  his  ashes  fill  an  honoretl 
grave  in  the  cemetery  at  Columbus.  Mr. 
Samuel  Hasey  came  to  Wisconsin  In  1845, 
and  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
central  part  of  the  state.  He  located  in 
Dodge  county,  and  after  a  few  years  moved 
into  the  city  (.>f  Columbus.  Mr.  Hasev  was 
reared  a  farmer,  and  finding  a  two-hundred- 
forty-acre  tract  of  good  land  in  Hampden 
ujjon  the  market,  he  bought  it,  and  made  the 
family  home  there  for  many  years.  .Vbout 
1880  the  family  returned  to  Columlnis,  and 
their  residence  has  since  been  maintained 
in  that  thriving  city.  Three  children  have 
lieen  b< .rn  to  this  excellent  couple :  James, 
the  subject  of  this  article;  George  E.,  a 
mining  man,  whose  headquarters  are  at  Colo- 
rado Springs,  Colorado ;  and  Mary  Rhoda, 


n.ow  Mrs.  Erank  Austin,  of  Columbus.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.Haseyand  their  children,  alike,  com- 
mand the  friendship  of  the  entire  community 
by  their  strict  integrity,  unswerving  hon- 
esty anil  genial  and  hospitable  spirit.  They 
are  well  advanced  in  years  and  their  declin- 
ing days  are  brightened  by  the  high  standing 
of  their  children  and  the  warm  regard  of 
a  host  of  friends. 

James  Henry  Hasey  was  educated  at 
Dan\  ille,  and  attended  the  Jefferson  Liberal 
Institute.  He  accompanied  h'is  parents 
when  thev  settled  on  the  llam]3den  farm, 
and  when  they  returned  to  town  took 
charge  of  it,  presently  bought  it.  and  now 
owns  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  the  county. 
When  he  began  farming  for  himself  his 
principal  capital  was  a  stock  of  courage  and 
a  good  name.  He  has  not  feared  hard  work 
and,  being  saving,  out  of  the  passing  years 
he  has  won  a  success.  He  was  married  Oc- 
ti'ber  I,  1879,  to  Miss  Lizzie  McBurnie,  a 
daughter  of  Robert  and  Agnes  (Wilson) 
McBurnie,  natives  of  Scotland,  and  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Hampden.  Here  they 
lis-ed  and  died,  leaving  an  enviable  record 
of  honest  labor  antl  good  name.  ^Irs. 
Hasey"s  father  died  August  23,  18^7,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two,  and  her  mother 
March  21,  1899,  aged  eighty-two.  She 
has  proved  in  every  way  a  capable  associate 
with  her  husband  in  the  art  and  science  of 
life,  and  is  a  lady  of  many  amialile  and 
attractive  (|ualities.  She  is  a  member  of  a 
family  of  nine  children:  Mary  and  William 
are  living  in  Hampden ;  Alice  is  Mrs. 
Charles  Hoton,  of  Columbus;  Thomas  is  at 
home;  Agnes  married  Asa  Baker,  <jf  \m- 
boy,  ^Minnesota;  Christina  is  dead:  Robert 
is  dead;  Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  the  sul:>ject  of 
this  writing;  and  Margaret,  who  has  been 
dead  these  many  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hasey  are  themselves  the  parents  of  four 
children :  Ravmond,  I""red,  Mary  Belle  and 
George.     i\Ir.  Hasey  i^;  a  -^triiiig  Republican 


468 


COMPENDIUM    OP    BIOGRAPHY. 


and  from  time  to  time  has  been  called  t(j 
fill  many  of  the  town  oftlces.  lie  has  been 
clerk  of  the  school  board  for  many  years, 
and  is  mnch  interested  in  the  successful  ad- 
ministration of  the  educational  institutic)ns 
of  the  time.  He  is  popular  in  the  com- 
munity. 


FREDERIC  CHURCHILL  CCRTIS. 

Frederic  Churchill  Curtis  is  amoni;'  the 
most  esteemed  pioneers  of  the  town  of  Lnw- 
ville,  Columliia  county,  which  has  been  his 
home  since  1847.  He  is  a  progTessi\'e 
farmer  and  dairyman  and  is  now  li\-ing' 
in  practical  retirement  from  the  acti\e  labors 
of  life,  and  has  his  home  in  the  neighbor- 
hood known  as  Rocky  Run.  He  represents 
the  ninth  generation  of  his  family  in  this 
country,  and  traces  his  lineage  throug-h 
Reyolutionary  and  colonial  sources. 

Mr.  Curtis  was  born  in  Stockhridge. 
Massachusetts,  September  3,  1819,  and  is  a 
son  of  Har\-ey  and  Fanny  (  Warner)  Curtis. 
\\'hen  he  was  se\en  _\'ears  old  he  went  to 
li\'e  with  his  grandfather,  Lupton  Warner, 
who  died  eight  years  later.  He  was  a  strong 
and  sturdy  lad.  and  at  that  time  felt  able 
to  take  the  burden  of  his  own  support  upon 
himself.  At  Pittslield,  Massachusetts,  he 
learned  the  trade  of  harnessmaker.  with 
which  he  subsequently  combined  that  of 
saddlery  and  upholstery.  In  1839  he  went 
to  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  to  take  a  posi- 
tion as  foreman  in  a  large  saddlery  estab- 
lishment. For  a  portiou  of  the  }-ear  he 
was  to  tra\'el  through  the  south  as  a  sales- 
man. In  this  way  he  spent  the  next  seyen 
years,  and  becoming  utterly  disgusted  with 
sla\-ery  and  the  politics  of  the  south  he  re- 
turned to  Xew  England  in  1846.  He  did 
not  intend  to  remain  long  in  his  nati\'e  land, 
and  the  following  }-ear  he  arrived  in  Wis- 
consin, and  located  in  the  town  of  Lowville. 


The  country  was  yery  wild  at  that  tiiue, 
settlers  were  few  and  far  between,  but  hope 
was  high  and  hearts  were  strong.  He  built 
a  log  cabin,  and  then  started  back  for  the 
east,  where  he  was  engaged  to  be  married 
at  a  certain  time.  Money  which  was  due 
him  failed  to  arrive,  and  he  walked  to  Mil- 
waukee, a  distance  of  ninety  miles,  and 
worked  his  way  on  the  lakes  to  Buffalo. 
He  was  married,  as  he  deser\-ed  to  be,  and  in 
due  time  returned  to  Wisconsin,  began 
housekeeping  on  the  Lowxnlle  farm,  which 
has  continued  to  be  his  home  to  the  present 
time.  The  buildings  on  his  place  are  main- 
ly built  of  stone,  so  well  and  ilurably  con- 
structed that  they  will  long  remain  monu- 
ments to  this  energetic  pioneer. 

To  Mr.  Curtis  belongs  the  credit  of  put- 
ting down  the  first  drilled  well  in  Columbia 
county,  and  possibly  the  first  drilled  through 
rock  in  the  state.  It  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  feet  deep.  He  had  tools  made 
from  his  own  designs,  and  though  he  had 
ne\'er  seen  an}'  rock  drilling  done,  his  de- 
signs were  correct,  and  he  n()t  onl\'  drilled 
his  own  wells  but  many  others  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. These  tools  cost  him  alwut  twenty- 
h\'e  dollars,  a  \er_\-  considerable  outlay  in 
tliose  days,  but  it  was  money  wisely  expend- 
ed. Mr.  Curtis  became  in  time  the  (.nvner 
of  a  very  large  estate.  ]\luch  of  his  land, 
liowe\er,  he  has  sold,  but  still  holds  a  farm 
of  three  hundred  acres.  For  many  years  he 
gave  active  attention  to  dairying,  and  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  industry'  in  Co- 
lumbia county.  He  de\-ise(l  a  box  churn, 
and  began  the  manufacture  of  granular  but- 
ter. He  originated  the  idea  of  deep  setting 
for  raising  cream,  and  for  many  years  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  dairymen  of  the 
state.  He  was  a  frecjuent  lecturer  on  dairy- 
ir.g  at  farm  institutes  and  dairymen's  con- 
\entions.  He  never  patented  any  of  his  de- 
vices, Init  aroused  much  antipathy  on  the 
part  of  the  manufacturers  of  dairy  goods, 


F.  C.  CURTIS. 


MRS.  F.  CMRETias.  CURTIS. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


478 


by  his  simple  and  clear  statements  of  facts. 
The  governors  of  the  state  have  recog- 
nized his  ability  and  standing  by  appoint- 
ing him  on  four  different  occasions  to  serve 
as  representative  of  the  state  in  farmers' 
national  congresses,  held  at  St.  Paul,  Min- 
nesota; Fort  Worth,  Texas;  Boston,  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  Colorado  Springs,  Colorado. 
He  is  a  valued  contributor  of  many  farm 
journals,  and  he  is  a  recognized  authority 
on  dairy  matters. 

Mr.  Curtis  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Lea  \vere 
married  October  i8,  1847.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  George  and  Eleanor  ( Hollen- 
beckj  Lea,  and  was  a  lady  of  much  more 
than  the  usual  gifts  of  heart  and  mind.  She 
was  born  at  Athens,  New  \\)rk,  April  4, 
1823,  and  died  in  Rocky  Run  February  10, 
1892.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  York- 
shire, England,  and  during  the  war  of  1812 
was  pressed  into  the  English  navy.  When 
the  war  was  closed  he  was  released  and  set- 
tied  on  a  farm  near  Athens,  New  York, 
where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  was  a 
gentleman  of  high  character.  Eleanor  Hol- 
lenbeck  was  born  in  Athens,  New  York,  and 
her  ancestors  came  from  Holland.  Her 
family  is  one  of  the  best  known  along  the 
Hudson  ri\-er.  Air.  Curtis  is  the  father  of 
five  children,  (jue  of  whom  died  in  infancy; 
Anna  AL  is  Mrs.  Orx'is;  Emma  was  the 
wife  of  the  Re\'erend  A.  II.  Carman,  and 
dietl  at  Fairmont,  North  Dakota.  Jaiuiary 
10,  1899,  at  the  age  of  forty-live  years; 
Ella  C.  is  Mrs.  J.  L.  Farrington,  uf  Rocky 
Run;  and  Lizzie.  He  has  four  grandchil- 
dren. 

Mr.  Curtis  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Wisconsin  Dairymen's  Association  for  many 
3'ears,  and  a  lifelong  member  of  the  Colum- 
bia County  Agricultural  Society,  which  he 
helped  to  organize  in  185 1.  It  is  the  oldest 
agricultural  societ}-  in  the  state,   having  a 


continuous  existence.  He  was  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  old  Wisconsin  Agricultural  So- 
ciety until  it  was  disbanded.  He  was  chair- 
nian  of  the  meeting  at  Janesville,  Wiscon- 
sin, September  29,  1865,  that  organized  the 
State  Horticultural  Society.  He  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  was  nominated  for  state  senator 
i:i  1856,  and,  though  not  elected,  reduced  the 
Republican  majority  alxnit  one-half.  For 
several  years  he  was  on  the  county  board, 
and  served  as  chairman  on  se\'eral  occasions, 
though  a  large  majority  of  the  members  were 
opposed   to   him   in   jjolitics. 

As  noted  aliove,  the  Curtis  family  has 
been  native  to  the  soil  of  America  for  many 
generations.  The  first  representative  of  the 
family  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  was  Henry 
Curtis.  He  was  born  at  Stratford-on-Avon, 
England,  in  1621,  and  came  to  New  Eng- 
land in  1643.  He  was  the  first  person  to 
be  buried  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  died  November  30,  1661.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Abel  in  1645,  and  his  de- 
scendants in  a  direct  line  were  (2)  Nathan- 
iel; (3J  Samuel,  who  married  Lois  Went- 
worth;  (4)  Elnathan,  who  bore  the  title  of 
major;  (5)  Abel,  who  served  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary army  as  a  private,  and  died  in 
Stockbridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1829,  in  the 
eighty-ninth  year  of  his  age;  (6)  Harvey, 
v.ho  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts, 
and  died  in  Canaan,  New  York,  September 
5.  1852;  and  (7)  F.  C.  Curtis,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

The  mother  of  (.)ur  suliject,  Fanny  War- 
ner, was  a  direct  descendant  of  Elder 
Brewster,  wlii.)  came  o\er  in  the  famous 
"Mayflower,"  antl  wrote  the  compact  which 
became  the  constitution  of  the  new  colonv. 
He  died  at  Duxbur^•  Massachusetts.  ( 2  . 
Jonathan  Brewster  commanded  at  Sa\-- 
brook,  Connecticut;  (3)  Benjamin;  (4) 
Ruth,  the  wife  of  Thomas  .Vdgate;  (5) 
Matthew  Adgate;  (6)  Lucy  Adgate  mar- 
ried Thomas  Lord;    (7)   Anne    Lord  mar- 


474 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ried  Lupton  Warner;  (8)  Fanny  Warner 
married  Harvey  Curtis.  She  was  born  at 
Canaan,  New  York,  and  died  there  March 
31,  1 86 1,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 
Joseph  Lord  represented  the  fifth  genera- 
tion of  his  family  in  America.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  Thomas  Lord,  who  was  born 
in  England  in  i  ^85.  Rexerend  Benjamin 
Lord,  the  father  of  Joseph,  was  a  clergy- 
man, and  was  in  the  sacred  desk  on  Sunday 
morning  when  the  news  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington  reached  the  church.  Instead  of  a 
sermon  he  gave  a  patriotic  address.  Jo- 
sepli  Lord  was  also  a  descendant  of  Governor 
John  Haynes  and  Governor  George  Wyllis, 
of  Connecticut.  Lupton  Warner  represented 
the  sixth  generation  of  his  family  in  Amer- 
ica, his  ancestor,  William  Warner,  coming 
from  England,  and  settling  in  Ipswich,  ^^Lts- 
sachusetts,  in  1637.  He  was  born  in 
Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  in  1758,  and  was 
taken  to  Canaan,  New  York,  when  only  four 
years  old.  He  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary war  as  a  member  of  the  organization  of 
"Minute  Men."  His  second  wife,  Polly 
Beecher,  was  an  aunt  of  the  famous  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  A  nephew  of  Mr.  Curtis, 
Dr.  Fred  C.  Curtis,  of  Albany,  New  York, 
has  attained  a  world-wide  reputation  among 
medical  men  as  an  expert  on  numicipal  and 
state  health.  He,  some  years  ago,  in  a  re- 
port to  the  governor  and  legislature  of  New 
York,  pointed  out  plainly  the  causes  of  ty- 
phoid fever  at  Port  Jervis,  and  the  remedy 
therefor,  and  his  advice  being  followed  at 
that  and  other  points,  the  methods  proved 
eminently  successful.  He  was  a  ward  of 
Hon.  David  Davis,  of  Illinois,  senator  and 
supreme  judge,  who  took  great  pains  with 
the  young  man's  education,  and  was  reward- 
ed by  seeing  his  ward  attain  a  very  high 
place  in  his  chosen  profession. 

Portraits  of  Mr.  Curtis  and  his  most  es- 
timable and  honored  wife  are  presented 
upon  pages  of  this  volume  elsewhere,  and  will 


be  highly  appreciated  by  their  large  circle 
of  friends  and  acfjuaintances  throughout  the 
state. 


HON.     BENJAMIN     GREENE     PAD- 
DOCK,  Deceased. 

Young  men  in  the  past  have  often  been 
deterred  from  devoting  theiuselves  to  a 
business  life  Ijecause  of  the  wide-spread 
impression  that  such  a  life  yields  no  op- 
portunity for  the  display  of  genius.  The 
time,  however,  has  gone  by  when,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  business  man  takes 
secondary  place  to  the  lawyer,  doctor,  min- 
ister or  editor.  In  fact,  as  a  rule,  let  the 
business  man  be  equally  equipped  by  edu- 
cation and  natural  endowment  and  you  will 
find  lum  to-day  in  every  community  exert- 
ing a  wider  influence  and  wielding  a  larger 
power  than  a  man  of  equal  capacity  treatling 
other  walks  of  life.  The  "men  of  affairs" 
have  come  to  be  in  a  large  degree  the  men 
upon  whom  the  country  leans.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  pre-eminently  a  "man  of 
affairs." 

Mr.  Paddock,  who  had  long  been  a  resi- 
dent of  La\-alle,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin, 
was  born  in  Vienna,  Oneida  county.  New 
York,  Novemljer  10,  18^7,  and  was  a  son  of 
Daniel  and  Louise  (Eggleston)  Paddock, 
who  spent  their  entire  lives  there,  the  father 
being  engaged  in  business  as  a  carijenter  and 
joiner  and  also  manufacturing  wagons  to 
some  extent.  He  was  quite  a  successful  and 
prominent  business  man  and  served  as  jus- 
tice of  the  jjcace  at  \'ienna  for  many  years. 
'I'he  Paddock  family  is  of  English  origin 
and  was  founded  in  this  country  about  1630 
by  three  brothers,  one  of  whom  settled  in 
New  England,  the  second  in  the  mid- 
dle states,  and  the  third  in  the  south. 
The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject   was    a    soldier    of    the     Revolution- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


475 


ary  war  and  lost  a  leg  in  the  service. 
I'.oth  g-randfather  John  D.  Paddock  and 
grandfather  Eggleston  were  fanners  of 
Oneida  county,  New  York. 

Our  subject  comjjleted  his  education 
by  two  or  three  years'  attendance  at  the 
Whitesboro  Seminary,  and  began  his  busi- 
ness career  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  first  at  IMc- 
Connellsville  and  later  at  Vienna  and  Clin- 
ton, New  York.  Coming  to  Sauk  county, 
\\'isconsin,  in  1858,  he  embarked  in  mercan- 
tile business  on  his  own  account  at  Ironton, 
as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Keith,  &  Pad- 
dock. 7  hey  purchased  a  store  which  had 
been  established  there  three  years  before, 
and  for  several  years  conducted  the  only 
store  at  that  place,  remaining  in  business 
there  for  eighteen  years  and  hauling  all  their 
goods  by  wagon  from  Kilbourn,  a  distance 
of  eighteen  miles.  In  1873,  when  the  Chi- 
cago &  Northwestern  Railroad  was  built 
through  the  county,  they  opened  another 
store  at  La\alle,  and  for  some  time  con- 
ducted both.  The  firm  dissolved  partner- 
ship in  1876  and  divided  their  property, 
which,  besides  their  stores,  included  several 
farms.  For  some  years  they  had  operated 
stave  mills  at  Reedsburg  and  Lavalle,  and 
since  1872  ]\Ir.  Paddock  had  purchased 
railroad  ties  for  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  Company  at  Lavalle,  handling 
many  thousands  annually.  His  son,  H.  E. 
Paddock,  now  conducts  the  store  at  that 
place  and  enjoys  a  liberal  patronage. 

On  the  loth  of  January,  1859,  Mr. 
Paddock  married  Miss  Harriet  Ives,  a 
daughter  of  Silas  T.  and  Selinda  (Beach) 
Ives,  of  Clinton,  New  York,  where  the  fa- 
tlier  conducted  a  meat  market  for  many 
years.  The  mother  was  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut. Our,  subject  and  his  wife  had 
three  children:  Cora  Luella,  wife  of  Rich- 
ard Tennant,  Jr.,  of  Woodland  township, 
Sauk  county;  Herbert  Eugene,  who  is  now 
connected  with  the  store  at  Laxalle;  and  Car- 


rie Marie.  The  children  have  all  been  pro- 
vided with  excellent  school  privileges,  and 
the  daughter  is  an  artist  of  considerable 
talent,  especially  as  an  amateur  photog- 
rapher. 

Mr.  Paddock  was  a  member  of  Reeds- 
burg Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. ;  Reedsburg 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M. ;  St.  John's  Command- 
ery  K.  T.,  and  Wisconsin  Consistory,  Val- 
ley of  Milwaukee,  and  has  filled  all  the 
chairs  in  the  blue  lodge.  Since  supporting 
John  C.  Fremont  for  the  presidency,  in  1856, 
he  was  ever  a  stalwart  RepubKcan,  but  for- 
merly was  a"SiIas  Wright  Demccrat"while  in 
New  York.  For  a  number  of  years  he  served 
as  postmaster  at  Ironton,  and  later  filled  the 
same  office  at  Lavalle.  He  was  sheriff  of 
Sauk  county  for  two  years  from  January, 
1871  :  and  in  1889  ably  represented  his  dis- 
trict in  the  state  legislature.  He  proved 
a  most  efficient  and  popular  official,  who 
discharged  his  various  duties  with  a  prompt- 
ness and  fidelity  worthy  of  all  commenda- 
tion. His  career  had  ever  been  such  as  to 
warrant  the  trust  and  confidence  of  his  fel- 
low citizens,  and  he  stood  deservedly  high 
in  business,  political  and  social  affairs.  He 
died  March  2,  1900,  at  his  home  in  La- 
valle. 


MARTIN     G.     SPERBECK,     Deceased. 

In  the  death  of  this  gentleman  Adams 
county  lost  a  worthy  citizen  and  excellent 
business  man  and  farmer.  Pie  had  resided 
in  the  vicinity  of  Plainville  township  for 
over  a  cjuarter  of  a  century,  and  his  estate, 
upon  which  he  passed  his  last  days,  was  a 
model  one,  and  evidenced  careful  manage- 
ment and  painstaking  care.  He  had  erect- 
ed a  commodious  residence,  in  which  he  and 
his  family  were  to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a 
home,  when  the  angel  beckoned  him  to  the 
great  beyond,  ar.d  he  [lassed  away  fi-om  their 


476 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


midst.  He  was  well  known  throughout  the 
county  and  surrounding  country  as  a  man 
of  excellent  ability,  genial  nature  and  mental 
strength. 

Mr.  Sperbeck  was  born  in  Fairport, 
Monroe  county,  N.  Y.,  August  24,  1834,  and 
was  the  son  of  John  and  Betsy  Sperbeck,  of 
New  York.  He  went  to  Michigan  at  the 
age  of  twenty  years,  where  he  engaged  in 
the  lumber  business,  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin about  1865,  again  eng'aging  in  the 
handling  of  lumlter.  The  greater  part  of 
liis  life  passed  in  the  lumber  woods  of 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  antl  for  ten  years 
he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Goodyear  Lum- 
ber Company,  of  Marathon  county,  and  had 
the  entire  supervision  of  the  large  interests 
of  that  company.  His  services  were  of  the 
greatest  value  to  the  company,  and  his  judg- 
ment displayed  in  the  handling  of  the  men 
under  his  supervision  was  remarkable,  tie 
was  liked  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  con- 
tact, and  had  an  ease  of  manner  when  deal- 
ing with  employer  and  employe  alike.  He 
purchased  a  farm  of  one  Innnlred  acres  in 
Plainville  townsliii)  in  the  spring  of  1885. 
on  which  he  erected  commodious  and  sub- 
stantial dwellings  and  barns,  and  otherwise 
improved  the  proi)erty.  The  land  was 
cleared  for  cultivation  and  the  farm  fur- 
nishes an   ideal   home. 

In  ]86o  our  subject  was  married  ti> 
Sybil  Carter,  daughter  of  Lyman  S.  Carter, 
of  Dell  Prairie,  Wisconsin.  Thev  lived  to- 
gether until  1878,  when  she  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty-six  years.  They  had  no  children. 
Our  subject  was  married,  April  24,  1879, 
to  Lottie  L.  Atcherson,  daughter  of  Thomas 
LI.  and  Lorenda  (Stoddard)  Atcherson,  of 
Chesterfield,  New  Hampshire.  jMrs.  Sper- 
beck's  parents  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1853, 
locating  at  Plain\'ille,  Adams  count}-,  wjiere 
her  father  was  known  as  one  of  the  nn.ist 
progressive  farmers  of  the  vicinity.  He 
died  suddenly  April  7,  1885.  and  was  buried 


at  Plainx'ille.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Sper- 
beck still  survives,  and  makes  her  home 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  M.  G.  Sperbeck, 
of  Plainville.  She  is  remarkabh'  active, 
although  she  has  reached  the  advancetl  age 
of  eighty-five  years,  and  is  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  her  physical  and  mental  facul- 
ties, and  is  even  able  to  read  without  tlie 
aid  of  glasses.  Two  children  were  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sperbeck,  as  follows :  x\lva, 
born  May  27,  1880;  and  Fred,  born  April 
8,  1883.  Both  are  at  home  and  are  gaining 
a  liberal  education.  Mrs.  Sperbeck  resides 
on  the  homestead,  and  for  the  past  seven 
years  has  had  charge  of  the  postofhce  of 
Plain\-ille.  Mr.  Sperbeck's  death  was 
caused  by  heart  disease,  and  occurred  .\u- 
gust  24,  1888,  aged  fifty-four  years.  He 
I'lad  just  reached  the  meridian  of  life  and 
was  preparing  to  enjoy  his  declining  years 
w  hen  the  fatal  stroke  came.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent memlier  of  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
which  order  conducted  his  burial,  mem- 
liers  attending  from  the  lodges  at  Tomah, 
Sparta  and  Kilbourn.  Lie  had  taken 
the  Kniglit  Temjjlar  degree,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Consistory,  and  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows.  He  li\ed  an  honorable 
and  upright  life,  and  had  a  host  of  friends, 
who  mourned  his  death  and  felt  a  personal 
sense  of  loss. 


MILO  G.  TLXKER. 

Milo  G.  Tucker,  a  highly-esteemed  citi- 
zen and  able  business  man  of  Pardeeville, 
has  become  thoroughly  identified  with  the 
enterprise  and  thrift  of  Columbia  county, 
b.aving  been  a  resident  there  for  ovev  thir- 
tv-fi\e  vears.  He  was  born  in  Cheshire, 
Berkshire  county,  Massachusetts.  Novem- 
ber 8.  1843.  ^"'l  ^^"'is  a  son  of  Daniel  G.  and 
Eunice  E.   (Nye)   Tucker. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


477 


The  grandfatlier  of  our  subject,  Ephraim 
Tucker,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and 
was  a  man  of  remarkaljle  meclianical  in- 
genuity. He  died  at  Dalton,  Massacliusetts, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  Tlie  father  of 
our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1866  and 
settled  in  the  town  of  Spring\'ale,  near  the 
"Slab  School  House,"  where  he  lixxil  for 
some  years.  He  was  a  successful  farmer 
and  possessed  remarkal)le  executi\'e  ability. 
His  death  occurred  at  I'ox  I^ake,  W'iscnnsin, 
in  February,  1891,  when  he  had  readied 
the  age  of  seventy-si^  years.  The  mcther 
of  our  subject  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Colerain,  Franklin  county,  Massachusetts, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Nye,  who  was 
a  wealthy  farmer  of  his  day.  He  died  at 
Dalton,  Massachusetts,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years.  Our  subject's  mother  died  Oc- 
tober 17,  1866,  aged  forty-five  years  antl 
two  months.  ■ 

Milo  G.  Tucker  attended  the  ilistrict 
school  at  Dalton,  Massachusetts,  and  also 
a.  select  school  and  academy  at  Jonesville, 
New  York,  and  later  completed  a  commer- 
cial course  at  Eastman's  Business  College 
a!  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  graduating  in 
1864.  He  taught  in  Berkshire  Hills,  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  years,  antl  in  1866  came 
to  Wisconsin.  He  taught  both  the  district 
and  g-raded  schools  of  Pardeeville  and 
Cambria  for  several  years  and  about  1871 
entered  the  employ  of  E.  M.  Harney  in  the 
compilation  of  county  maps.  He  assisted 
in  making  maps  and  atlases  of  several  coun- 
ties in  Wisconsin  and  later  became  a  part- 
ner in  the  business  and  spent  about  ten 
years  at  this  work.  For  some  years  past 
he  has  conducted  a  fire-insurance  business 
in  connection  with  other  business  and  en- 
joys the  largest  business  of  the  kind  in  Par- 
deeville. He  is  notary  pubhc  and  conducts 
a  life  insurance,  real  estate  and  loan  business. 
Our  subject  was  married  October  22, 
1868,  to  Mary  E.  Briggs,  a  daughter  of  Jo- 


seph and  Margaret  (McGinley)  Briggs. 
Mrs.  Tucker's  father  was  born  near  Fred- 
erick City,  Maryland,  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin in  1852.  He  was  closely  identified  with 
the  history  of  old  Fort  Winnebago  and  was 
a  master  mechanic  in  the  line  that  he  repre- 
sented and  died  at  Eau  (Claire,  Wisconsin, 
in  1884,  aged  seventy-six  years.  Her  mother 
was  of  Sc(jtch  lineage,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  I-llizaljeth  McGinley. 
Mrs.  Tucker's  mother  tlied  at  Medina,  Ohio, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.  Mrs.  Tucker 
was  born  at  Pittsl)urg,  Pennsylvania,  and 
came  to  Wisconsin  about  1852.  One  son 
has  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker, 
Louis  J.,  who  is  a  prominent  teacher  of  Co- 
lumbia county  and  the  state.  He  was  assist- 
ant sergeant  at  arms  in  the  Wisconsin  state 
Republican  convention  in  1900.  Mrs. 
Tucker  had  three  brothers  in  the  Union 
army  during  the  Civil  war,  one  of  whom, 
James,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Antietam. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Relief 
Corps,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  all 
work  pertaining  to  that  organization.  Our 
subject  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  of  wdiich  denomina- 
tion Mr.  Tucker  has  been  a  member  since  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  is  an  active 
worker  in  that  church  and  is  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary character  and  most  highly  honored 
by  his  fellows.  In  political  sentiment  he  is 
a  Republican,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for 
Abraham  Lincijln  on  his  twenty-first  birth- 
day in  1864.  He  has  filled  the  important 
ofifices  in  Wyocena  township,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Pardee  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 


GEORGE  DEAVOLD  APPEL. 

George  Deavold  Appel  is  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  now  liv- 
ing retired  near  Reedsburg.     Although  born 


478 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


on  the  otlier  side  of  the  Atlantic,  he  is  thor- 
oughly American  in  thoug'ht  and  feeling, 
and  that  he  is  patriotic  and  sincere  in  his 
love  for  the  stars  and  stripes  was  manifest 
hy  his  service  in  the  Uni(;in  army  during 
the  Civil  war.  He  \vas  Ijorn  near  Stras- 
burg,  Bavaria,  Germany,  March  29,  1841, 
a  son  of  Deavold  and  Maria  Elizabeth 
(Fotn"e)  Appel.  The  father  was  also  born 
near  the  same  place  and  was  drowned  in 
the  Rhine  in  1848.  For  thirty  years  or  more 
he  served  in  the  French  army,  being  an 
officer  part  of  the  time,  and  he  was  with 
Napoleon  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  where 
he  was  shot  through  both  legs.  After  his 
recovery  he  was  employed  as  drill  master, 
etc.,  in  Italy  and  elsewhere.  The  paternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject  also  served  as 
an  officer  in  the  French  army  most  of  his 
life.  The  mother  was  born  in  France,  just 
across  the  Rhine  from  Strasburg,  Ger- 
many, and  was  a  daughter  of  a  farmer. 
She  came  to  tlie  United  States  in  1849,  ^'''^^ 
died  the  same  year  in  I^ennsylvania,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six  years. 

George  D.  Appel,  of  this  review,  is  the 
youngest  in  a  family  of  ten  children,  two 
of  whom  were  drowned  in  Germany,  but  the 
others  all  came  to  America.  He  was  in  his 
ninth  year  when  the  family  crossed  the 
ocean  and  took  u\)  their  residence  in  Ly- 
coming county.  I-'ennsylvania,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  after  the  opening 
of  the  Civil  war.  In  October,  1862,  he  of- 
fered his  services  to  his  adopted  country, 
enlisting  in  Company  I-C,  Seventeenth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  which  was  as- 
signed to  the  department  of  the  Mississippi, 
under  command,  first,  of  General  McPher- 
son  and,  later,  of  General  Blair,  of  the  Sev- 
enteenth Army  Corps.  He  participated  in 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  was  with  Sher- 
man on  his  Atlanta  campaign.  After  the 
capture  of  .\tlanta  he  was  on  detached  duty 
guarding  a  wagon  train  from  Iluntsville  to 


Atlanta,  and  in  a  skirmish  with  Confeder- 
ate cavalry  about  twentv  miles  from  the 
latter  city,  he  was  knocked  from  a  wagon 
by  a  bursting  shell  and  the  wagon  passed 
over  his  body.  He  was  first  sent  to  the  hos- 
pital at  Louisville,  Kentucky;  later  to  New 
Albany  and  Evansville,  Indiana;  was  next 
transferred  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis, 
Missouri ;  and  from  there  to  Madison,  Wis- 
consin, where  he  was  finally  discharged  on 
account  of  disability  in  March,  1865.  He 
has  ne\-er  fully  recovered  from  his  injuries, 
which  still  occasion  him  considerable  suffer- 
ing- 

In  the  fall  of  1868  Mr.  Appel  settled  on 
a  farm  in  Washington  township,  Sauk  coun- 
ty, where  he  successfully  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  until  the  fall  of  1892,  when 
he  rented  the  place  and  has  since  li\ed  re- 
tired from  active  labor  in  the  suburbs  of 
Reedsburg.  He  was  a  thorough  and  sys- 
tematic farmer  and  prosperity  crowned  his 
well  directed  efforts. 

On  the  2 1st  of  Ajjril,  1866,  was  cele- 
brated the  marriage  of  Mr.  Appel  and  Miss 
Miranda  Grover,  who  was  born  in  Carding- 
ton,  Morrow  county,  Ohio,  though  then  a 
part  of  Delaware  county,  and  came  to  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1861.  Of  the  three 
children  born  of  this  union,  one  died  in 
childhood.  Those  living  are  Ldysses  S.,  who 
is  now  engaged  in  farming  on  the  homestead 
in  Washington  township.  He  married  Lucy 
Sutton,  who  died  at  the  birth  of  their  first 
child  in  1 89 1.  He  again  married  in  1895, 
his  second  wife  being  Miss  Pearl  Stroud. 
They  have  two  children,  Florence  Lucile  and 
George  Irving:  and  Florence  N.,  hving  with 
her  parents.  Mrs.  Appel's  parents  were 
William  and  Maria  Grover,  and  the  father, 
who  was  a  farmer  and  shoemaker  by  occu- 
pation, died  in  Morrow  count}',  Ohio.  Later 
the  mother  came  to  AVisconsin,  and  passed 
away  in  fronton  township,  Sauk  county,  in 
December,    1872.   at  the    age    of    fift3'-two 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


479 


years.  Her  grandfather,  John  Rol)inson,  a 
native  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  came  to  this 
country  in  colonial  days  and  fought  for 
American  independence  in  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  He  died  at  Pompey,  New  York, 
\\lien  nearly  eighty-eight  years  of  age.  His 
father  participated  in  the  trouhles  between 
England  and  Scotland.  \\'hile  a  younsj- 
iTian  he  had  been  a  fellow  student  of  one  of 
the  oiificers  of  the  British  army,  and  as  a 
token  of  their  peri)etual  friendship  they  e.K- 
changed  rings.  This  officer  commanded  an 
expedition  sent  to  capture  hini,  but  he  es- 
caped by  chmbing  from  the  window  into  a 
treetop  nearby,  and  his  famil\-  were  spared 
r.pon  exhibiting  the  ring. 

Mrs.  Appel  and  her  daughter  are  earnest 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
the  latter  is  connected  with  the  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution.  Socially  our  subject 
holds  membership  in  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
being  a  Knight  Templar  Mason ;  also  be- 
longs to  the  Knights  of  Malta  and  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic ;  and  for  some 
years  was  also  connected  with  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Most  of 
his  life  he  has  afBliated  with  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  of  recent  years  he  has  voted 
independently.  He  has  been  called  upon  to 
fill  nnmerous  township  offices  of  honor  and 
trust,  and  as  justice  of  the  peace  usually  suc- 
ceeded in  prevailing  upon  litigants  to  settle 
their  differences  without  recourse  to  law. 
In  this  way  he  lost  many  a  fee,  but  gained 
what  is  far  more  valuable — the  friendship 
and  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens. 


J.  MONROE  BUSHNELL. 

J.  Jklonroe  Bushnell,  a  leading  and  in- 
fluential citizen  of  Wyocena,  Columbia 
county,  represents  one  of  the  pioneer  fam- 
ilies of  that  village,  and  one  which  has  been 
instrumental  in  moulding  much  of  the  public 
sentiment  prevailing  there. 


Our  subject  was  born  near  the  village 
of  \\S'ocena,  Columbia  county,  W^isconsin, 
July  14,  185 1,  and  was  a  son  of  Daniel 
Spencer  and  Sarah  Ann  (Brown)  Bush- 
nell. His  father  was  a  native  of  Waitsfield. 
Vermont.  His  ancestors,  h'rancis  and  Maria 
PiUshnell,  left  London  in  the  ship  "Planter" 
in  June,  1635,  and  settled  near  Saybrook, 
Connecticut.  Our  snbject  represents  the 
eighth  generation  (jf  their  descendants. 
Their  p(_)sterity  is  widely  scattered  at  the 
present  time.  Am(_)ng  those  who  have 
achieved  distinction  may  be  named  Governor 
Bushnell,  of  Ohio,  and  Rev.  Asa  Bushnell, 
a  noted  Presbyterian  divine  of  Saybrook, 
Connecticut.  Members  of  the  family  were 
in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  grandfa- 
ther of  our  subject,  Francis  Bushnell,  served 
in  the  war  of  181 2.  He  was  then  living 
near  Ticonderoga,  New  York,  and  heard 
the  firing  while  in  church  and  with  other 
members  of  the  congregation  seized  his 
musket  and  joined  in  the  c<5nflict.  He  was 
a  sailor  in  early  life  and,  later,  a  farmer,  and 
he  reared  a  famil_y  of  eight  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Fie  attained  the  age  of  over 
eighty-two  years.  Two  sons,  Daniel  S.  and 
William  B.,  became  residents  of  Wyocena, 
Wisconsin.  The  father  of  our  subject  left 
home  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  and  went 
to  Jefferson  county.  New  York,  and  from 
thence  in  1848  drove  overland  to  Walworth 
cc)untv,  W'isconsin,  taking  his  wife  and  four 
children  thither.  In  the  fall  of  1848  he 
settled  at  Wyocena,  where  he  spent  the  bal- 
ance of  his  life.  He  died  September  8, 
1887,  aged  eighty- four  years.  He  was  a 
successful  farmer  of  thrifty  habits  and  was 
a  stanch  Republican  from  the  organization 
of  the  party.  He  was  reared  in  the  Presby- 
terian faith,  but  when  a  young  man  became 
a  Universalist  and  assisted  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Universalist  Society  at  Wyocena 
and  contributed  to  the  sui)|)ort  of  that  de- 
nomination until  his  death.     The  mother  of 


480 


COMPISNDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


our  subject  died  April  13,  1894,  aged  sev- 
enty-three years.  She  was  1)orn  in  Shingle 
Creek,  St.  Lawrence  county,  New  York, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  William  Brown,  pro- 
prietor of  a  saw-mill  there.  Our  subject's 
father  was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  being 
Ann  Rogers,  who  died  in  Jefferson  county, 
New  York,  leaving  three  children,  who 
were  as  follows:  Charles  R.,  now  residing 
in  Santa  Cruz,  California,  and  is  a  retired 
civil  engineer;  Ophelia,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Amasa  Carpenter,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-eight  years ;  Maroa,  now  Mrs.  L. 
J.  Smith,  of  Pardeeville,  Wisconsin.  The 
following  are  the  children  of  the  second  mar- 
riage: J.  Monroe,  our  subject;  Clovis  died 
in  1864,  while  in  the  U.  S.  service  in  Com- 
pany B,  Fortieth  Wisconsin  \'olunteer  In- 
fantry, of  typhoid  fever  at  ]\Iemphis, 
Tennessee;  Marietta,  now  Mrs.  G.  W. 
James,  of  Neillsville,  Wisconsin ;  and  Ella 
widow  of  N.  B.  Mains,  of  Abbottsford,  Wis- 
consin. 

J.  Monroe  Bushnell  attended  the  public 
schools  at  Wyocena  and  spent  some  time 
in  the  Oshkosh  Normal  School  and  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years  went  west  and  spent 
four  years  in  travel,  and  afterward  resumed 
his  studies  at  Oshkosh  and  then  taught 
about  six  years,  four  years  in  Columbia 
county,  and  was  principal  at  Wyocena,  Ran- 
dolph and  Poynette  successively.  He  spent 
four  years  as  a  contractor  on  the  construc- 
tion of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  R.  R.,  in  Min- 
nesota and  Dakota,  and  also  on  the  B  C. 
R.  &  N.  R.  R.  He  spent  one  year  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  in  Cannon  Falls,  Minnesota ; 
since  the  fall  of  1889  he  has  spent  most 
of  the  time  as  traveling  representative  for  a 
firm  of  manufacturing  stationers,  and  has 
traveled  through  Wisconsin  and  also  in 
other  states.  He  owns  the  original  home- 
stead farm  and  has  made  other  investments 
in  real  estate. 

Our  subject  was  married  June  12,  1874, 


to  Jennie  M.  Scott,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Caroline  Scott,  of  Rio,  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Bushnell  died  June  5,  1880,  aged  twenty- 
seven  \ears.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Uni- 
\ersalist  church  of  Wyocena.  Mr.  Bush- 
nell was  married  to  Ida  A.  Westcott  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1884.  Mrs.  Bushnell  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  A.  J.  and  Celia  A.  Westcott,  of  River 
Falls,  \Visconsin.  She  was  born  in  St.  Law- 
rence county.  New  York.  Mr.  Bushnell  is 
a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  is  the  state  consul  for  Wis- 
consin. He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Rio 
Lodge,  No.  43,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  also  Fulton  Lodge,  No.  i,  of 
Fulton,  Illinois,  of  the  Mystic  Workers  of 
the  World.  He  is  serving  his  second  term 
as  chairman  of  the  town  board  of  Wyocena 
and  in  political  matters  of  the  Republican 
party  takes  a  hearty  interest  and  has  been 
delegate  twice  to  state  conventions  of  his 
party. 


SHELDON  W^\TSON  RUDD,  Deceased. 

Sheldon  \\'atson  Rudd,  deceased,  for- 
merly of  Reedsburg,  was  for  many  years  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  respected  citizens 
of  Sauk  county.  He  w^as  born  in  Willough- 
by.  Lake  count}',  Ohio,  March  2,  1828,  and 
passed  to  his  rest  February  8,  1900.  Within 
these  limits  is  measured  a  noble  life.  He 
was  the  son  of  David  and  Julia  (Bo3'ce) 
Rudd.  They  were  married  in  Ohio,  though 
both  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  aiid 
brought  to  the  making  of  their  western  home 
the  thrift  and  character  of  the  east.  They 
were  intelligent  and  public-spirited,  inter- 
ested in  every  move  and  measure  that  made 
for  the  general  good.  The  paternal  Rudd 
was  born  at  Beckett,  Massachusetts,  and  was 
of  Scotch  lineage.  He  came  west  when  a 
young  man,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
the  W^illoughby  settlement,  where  he  lived 


SHELDOH  WATSOH  RUDD.    (Deceased  ) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


483 


on  a  farm  and  did  mucli  to  lielp  in  the  trans- 
formation of  tlie  wilderness  into  a  gartlen 
of  civilisation.  lie  removed  ttj  this  slate  in 
NS54.  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  the  present 
city  of  Reedshnrg,  and  there  he  lived  until 
his  death  in  1865.  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  Mrs.  Julia  Rudd  survived 
her  husband  some  seven  years,  and  died  in 
1S72.  She  was  born  in  Blanford,  Massa- 
cliuselts,  and  when  quite  young  was  brought 
by  her  parents  to  Lorain  county,  Ohio, 
'iiiere  her  father,  David  Boyce,  spent  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life,  and  died  when 
o\-er  eighty  years  of  age.  He  served  in  the 
American  army  during  the  war  of  1812,  and 
was  always  a  good  neighbor  and  an  upright 
man. 

Sheldon  Watson  Rudtl  spent  his  early 
life  on  the  Ohio  farm,  and  grew  to  man- 
hood under  the  parental  eye.  \\'hen  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  left  the 
old  h(3mestead  to  seek  his  fortune  in  what 
was  then  the  w'ild  and  unbroken  regions  of 
Wisconsin.  He  drove  seven  head  of  cattle 
through  from  Ohio  to  Walworth  county, 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state,  where 
he  traded  his  cattle  for  two  yoke  of  oxen. 
He  had  made  the  long  journey  on  horseback, 
and  showed  a  sturdy  physique  and  a  ready 
mind.  He  found  a  home  in  Sauk  county, 
w  here  he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Excelsior  township.  Here 
was  his  home  for  many  years,  and  here  he 
made  a  name  as  a  model  farmer  and  an 
honorable  man.  Following  his  coming  to 
this  state  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  three 
years  in  charge  of  a  crew  of  loggers  at 
Kudd's  Mills,  getting  out  timbers  for  the 
mills  at  that  point  under  the  charge  of  his 
brothers. 

Air.  Rudd  was  a  gallant  soldier  in  the 
Union  army,  and  did  good  service  in  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty  and  the  Union. 
He  enlisted  February  20,  1864,  and  was  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  until  the  great 


Rebellion  was  finally  crushed.  He  was 
assigned  to  Company  B,  Thirty-sixth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  and  joined  his 
ciimmand  at  the  close  of  the  liattle  of  Sixitt- 
syhania.  He  participated  in  every  subse- 
quent engagement  in  which  his  regiment 
luire  a  hand,  and  made  a  good  record.  He 
was  in  the  closing  scenes  at  Appomattox,  and 
with  swelling  heart  marched  in  the  Grand 
Review  at  Washington.  He  was  one  of 
seven  men  wdio  enlisted  in  Madison  on  the 
same  day,  and  of  these  seven  three  were 
killeil,  one  badly  wounded,  one  died  in  the 
rebel  prison,  and  one  from  disease.  Mr. 
Rudd  wiis  the  only  one  of  the  seven  who  re- 
turned home  ali\e  and  uninjured. 

Mr.  Rudd  was  married  in  March,  1858, 
to  Miss  Ann  Tator,  of  Reedsburg.  She  was 
born  in  New  York,  and  her  father  died  at 
Delavan,  Wisconsin,  during  her  childhood. 
After  his  death  her  mother  settled  in  Reeds- 
burg. Mrs.  Rudd  died  in  August,  1864. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  left  two  children :  Louis  D.,  an 
extensive  farmer  of  Excelsior  township,  and 
Julia  L,  formerly  a  stenographer  in  the  ofifice 
of  Governor  Scofield,  of  Madison,  now  the 
wife  of  J.  W.  Hill,  of  Richland  Center,  Wis- 
consin. Mr.  Rudd's  second  marriage  was 
made  in  1871  with  Miss  Emily  Cady,  of 
Buchanan.  She  died  in  1884,  leaving  one 
son,  Harry.  He  passed  away  in  1894,  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-two. 

Mr.  Rudd  was  conspicuous  for  his  genial 
disposition  and  affable  manners,  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  public  affairs.  He  was 
deeply  interested  in  religious  matters,  and 
helped  to  found  the  Congregational  church 
ol  I\eedsburg,  to  which  he  was  always  a 
liberal  contributor.  Li  1893  he  sold  his 
farm  and  moved  into  the  city  to  spend  his 
remaining  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
H.  A.  Tator  Post,  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  named  in  honor  of  his  wife's 
brotlier,  a  gallant  member  of  the  Nineteenth 


484 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Wisconsin  \"ulunteer  Infantry.  Mr.  Riuld 
was  an  ardent  Republican  and  a  devoted 
friend  of  education.  He  held  various  im- 
portant local  offices,  and  for  two  years  was 
chairman  of  Excelsior  township.  Long  will 
he  be  remembered  by  a  host  of  friends  for  his 
many  admirable  qualities  and  kindly  spirit. 
A  portrait  of  him  appears  on  another  page 
of  this  volume. 


FRANCIS   MARIOX   ROUS. 

The  calling  to  which  this  gentleman  has 
devoted  his  attention  is  one  of  the  honorable 
pursuits  of  men,  and  he  has  made  a  suc- 
cess through  the  exercise  of  the  characteris- 
tic features  of  the  vocation,  perseverance, 
honesty,  industry  and  kindness.  His  home 
is  situated  on  section  20,  in  Monroe  town- 
ship, and  Adams  county  can  boast  no  pleas- 
anter  home  or  better  improved   farm. 

Mr.  Rous  was  born  in  Otsego  county, 
New  York,  May  10,  1854,  and  was  the  son 
of  Israel  C.  and  Margaret  (Gardner)  Rous. 
His  father  was  a  cooper  by  trade  and  also 
followed  farming.  He  worked  at  his  trade 
in  Lawrence,  New  York,  and  in  1856  came 
to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  and  located  in 
Preston  township.  He  purchased  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  wild  land,  and  now  has  about 
one  hundred  acres  under  cultivation.  He 
was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town- 
ship, and  still  resides  on  his  homestead,  and 
er.gages  in  general  farming.  He  has  reached 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  and 
enjoys  good  health,  while  his  estimable  wife 
is  eighty-three  years  of  age,  and  is  pos- 
sessed of  good  health.  Eight  children  were 
born  to  them,  of  whom  our  subject  was  the 
seventh  in  order  of  birth. 

Francis  M.  Rous  attended  school  and 
later  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he 
reached  his  majority,  when  he  moved  into 
Big  Flats  township,  and  engaged  in  farm- 


ing there  about  three  years.  He  then  re- 
moved to  Monroe  township,  and  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  on  sec- 
tion 20,  which  is  his  present  home.  He  has 
about  hfty  acres  under  cultivation  and  has 
erected  a  substantial  and  commodious  dwell- 
irg  and  barns,  and  engages  in  general  farm- 
ing. His  farm  is  nut  among  the  largest  in 
the  vicinity,  but  for  its  size  is  one  of  the  best, 
and  a  \-isit  to  the  estate  would  at  once  con- 
vince one  of  his  thrift  and  the  care  exercised 
in  its  management. 

Mr.  Rous  was  married  February  22, 
i-S^T,,  to  Charlotte  Gleason,  daughter  of  Ira 
and  Eunice  Gleason,  of  Monroe  township. 
Ira  Gleason  was  a  farmer  and  removed  with 
his  family  from  Cattaraugus  county,  New 
"^'ork,  to  Adams  county  in  the  winter  of 
1856.  He  settled  down  to  farming,  in  which 
he  prospered  and  continued  during  his  life. 
He  died  in  1864,  his  wife  preceding  him  to 
the  grave  three  years.  They  had  three  chil- 
dren :  Charlotte,  Harriet  and  Eunice.  The 
father  married  a  second  wife,  Mary  Bassett, 
by  whom  he  had  two  children,  Ira  E.  and 
Mariette.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rous  are  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  as  follows :  Charles 
L.,  residing  in  Mellon,  Wisconsin;  Clement 
R.;  E.  Winifred;  Edna  AI. ;  B.  Harry;  Nye 
M.;  and  Mattie  A, 

Mr.  Rous  is  a  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America  and  is  at  present  clerk 
of  the  Spring  Creek  Lodge  of  that  order. 
In  political  faith  he  is  a  Republican  and 
takes  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  his 
party,  and  has  attended  as  delegate  numer- 
ous conventions  of  the  p^frty.  He  has  hlled 
various  offices  of  trust  in  his  township,  and 
is  at  present  chairman  of  the  township 
board,  and  has  been  clerk,  aside  from  other 
positions.  He  wields  an  influence  for  good 
which  is  felt  throughout  his  county,  and 
his  name  would  frequently  occur  in  a  his- 
tory of  that  vicinity.  He  is  ever  looking  to 
the  better  interests  of  his  communitv,  and, 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


485 


xilthougli  lie  does  not  seek  public  i^.\or,  is 
well  known  and  enjo}-s  an  excellent  reputa- 
tion. 


JAMES  E.  JONES. 

James  E.  Jones,  editor  and  proprietor  of 
the  "Kilbourn  Mirror-Gazette,"  is  a  man  of 
prominence  in  his  profession.  He  was  born 
in  Lynchburg,  A'irginia,  in  1849,  and  was 
the  son  of  Archibald  ]\I.  and  Susan  M. 
(Daly)  Jones. 

James  E.  Jones  was  the  youngest  of  a 
family  consisting  of  three  sons  and  three 
daughters,  and  attended  school  at  Lynch- 
burg and  other  places  in  his  native  state. 
He  enlisted  in  September,  1864,  in  Company 
C,  Second  Colorado,  at  Kansas  City,  where 
]ie  had  gone  for  the  purpose  of  enlistment. 
He  served  about  one  year  on  garrison  duty 
and  frontier  service  in  Kansas  and  Arkan- 
sas. In  December,  1866,  he  enlisted  at  St. 
Louis,  in  the  regular  army,  serving  hve 
years  in  the  Third  L'^nited  States  Cavah}- 
Band,  playing  different  instruments.  He 
spent  six  more  years  in  government  topo- 
graphical work,  covering  all  states  and  ter- 
ritories from  the  Missouri  river  t»  the  Pa- 
cific coast.  He  then  went  to  Chicago,  where 
he  engaged  in  journalism,  as  proof  reader 
on  the  "Daily  News"  for  some  time,  and 
at  other  special  work  on  different  journals, 
and  in  1884  came  to  Kilbourn,  and  estab- 
lished the  "Mirror-Gazette,"  which  he  has 
since  published.  The  "Mirror"  was  estab- 
lished in  1856,  in  the  first  building  ever 
erected  in  the  town.  The  paper  flourished 
for  a  time,  and  when  our  subject  took  charge 
of  it  and  became  proprietor  he  revived  it 
and  soon  after  combined  it  with  the  "Ga- 
zette." It  has  a  wide-spread  circulation,  and 
is  considered  one  of  the  brightest  exchanges 
of  the  newspai)er  world.  Mr.  Jones  is  orig- 
inal in  his  writing  and  possesses  a  remark- 


able degree  of  distinctiveness  of  thought  and 
language,  and  many  of  his  articles  are  copied 
by  leading  journals  of  the  state  and  nation. 
Our  subject  was  married  in  1888  to 
Anna  Bauer,  daughter  of  Fred  and  Helen 
Bauer,  of  Kilbourn.  One  daughter  has 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  upon  whom 
they  have  bestowed  the  name  of  Vera.  Mr. 
Jones  has  been  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  church  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  takes  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  that 
denomination,  and  especially  the  choir  work. 
He  is  active  and  prominent  in  secret  society 
circles,  holding  membership  in  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen,  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  John  Gillespie 
Post,  No.  51,  G.  A.  R.  In  the  last  named 
he  was  commander  three  years,  adjutant  six 
years  and  chief  of  staff  for  the  department  of 
Wisconsin  for  two  years,  and  an  aide  on 
the  national  staff  for  one  year  under  Com- 
mander Weissert,  of  Milwaukee.  He  is  ever 
ready  to  promote  any  movement  for  the  ad- 
vancement and  upl.iuilding  of  the  town  of 
Kilbourn  and  his  county  and  state,  and  just 
ly  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  minds 
of  the  people  of  Columbia  county. 


AMOS  COTTINGTON. 

Amos  Cottington  was  for  many  years 
one  of  the  leading  and  representative  farm- 
ers of  Winfield  townsliip,  Sauk  county,  \Vis- 
consin,  but  is  now  retired  from  the  active 
labors  of  life  and  is  enjoying  a  well  earned 
rest.  He  was  Ixjrn  in  Sussex,  England,  De- 
cember 14,  1838,  and  is  a  son  of  Jesse  and 
Rebecca  (Forward)  Cottington,  also  na- 
tives of  Sussex,  who  were  among  the  most 
esteemed  pioneers  of  Sauk  county.  On 
crossing  the  Atlantic  in  1841  the  family  first 
settled  in  Madison  county,  New  York.  In 
his  native  land  the  father  followed  farming, 
making  a  specialtv  of  hop  culture,  in  which 


486 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


branch  of  agriculture  lie  continued  to  en- 
gage during  his  residence  in  Xew  York.  In 
October,  1851,  he  came  to  Sauk  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  settled  on  section  26,  \\'infield 
township.  To  him  is  due  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing first  introduceil  the  culture  of  hops  in 
this  county.  The  next  year  after  his  ar- 
rival here  he  imported  roots  from  Water- 
ville,  New  York,  and  cultivated  the  crop 
successfully  for  manii-  years,  both  before  and 
after  the  crisis  in  the  market,  which  oc- 
curred in  1868.  ^lany  (jf  the  first  hop  yards 
in  the  vicinit}'  are  propogated  from  roots 
Vvhich  he  furnished.  He  also  gave  some  at- 
tention to  improving  the  wild  hops  which 
grew  in  profusion  about  the  woods,  but  did 
not  obtain  satisfactory  results  therefrom. 
Besides  his  own  crops,  he  dealt  more  or  less 
in  hops  and  filled  large  contracts  at  Port- 
age and  Madison,  the  price  fluctuat- 
ing from  six  to  sixty  cents  per  pound. 
He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his  community. 
a  stanch  Republican  in  politics  and  filled  the 
principal  offices  in  W'infield  township.  He 
died  at  Webster  City,  Iowa,  May  26,  1893, 
aged  seventy-seven  years,  but  his  wife,  who 
was  born  in  Ticehurst,  Sussex,  England, 
May  26,  181 5,  is  still  living  in  Reedsburg 
and  is  cjuite  active  for  one  of  her  years. 

In  the  family  of  this  worthy  couple  were 
four  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom 
three  sons,  including  our  subject,  were  sol- 
diers of  the  Civil  war.  Levi,  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Webster  City,  Iowa,  was  a  member 
of  Company  F,  Third  Wisconsin  Ca^'alry 
Jeremiah  P.,  of  Dallas,  Brown  county,  Wis- 
con,  enlisted  in  1861,  in  Company  B,  Fourth 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  later  known 
as  the  Fourth  Cavalry,  and  served  all  through 
the  struggle.  The  other  son  is  Robert,  a 
physician  of  Bloomer,  AVisconsin ;  and  the 
daughters  were  Mrs.  Hannah  Ellinwood; 
Agnes,  who  married  O.  F.  Gregory  and  died 
in  Carthage,  Missouri,  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Spaulding,  of  Webster  Cit)',  Iowa. 


Amos  Cottington  came  with  his  parents 
to  Sauk  count}-,  Wisconsin,  in  1855,  and  was 
reared  in  much  the  usual  manner  of  farmer 
lads  in  his  day.  He  recei\-ed  l)ut  linnted  ed- 
ucational advantages,  but  always  made  the 
most  of  his  opportunities  and  has  become  a 
well-informed  man.  He  purchased  a  farm 
adjoining  his  father's,  where  he  still  owns 
one  hundred  anti  sixty  acres,  having  sold  a 
forty-acre  timber  tract  which  formerly  be- 
longed to  it.  For  many  j-ears  he  was  a  \-ery 
strong,  robust  man,  Init  was  injured  Ijy  the 
kick  of  a  horse  several  years  since,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  amputation  of  his 
right  foot. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  1862,  Mr.  Cot- 
tington was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Elmira  M.  Fish,  who  was  born  in  Albany 
county.  New  York,  July  19,  1836,  and  died 
January  17,  1896.  Her  parents  were  Elisha 
and  Polly  (King)  Fish,  the  former  also  a 
native  of  Albany  county,  N.  Y.,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Her  mother 
lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years  and 
twenty  da}-s.  To  our  subject  and  his  wife 
were  born  two  children :  Orna  E.,  of  Win- 
field  township;  and  Edna  E.,  now  ^Mrs.  C. 
S.  Powell,  of  the  same  township. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  Mr.  Cottington 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  Fifty-first  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  remained  in  the  ser- 
vice until  hostilities  ceased.  He  is  now  a 
member  of  H.  A.  Tator  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and 
the  Modern  Woodmen  Camp  at  Reedsburg, 
in  both  of  which  he  has  held  office,  and  has 
been  a  life  member  of  the  Sauk  County  Ag- 
ricultural Society  at  Baraboo  for  many  years 
past.  In  his  religious  views  he  is  liberal 
and  in  political  sentiment  is  an  ardent  Re- 
publican, taking  an  active  and  prominent 
part  in  the  work  of  his  party  and  serving  as 
a  delegate  in  many  of  its  county  conventions. 
As  one  of  the  popular  and  influential  citi- 
zens of  his  community  he  has  been  honored 
with  several  oflicial  positions;  has  serx-ed  as 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


'48  7 


chairman  of  the  town  of  \\'infield  for  many 
years :  as  school  treasin-er  twenty-eight  con- 
secutive years ;  and  a  meml:)er  of  the  United 
States  jury  at  Madison  for  several  terms. 
As  a  citizen  he  has  always  l)een  true  and 
faithful  to  every  trust  reposed  in  him,  so 
that  his  loyalty  is  above  question,  being  man- 
ifest in  davs  of  peace  as  well  as  when  he  fol- 
lowed the  old  Hag  to  victory  on  southern 
battle  fields. 


HUGH  DONNELLY. 

Hugh  Donnelly,  an  influential  and  lead- 
ing citizen  of  Springville  township,  Adams 
county,  has  earned  his  present  prosperity  by 
his  energy,  natural  business  ability,  and  his 
honesty  and  fairness  in  all  his  dealings. 
For  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  he  has  oc- 
cupied his  present  homestead,  anil  to  him  as 
much  as  to  any  other  man  is  due  the  develop- 
ment of  Adams  county. 

]\lr.  Donnelly  was  Ijorn  in  Lexington, 
Ohio,  June  nth  or  13th,  1830.  His  par- 
ents, John  and  Sarah  (O'Neill)  Donnelly, 
v/ere  natives  of  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  181 2,  taking 
up  their  residence  in  Pennsylvania,  near 
Harrisburg.  They  followed  farming,  and  in 
about  the  year  1830  moved  to  Oliio.  They 
died  in  that  state  in  the  city  of  Lexington. 

Hugh  Donnelly  was  the  first  born  of  a 
family  of  four  children.  He  remained  at 
h.ome  working  for  his  father  until  he  was 
twenty-three  }-ears  of  age.  He  obtained  a 
fair  common  school  education,  which  he  has 
extended  l)y  reading  and  observation.  Up- 
on leaving  home  Hugh  Donnelly  worked 
for  some  time  in  the  quarries  at  Lancaster, 
Oliio,  and  afterward  for  the  Central  Ohio 
Railway  ConiDany  for  about'  four  years. 

In  1856  Mr.  Donnelly  determined  to  see 
what    the    west    had    to   offer    for    a    younc: 


man,  and  we  find  him  in  Wisconsin,  where 
he  finally  determined  to  locate,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  Adams  county.  He  \vorked  ior 
others  for  a  few  years,  and  it  was  in  iSfj3 
that  he  purchased  the  farm  which  has  since 
that  time  been  his  homestead.  It  consisted 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  at  that 
time,  but  his  hartl  work  and  judicious  man- 
agement of  his  estate  ha\'e  enabled  him  to 
add  to  it  until  he  is  now  the  owner  of  three 
liundred  and  sixty  acres  of  excellent  farming 
and  pasture  lands,  aljout  one  hundred  acres 
of  whicli  are  cultivated  annually.  He  con- 
ducts general  farming,  dev(.)ting  much  atten- 
tion to  stock.  He  has  made  a  success  of  his 
line  of  business,  and  his  honesty,  liberality 
and  steadfastness  of  character  have  won  him 
the  respect  of  all  those  among  whom  he  has 
lived  so  man}-  years. 

Hugh  Donnelly  was  married  February 
18,  1848,  to  Mary  Hinman,  daughter  of 
James  anil  Eliza  (Seeley)  Hinman.  who/ 
came  from  the  state  of  New  York  to  Adams 
county  aI)out  1850.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Don- 
nelly nine  children  have  been  liorn,  eight 
of  whom  still  survi\'e.  John,  now  living 
in  Waukesha,  Wis.;  Edgar;  Frank,  living 
in  Waukesha,  Wis. ;  James,  deceased,  whose- 
death  occurred  in  1873;  Sarah,  now  Mrs. 
J.  Collins,  of  Waukesha,  Wis. ;  Joseph,  at 
home :  Thomas ;  Hugh  J. ;  and  Mary.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church 
of  Briggsville.  In  i.inlitical  sentiment  Mr. 
Donnelly  is  a  Democrat,  though  he  diies 
not  take  an  acti\'e  ])art  in  political  affairs 
at  the  present  time.  He  has  held  a  num- 
ber of  township  offices,  was  chairman  of  the 
board  five  years,  and  has  also  held  the  ofiice 
of  township  treasurer.  He  has  witnessed 
great  changes  in  the  condition  of  his  coun- 
ty and  state,  and  has  himself  been  a  potent 
factor  in  the  advancement  of  all  those  in- 
terests which  tend  toward  the  general  good. 
His  name  is  inseparably  connected  with  the 
history  of  his  county. 


488 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


CECIL  ROSSOU  ERNSPERGER. 

Cecil  Rossou  Ernsperger,  an  enterpris- 
ing young  business  man  of  Cambria,  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  was  born  in 
Rochester,  Indiana,  Septeml^er  19.  1863. 
His  father  was  Frank  B.  Ernsperger,  and 
was  born  at  Rocky  Forch  ^^'(^od  county, 
Ohio,  October  14,  1839.  The  latter  was  the 
son  of  Christopher  and  Julia  A.  Ernsper- 
ger, natives  of  Maryland.  The  grandfa- 
th.er  of  Christopher  Ernsperger  came  from 
Switzerland  and  settled  in  Maryland  before 
the  Revolutionary  war.  His  son  George, 
father  of  Christopher  Ernsperger,  served  in 
that  war,  and  in  the  war  of  181 2.  Soon 
after  his  marriage  Christopher  Ernsperger 
removed  from  Maryland  to  Wood  cijunty, 
Ohio,  and  lived  on  a  farm  riear  Sandusky 
for  some  years.  In  1857  he  went  ti:i  Ful- 
ton county,  Indiana,  wdiere  he  died  in  1878, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three  }-ears.  His  wife, 
Julia  A.,  also  died  at  Rochester,  Indiana, 
in  1896,  aged  eighty-five  years.  Her  parents 
came  from  Maryland  and  died  in  Wyandotte 
county,  Ohio.  Frank  B.  Ernsperger,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  received  a  common 
school  education  and  spent  one  year  at  the 
University  of  Fremont,  Ohio.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  years  he  entered  a  general  store  at 
Fremont.  Ohio,  and  in  the  fall  of  1859  he 
went  to  South  Bend,  Indiana,  and  two  years 
later  em])arked  in  business  at  Rochester,  In- 
diana. In  the  fall  of  1879  he  came  to  Port- 
age, Wisconsin,  where  he  carried  on  a  mer- 
cantile business  for  about  one  year,  then 
purchased  a  stock  of  goods  at  Cambria,  and 
continued  in  business  there  mitil  1890.  when 
he  was  elected  county  clerk  of  Columliia 
county  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  and  re- 
turned to  Portage  to  live.  At  the  exi)iration 
of  his  office  he  assumed  management  of  the 
"Portage  Democrat"  and  conducted  it  for 
three  years.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  jus- 
tice  of   the   jieace,   and    is   now   serving   his 


third  term.  He  devotes  most  of  his  time  to 
thebusiness  that  comes  to  him  in  this  line.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
since  1862.  is  a  member  of  the  A.  O.  U.  W., 
and  has  filled  the  principal  offices  in  the 
Masonic  lodge.  He  was  an  active  member 
of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  for  about  thirty  years, 
but  has  never  affiliated  with  the  local  lodge. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  (Lyon)  Ernsperger.  She  was  born 
in  Rochester,  Indiana,  the  daughter  of  B. 
S.  Lyon,  a  tailor  and  dealer  in  general  mer- 
chandise at  Rochester,  and  who  sold  his 
business  to  Mr.  Ernsperp'er,  and  mnved  to 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  where  he  died  at  an 
advanced  age.  Frank  B.  Ernsperger  and 
Mary  A.  Ernsperger  had  four  children, 
namely:  Liljie  \'.  (now  Mrs.  Charles  Leav- 
ens) ;  Cecil  R.,  the  subject  of  th's  sketch; 
Laura  May,  now  Mrs.  J.  E.  Williams ;  and 
Edgar  B.,  of  Oakland,  Californa.  The 
mother  died  in  1893  at  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years.  Frank  B.  Ernsperger  was  married  in 
Indiana  to  Olivia  A.  Hebron,  and  has  two 
sons  by  this  marriage :  Samuel  B.  and  Frank 
E.,  of  Portage. 

Cecil  R.  Ernsperger  attended  the  Roches- 
ter common  and  high  schools,  completing  the 
course  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  Then  he  came 
to  Wisconsin  and  entered  his  father's  store 
at  Portage  and  later  at  Camljria.  He  spent 
two  years  as  tra\-eling  •representati\-e  for  a 
firm  of  implement  manufacturers  in  Min- 
neapolis. He  then  returned  to  Portage  and 
was  employed  for  one  year  by  J.  Simon  & 
Co.,  in  a  general  store.  He  took  charge  of 
the  grocery  and  crockery  department  of  the 
great  Bee  Hive  Department  Store  at  Portage 
for  two  years,  and  in  January  21,  1899,  the 
firm  of  Scott  &  Ernsperger  was  formed, 
succeeding  the  firm  of  C.  H.  Green  &  Com- 
pany, at  Cambria,  in  the  general  merchandise 
line. 

Mr.  Ernsperger  was  married  September 
I,    1890,   to   Maggie   A.    Andrew,    daughter 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


489 


of  Ivlward  and  Maji'daleiie  Andrew,  of  Cam- 
l;ria.  Mr.  ami  Mrs.  iM-nspergcr  have  one 
child,  Laura  May.  Kir.  Ernsperger  is  a  mem- 
ber of  jMcQueeny  Lodge,  No.  104,  K.  of  P., 
at  Portage;  Fidehty  Camp,  No.  1161,  M.  W. 
A.,  at  Caml^ria ;  Silver  Lodge,  No.  19,  .\.  O. 
U.  \\'..  of  Portage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erns- 
perger are  also  connectetl  with  the  Royal 
Neighbors,  Juniata  Lodge,  No.  -2051,  of 
Cambria,  and  Mrs.  Ernsperger  is  serving  as 
marshal  of  the  lotlge.  Mr.  Ernsperger  is 
a.  Democrat  in  political  faith,  and  has  always 
taken  an  actixx  interest  in  i)ul)lic  matters. 


JOSEPH  TILLOTSON. 

Joseph  Tillotson.  one  of  the  oldest  con- 
ductors in  years  of  continuous  ser\'ice  on  the 
Matlisun  division  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad,  now  making  his  home  in 
Baraboo,  was  born  in  Leeds,  England,  June 
4,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Alice 
(Waite)  Tillotson,  also  natives  of  the  same 
place.  When  only  six  j^ears  of  age  the  fa- 
ther began  work  in  a  woolen  factory  of 
Leeds  and  was  employed  in  the  large  indus- 
trial concerns  of  his  native  city  until  his  em- 
igration to  America.  Having  attained  liis 
majority  he  married  Alice  Waite,  the  wed- 
ding taking  place  ]\Iarch  24.  1842.  Her  fa- 
ther was  also  employed  in  one  of  the  fac-  ' 
tories  of  Leeds,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years.  About  1849  J"seph  Til- 
lotson, Sr.,  came  with  his  family  to  America, 
locating  in  the  town  of  Madison,  Dane 
county,  where  he  resided  on  a  farm  for  many 
years,  becoming  one  of  the  successful,  prom- 
inent and  inlluential  agriculturists  of  the 
coninuniity.  He  spent  the  last  two  years  of 
his  life  in  Madison  city,  where  he  died  April 
25,  1885,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  decided 
views,  and  neither  fear  or  fa\'or  could  turn 


him  from  a  course  which  he  believed  to  be 
right.  Of  the  Methodist  church  he  was  an 
acti\e  niemi)er.  and  in  politics  he  was  a  Re- 
publican for  many  years,  but  in  later  life 
voted  with  the  Prohibition  party.  Although 
he  resided  in  a  Democratic  township,  he  filled 
the  office  of  town  clerk  and  other  official  po- 
sitions, for  all  recognized  his  wdrth  and 
abilit}-,  and  his  fitlelitv  to  the  trusts  reposed 
in  him.  His  wife,  a  most  exemplary  wnman 
and  a  dcxnut  Christian,  died  in  Madison 
April  25,  1887,  in  her  sixty-seventh  ^•ear. 
In  their  family  were  e:ght  sons  and  six 
daughters,  and  eight  are  yet  living. 

Joseph  Tillotson,  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch,  was  only  five  vears  old  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  Wisconsin.  He 
early  became  familiar  with  all  the  duties  and 
labors  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agriculturist 
and  assisted  in  the  work  of  the  farm  until 
.August  14,  i8()2,  when  he  enlisted  in  Cum- 
pany  L  Twenty-third  Wisconsin  Infantry, 
being  mustered  out  June  14,  1866,  after 
three  years  and  ten  mimths  of  lo^al  antl 
\aliant  service.  His  regiment  was  assigned 
to  the  Deijartment  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
took  part  in  the  battles  of  Haines  Bluff, 
Arkansas  Post,  and  in  the  Vicksburg  cam- 
paign, where  5,000  prisoners  were  captured. 
The  regiment  spent  the  winter  of  1862-63 
in  digging  the  famous  canal  near  \'icksburg 
and  then  took  part  in  the  \'icksburg  cam- 
paign of  1863,  including  the  battles  of  Port 
(jibson,  Ivaymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills, 
Black  River  Bridge,  and  after  the  capture  of 
Vicksburg  participated  in  the  expedition  to 
Jackson,  Mississippi.  Later  they  were  sta- 
tioned for  two  months  at  Vicksburg  and 
were  then  transferred  to  the  Department  of 
the  (nilf.  .\t  the  liatile  of  Carrion  Crow, 
the  comiianv  to  which  Mr.  Tillotson  be- 
longed was  almost  totally  demolished,  he 
being  one  (jf  nine  that  was  fit  for  duty  at  the 
close  of  the  engagement,  lie  took  ])ar.t  in 
the    Re<I    ri\'er    expedition     under     Ciencral 


490 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Eanks  and  the  campaig'ii  against  Mobile,  and 
later  tiie  regiment  was  statinned  in  Texas 
for  two  months,  after  wiiich  it  returned  to 
New  Orleans.  Mr.  TiUotson  was  made 
second  lieutenant  of  Company  I,  Fiftieth 
Wisconsin  Infanlr}-.  and  sent  to  Fort  Rice 
where  the  Sioux  Indians  were  still  on  the 
war  path.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1865-66 
at  that  post — the  easiest  service  he  found 
while  in  the  army.  He  escaped  wounds,  al- 
though he  was  ne\er  out  of  the  ranks  when 
there  was  dut\-  to  lie  performed,  and  witii 
an  honoralile  military  record  he  returneil 
home. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Tillotson  engaged  in 
farming  in  Iowa  county,  Wisconsin,  for  six 
years,  and  in  1876  entered  the  service  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  Company, 
since  which  time  he  has  been  constantly  in 
the  train  service,  and  for  more  than  twentv 
years  has  served  as  conductor,  being  in 
charge  of  a  train  running  between  Baaiboo 
and  Milwaukee  at  the  jjresent  time.  His 
long  ser\ice  stands  in  unmistakable  e\'idence 
of  his  ability  and  capable  service.  He  is 
popular  with  the  patrons  of  the  ro.ld  and  has 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  railroad  officials 
under   \vhom  he  works. 

Mr.  Tillotson  has  resided  in  Baraboo 
since  1877,  and  in  1882  erected  a  pleasant 
home.  He  was  married  in  October,  1869. 
to  Sarah  E.,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Sarah 
Higham,  of  the  trnvn  of  Fitzburg,  Dane 
county.  She  was  Ijorn  in  New  York  and 
came  with  her  parents  to  Wisconsin  in 
1850.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hig:ham  now  reside 
with  their  daughter  and  both  are  eighty- 
five  years  of  age.  The  former  followed 
farming  during  his  active  business  career. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tillotson  have  one  child, 
Earle  C,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the  high 
school  of  Baraboo,  of  the  Wisconsin  Univer- 
sity, and  of  the  law  department  of  that  in- 
stitution. He  is  now  employed  as  cashier 
by  a  large  manufacturing  firm  of  Madison. 


The  ]:)arents  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
church  of  Baraboo,  of  which  Mrs.  Tillotson 
is  serxing  as  steward,  being  also  president  of 
the  Ladies'  Aid  Society.  Air.  Tillotson  is 
a  valued  memljer  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  the  .Vncient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  and  the  Order  of  Railway 
Conductors.  He  is  senior  conductor  and  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Bara- 
boo Division,  No.  68,  and  was  sent  as  its 
representative  to  the  Grand  Division  at  De- 
troit, in  the  spring  of  1899.  He  has  always 
been  a  Republican  in  his  political  affiliations, 
but  lias  never  had  time  nor  inclination  for 
public  office,  although  he  is  to-day  as  true 
and  loyal  to  his  duties  of  citizenship  as  when 
he  followed  the  stars  and  stripes  upon  the 
battle  fields  of  the   south. 


WILLIAM   HUGHES. 

William  Hughes,  one  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  Pardeeville,  has  achieved 
success  fr(.)m  his  humble  beginning  and  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  public-spirited 
and  progressive  citizens  of  that  thri\-ing  \-iI- 
lage.  He  was  born  in  Norwich,  Chenango 
county.  New  York,  m  October,  1854. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Michael 
Hughes,  is  a  native  of  county  Mayo,  Ire- 
land, and  emigrated  to  America  in  1846.  set- 
tling at  Norwich.  He  was  emplo}ed  in  a 
liammer  factnrv  at  that  place,  where  he  as- 
similated man\-  -\nierican  ideas  and  de- 
veloped that  love  of  liberty  for  which  his 
countrymen  have  ever  been  distinguished. 
Soon  after  the  Civil  war  began  he  demon- 
strated his  patriotic  instincts  by  entering  the 
ser\-ice  of  his  adopted  country  and  de\'oted 
tb.ree  years  to  the  cause  as  a  member  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Sixt}--first  New  York 
\"olunteer  Infantry.  He  participated  in  a 
number  of  important  engagements  and  suf- 


MR.  AND  MRS.  WILLIAM  HUGHES. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


493 


feretl  a  sunstroke,  which  caused  partial  deaf 
ness.  In  1867  he  became  a  citizen  of  Wis- 
consin and  resided  in  Columbia  county  until 
1894.  since  which  date  he  has  lived  in  Kinos- 
ton,  Green  Lake  county,  where  he  is  now  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  ease  and  comfort  which 
he  merits  by  a  long  and  busy  life,  he  having 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years. 
Besides  William,  he  has  a  son,  Charles,  liv- 
iiig  in  the  town  of  Wyocena.  and  a  daugh- 
ter, Mary  Ann.  now  Mrs.  Stafford  O'Brien, 
of  Kingston.  Wisconsin. 

William  Hughes  has  lived  in  Columbia 
county  from  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  He 
grew  to  manhood  on  a  farm  and  while  a 
young  man  taught  several  terms  of  school. 
He  was  ever  on  the  alert  for  an  opportunity 
tc  better  his  condition,  and,  after  spending 
three  seasons  as  traveling  representative  of 
a  leading  nursery  firm,  in  1884  he  estab- 
lished a  grocery  store  at  Pardeex-ille.  He 
has  been  continuously  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  since  that  time,  adding  other  lines 
of  goods  from  time  to  time  as  his  means 
would  permit,  and  for  some  years  past 
he  has  handled  one  of  the  best  assorted 
stocks  of  general  merchandise  to  be  found 
in  Columbia  county.  Since  1893  'i^  has  also 
dealt  in  grain  and  all  kinds  of  farm  produce, 
shipping  large  quantities  to  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee and  other  markets.  His  success  is 
due  to  the  exercise  of  judgment,  integrity 
and  fair  dealing,  which  has  inspired  the 
confidence  and  good  will  of  his  patrons  and 
associates  and  insured  a  liberal  share  of  the 
custom  which  is  attracted  to  I'ardee\'ille  by 
the  enterprise  of  its  business  men. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1886,  to 
Miss  Maggie  Eagan,  a  native  of  Portage, 
Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter  of  Patrick  Eagan, 
of  Marcellon  township.  Two  sons  have 
been  born  to  Air.  and  Mrs.  Hughes,  who 
1)ear  the  names  of  Roy  W.  and  Charles. 
The  family  is  connected  with  the  Catholic 
church  at   l^)uffalo.   W'sconsin.       The    resi- 


dence of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughes,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  attractive  in  the  village,  with  its 
v.ell  kept  grounds,  denotes  the  taste  and 
culture  of  its  inmates.  In  political  princi- 
ples Mr.  Hughes  has  always  been  a  Demo- 
crat and  exerts  no  small  influence  in  the  local 
councils  i)f  the  communit}'.  He  has  filled 
numerous  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility and  his  jjersonal  popularity  is  attested 
bv  the  fact  that,  although  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  Pardee\'ille  are  opposed  to 
him  in  political  sentiment,  he  is  now  serving 
a  third  term  as  president  of  the  village.  ■ 


MORRIS  JOHN  ROWLANDS. 

Morris  John  Rowlands  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  influential  citizens  of  Cam- 
bria and  has  displayed  an  active  interest  in 
the  growth  and  development  of  that  thriv- 
ing village.  He  represents  one  of  the  earliest 
Welsh  families  which  located  in  Columbia 
county  and  one  which  has  been  identified 
with  many  of  its  most  vital  interests  and 
cherished  institutions. 

His  father,  John  R.  Rowlands,  was  em- 
ployed for  many  years  in  a  slate  quarry  in 
Carnarvonshire,  Wales.  Having  accumulat- 
ed a  few  hundred  pounds  sterling  by  honest 
toil  and  thrifty  habits,  in  1845.  he  headed 
a  party,  which  included  six  of  his  neighbors 
with  their  families,  and  set  out  for  America. 
Though  their  knowledge,  of  this  country 
was  limited,  they  believed  that  it  offered 
opportunities  for  bettering  their  material 
fortunes  and  that  they  would  find  ideal  con- 
ditions f(_)r  promoting  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual culture  which  they  aspired  to  be- 
(|ueath  to  posterity.  Ujjon  landing  at  New 
York,  thev  came  to  Wisconsin,  attracted  no 
doubt  l>y  the  fact  that  a  colony  of  their 
countrymen  were  already  located  near  Ra- 
cine. Leaving  tlieir  families  at  that  place, 
these  se\-en  men  started  on  foot  to  seek  a  de- 


494 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


sirable  location  for  settlement.  After  sev- 
eral, clays'  travel  llie\-  reached  Columbia 
county  and  IMr.  Rowlands  selected  a  "claim" 
on  section  15  in  what  is  now  the  township  of 
Springvale,  the  immediate  locality  being 
better  known  as  "Welsh  Prairie."  He  pur- 
cliased  several  hundred  acres  of  government 
land  which  is  still  owned  by  his  descend- 
ants, built  a  log  house  and  brought  his  fam- 
ily there  the  same  season.  Several  of  his 
associates  settled  near  him  and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  an  extensive  colony  of  which 
the  village  of  Cambria  became  the  social  and 
commercial  center.  The  people  composing 
this  settlement  ha\-e  always  ranked  among 
the  most  intelligent  and  progressive  citizens 
of  Columbia  county.  John  R.  Rowlands  was 
distinguished  for  remarkable  physical  activ- 
ity and  ]X)ssesse(l  may  estimable  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart  worthy  of  the  emulation 
of  rising  o-enerations.  He  continued  to  re- 
side upon  the  farm  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  19,  1883.  Though  he  had 
attained  the  age  of  eighty-tliree  years,  he 
was  able  to  walk  from  Cambria  to  his 
home,  a  distance  of  six  miles,  only  a  few 
months  before  his  demise.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Jan.-  Closs.  departed  this 
life  September  21,  1869.  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-four years.  Her  father.  John  Closs, 
came  from  Yorkshire,  l^igland,  and  died  in 
Wales. 

Morris  J.  Rowlands,  whose  name  heads 
this  article,  was  born  in  Csnarvonshire, 
^^'■ales,  July  4,  1840,  and  has  lived  in  Co- 
lumbia county  from  the  fifth  year  of  his 
age.  His  educational  advantages  were  lim- 
ited but  he  acquired  a  fund  of  general  in- 
formation which  naturrd  judgment  and  ex- 
perience enables  him  to  jnU  to  practical  use. 
After  living  fur  more  than  forty  vears  upoi 
the  homestead  farm,  in  1886  he  removed 
to  Cambria  where  his  present  home  occu- 
pies a  sightly  location  and  is  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  residences  in  the  \-illae-e.     For 


eight  years  he  dealt  in  grain  and  lumber  as 
a  partner  with  Edward  Harris,  who  was  also 
proprietor  of  the  Bank  of  Cambria.  Upon 
the  death  of  Mr.  Harris  in  1894  he  pur- 
chased that  institution,  which  has  since  lieen 
conducted  by  M.  J.  Rowlands  &  Son  and  is 
recognized  in  financial  circles  as  one  of  the 
most  relia1)le  concerns  in  Columbia  coun- 
ty. The  firm  is  also  interested  to  a  ci>nsid- 
erable  extent  in  real  estate.  It  has  erected  a 
number  of  buildings,  in  the  village  and,  Ije- 
sides  the  original  homestead  of  the  family, 
has  acquired  several  other  fine  farms.  Mr. 
Rowdands  was  one  of  the  first  farmers  in  the 
county  to  introduce  the  breeding  of  thor- 
oughbred Durham  cattle  and  has  also  gix-en 
some  attention  to  Clydesdale  horses.  Every 
enterprise  in  which  lie  has  ])ecome  interested 
owes  its  success  in  great  measure  to  his  thor- 
oughness and  foresig'ht. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodist  church  of  Cambria,  and  has  al- 
ways lent  encouragement  to  enterprises  cal- 
culated to  cultivate  the  finer  instincts  of  the 
jieople.  He  has  given  considerable  atten- 
tion to  music  and  for  forty  years  has  been 
a  leader  of  church  choirs.  Belonging  to  a 
race  which  is  famous  the  world  over  for 
musical  talent,  he  and  his  associates  have  es- 
tablishetl  an  en\ial)le  reputation  in  the  cult- 
ure of  that  art  and  \'isitors  have  been  at- 
tracted from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  the 
musical  con\-entions  held  in  Cambria.  Mr. 
Rowlands  helped  to  organize  the  Cam1)ria 
Music  Hall  Company,  which  has  recently 
Ijuilt  an  elegant  opera  house,  such  as  would 
be  a  credit  to  any  large  cit}-,  and  which 
forms  a  source  of  just  pride  and  delight  to 
every  patriotic  citizen  of  Cambria  and  is  one 
of  the  most  noteworthy  public  l)uilding's  of 
the  county. 

Mr.  Rowlands  is  identified  with  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity.  He  cast  his  first  vote  for 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  has  always  supported 
the     principles    of     the    Republican    ])arty. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


495 


lliough  he  never  seeks  official  honors,  he 
has  frequently  been  cahed  to  the  discharge 
of  local  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
For  ten  years  he  served  as  town  clerk  of 
Springvale  and  for  eight  years  filled  the  same 
office  in  Courtland  to\Miship.  He  was  elected 
the  first  president  of  the  village  under  the 
state  charter  and  served  two  years  in  that 
capacity. 

In  1866  he  was  married  to  Aliss  Cath- 
erine Owens,  daughter  of  David  and  Jane 
Owens,  of  Springvale  township.  Mrs.  Row- 
lands was  born  in  \\'ales  and  came  to  the 
United  States  with  her  parents  in  1847.  One 
son,  David  Morris  Rowlands,  is  now  his  fa- 
ther's partner  in  business.  This  gentleman 
v.as  burn  January  19,  1868.  After  leaving 
the  pul)lic  school  and  taking  a  course  at  a 
business  college  in  ^Milwaukee,  he  began  his 
business  career  in  the  lumljer  office  of  Har- 
ris &  Rowlands.  In  1890  he  became  a  partner 
with  H.  F.  Schemmel  in  a  general  store  at 
Cambria.  Three  years  later  he  sold  his  in- 
terest in  this  establishment  and  entered  the 
Bank  of  Cambria  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Har- 
ris. Upon  the  death  of  that  gentleman,  as 
previously  stated,  he  acquired  an  interest  in 
the  concern  and  has  since  filled  the  responsi- 
ble position  of  cashier. 

July  6,  1898,  occurred  the  wedding  of 
David  M.  Rowlands  and  Miss  Emma  Davis, 
daughter  of  Edwin  and  Jane  Ann  Davis,  of 
Cambria.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowlands  are  the 
happy  parents  of  one  boy,  Morris  David, 
born  July  21,  1899.  They  are  members  of 
the  Calvinistic  Methodist  church  and  Mr. 
Rowlands  is  identified  with  the  Masonic  or- 
der. He  has  filled  the  chair  of  junior  deacon 
in  Cambria  Lodge  and  also  holds  member- 
ship in  Fort  Winnebago  Chapter  at  Portage. 


ROBERT  GALSTON. 
Robert  Galston,   a  prosperous  agricult- 
urist residing  on  section  36  in  Adams  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  is  an  early  settler  of 


that  region.  He  has  passed  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  within  the  borders  of 
Adams  county,  and  has  lent  his  influence  for 
the  welfare  of  his  community.  His  estate 
comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and 
he  has  added  such  improvements  as  make  it 
one  of  the  leading  farms  of  the  vicinity. 
He  engages  in  general  farming  and  is  in- 
terested to  some  extent  in  stock  raising.  He 
has  met  with  success  in  his  chosen  calling 
and  has  gained  the  respect  of  his  fellows. 

Mr.  Galston  was  liorn  at  Beith,  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland,  Aueust  24,  1835,  and  was 
the  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Fulton) 
Galston.  His  father  was  a  baker  by  trade, 
and  conducted  the  Imsiness  at  Dairy.  He 
died  in  1859  and  was  Ijuried  at  Dairy,  and 
the  mother  died  in  1834,  and  was  laid  to 
rest  at  Beith. 

In  a  family  of  twelve  children  our  suli- 
ject  was  the  sixth  in  order  of  birth.  He  was 
given  educational  advantages  and  acquired 
a  good  education.  At  the  age  of  twelve 
years  he  was  started  to  learning  the  baker's 
trade,  but  not  taking  kindly  to  that  trade 
he  decided  to  learn  the  shipwright's 
trade  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  was 
apprenticed  for  that  purpose.  He  served 
four  years  with  a  firm  in  Glasgow,  Scotland, 
and  worked  at  his  trade  for  aljout  ten  years. 
He  came  to  America  in  1870,  locating  at 
Chicago,  where  he  was  employed  for  some 
time.  He  came  to  Adams  township,  Adams 
county,  in  1872,  and  homesteaded  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  section  T,f>. 
He  has  aI>out  eighty  acres  under  cultivation, 
and  has  prospered.  He  erected  a  comfort- 
able residence  and  outbuildings,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  comforts  of  rural  life. 

Mr.  Galston  was  married  November  3, 
1865,  to  Marion  Hamilton,  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Sarah  (Sem])le)  Hamilton, 
of  Little  Gill,  Lanarkshire,  Scotland.  Four 
children  have  been  liorn  to  bless  the  home 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Galston,    named    as  fol- 


496 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


lows:  James,  born  January  i,  1865,  died 
November  27,  1869;  Sarah,  horn  April  13, 
1868,  died  November  17.  1869:  James,  horn 
March  12,  1870,  now  living-  at  home:  and 
Alexander,  bom  July  22.  1872,  now  residing 
in  Black  River  Falls. 

-Mr.  Galston  is  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church.  He  has  held  various  offices 
of  local  importance,  including  treasurer  of  his 
township,  supervisor,  justice  of  the  peace 
four  years,  and  assessor  about  five  years. 
He  is  non-partisan  in  politics,  voting  for  the 
ticket  which  meets  his  favor,  ever  looking  to 
the  interest  of  the  community  where  he  has 
matle  his  home  for  so  many  years.  He  has 
always  been  found  standing  on  the  side  of 
right  and  justice,  and  no  public  enterprise 
which  he  deemed  feasible  passed  him  without 
his  hearty  support.  He  is  one  of  the  public- 
spirited  men  of  Adams  county,  and  all  who 
honor  good  citizenship  and  honest  industry 
hold  him  in  the  highest  esteem.  His  name 
has  been  linked  with  many  of  the  important 
public  movements  and  to  write  a  history  of 
Adams  county  would  of  necessity  frequently 
bring  his  name  before  the  readers  of  such  a 
\i.ilume. 


ROBERT  MORRIS  WILLIAMS. 

Robert  Morris  Williams,  publisher  of 
''The  Crank"  at  Pardeeville,  is  probably  the 
oldest  born  native  of  Columbia  county  now 
residing  therein.  He  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Marcellon,  September  16,  1850,  and  was 
a  son  of  Morris  Sibley  and  Phoebe  C (King) 
\\'illiams. 

The  parents  of  (_)ur  subject  sprang  of 
New  England  families,  who  were  dis- 
tinguished for  patriotism.  Joseph  Will- 
iams, the  grandfather  of  M.  S.  Williams, 
enlisted  as  a  i^rivate  and  was  promoted  to 
cajitain  of  Xew  York  troops  at  Saratoga  and 
did  valuable  service  throughout  the   Revo- 


lutionary campaign  against  Burgoyne.  His 
musket  is  preserved  Iiy  our  subject.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  Ebenezer  Will- 
iams, .served  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  war  of 
1 81 2,  and  took  part  in  the  engagement  at 
Sacket  Harbor.  He  was  a  farmer  and  hop 
grower  in  Oneida  county.  New  York.  He 
first  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1848  and  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Marcellon  township, 
settling  there  in  1850,  where  he  at  once  be- 
gan the  culture  of  hops,  and  this  was  prob- 
ably the  beginning  of  that  industry  in  ^^'is- 
consin.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  born 
in  SangerfieUl  Center,  Oneida  county.  New 
York,  November  3,  1830,  and  came  to  Wis- 
consin in  i8=;o.  He  lived  on  his  father's 
original  homestead  until  his  death,  October 
4,  1868.  He  kept  a  country  hotel  on  the 
road  between  Portage  and  Fox  Lake,  and 
was  celebrated  for  his  musical  talents.  Being 
owner  of  the  first  melodeon  brijught  to  Co- 
lumljia  countv,  he  furnished  inspiration  for 
many  frontier  dances  and  other  public  occa- 
sions. It  was  dijubtless  owing  to  this  gift 
tliat  he  receix'ed  the  name  of  "Jenny  Lind" 
Williams,  and  his  house  was  known  far  ami 
wide  as  the  "Jenny  Lind  Tavern."  He  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  Forty-ninth  Wiscon- 
sin Volunteer  Infantry,  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  served  until  discharged  at  the  close  of 
hostilities.  Further  notice  of  the  mother  of 
our  subject  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of 
James  Scott,  found  elsewliere  in  this  volume. 
Robert  M.  Williams  attended  the  dis- 
trict school  and  li\'ed  on  the  home  farm 
until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  since 
w  hich  time  he  has  followed  various  occupa- 
tions in  difl'erent  states  and  acquired  a  valu- 
able fund  of  experience  and  general  infor- 
mation. He  began  the  publication  oi  the 
"Pioneer"  at  Clidden.  Wisconsin,  in  1876, 
the  second  ])apcr  in  Ashland  county,  where 
he  li\ed  nine  years,  serving  as  ]3ostmastcr. 
town   clerk,   town   treasurer,    and    in    \-ari- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


497 


ous  other  official  capacities.  He  then  went 
to  Florence,  Alabama,  where  he  contlucted 
a  photograph  galler}'  three  years  and  then 
continued  in  the  same  business  in  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  six  years.  He  returned  to  Par- 
deeville  in  1898  and  began  the  i)ublication 
of  the  "Crank,"  a  joinnial  devoted  to  inde- 
pendent reform.  It  has  achieved  noteworthy 
popularity  among  the  people  of  Columbia 
and  adjoining  counties.  Mr.  Williams  has 
also  given  a  great  deal  of  attention  to 
hypnotism  as  a  science,  and  possesses  re- 
markable magnetic  power,  and  he  has  many 
original  ideas  on  various  subjects.  He  is  a 
Spiritualist  in  faith. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  186S  to 
America  A.  Smith,  a  daug'hter  of  Nathaniel 
and  Angeline  Smith,  of  Marcellon  town- 
ship. Mrs.  Williams  was  born  in  Livingst(3n 
county.  New  York,  but  came  to  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1864.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
\\'illiams  are  the  parents  of  tive  living  chil- 
dren, who  are  as  follows :  Angeline,  now 
Mrs.  A.  G.  Cox,  of  Chicago ;  Alorris  L.  K. ; 
Daisy  L. ;  Robert  Asa;  and  Russell  C.  One 
child,  Leroy,  was  drowned  in  the  Chijjpewa 
river,  at  Glidden,  \Visconsin,  at  the  age  of 
two  vears. 


HENRY  SAWYER. 

Henry  Sawyer,  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful farmers  of  Columbia  county,  is  now  re- 
siding in  the  \  illage  of  Cambria.  Mr.  Saw- 
yer was  born  in  Burslem,  Staffordshire, 
England,   March  25,    1840. 

Henry  Sawyer  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Ellis)  Sawyer,  both  natives  of 
Burslem,  England.  The  grandfather,  Ralph 
Sawyer,  lived  and  died  in  England,  and  was 
a  miner  and  collier  by  trade.  John  Sawyer, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
a  potter  by  trade  and  became  a  specialist 
in  the  art  of  turning  cups,  saucers,  etc.     He 


was  connected  in  England  with  the  Potters' 
Emigration  Societv,  and  was  appointed  as 
one  of  a  committee  of  three  to  seek  a  lo- 
cation for  planting  a  colon}'.  This  commit- 
tee came  to  :\merica,  and  on  reaching  New 
Y'n-k  City  left  their  families  there  and  pro- 
ceeded to  \\'ashington,  D.  C,  t(_)  oljtain  de- 
sired information  regarding  lands,  etc. 
They  then  brought  their  families  to  Milwau- 
kee, where  they  left  them  while  they  made 
a  trip  to  Columbia  county.  Here  they  se- 
lected two  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Scott 
township,  which  they  purchased  of  the  gov- 
ernment at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per 
acre.  They  sur\-eyed  and  divided  this 
ir.to  one  hundred  lots  of  twenty  acres  each, 
20x160  rods,  most  of  which  were  occupied 
the  next  season  by  emigrants  sent  over  by 
the  Society  from  Staffordshire.  Being  a 
man  of  genius  and  original  ideas,  John  Saw- 
yer made  a  more  successful  farmer  than 
most  of  those  who  formed  this  colony.  His 
family  joined  him  in  July,  1846,  at  the  sea- 
son when  wild  strawberries  were  ripening. 
Between  Fox  Lake  and  Portage  at  that 
tnue  there  was  but  a  single  habitation  on 
the  stage  route.  Mr.  Sawyer  and  his  col- 
leagues built  eight  log  cabins  the  first  season, 
each  of  which  sheltered  several  families. 
He  afterwanl  remo\-ed  to  another  farm  in 
Scott  township,  where  he  owned  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  He  acquired  several 
other  tracts  of  land,  which  he  improved  to 
some  extent.  He  drew  logs  to  the  mill  at 
Camljria  from  which  lumber  was  sawed  for 
his  buildings,  and  he  roofed  them  with 
rough  boartls,  Which  warped  in  the  sun  and 
let  in  the  rain  freely.  John  Sawyer  was  a 
rran  of  firm  con\ictions,  and  held  inde- 
pendent views  on  most  public  questions.  At 
various  times  he  filled  the  principal  town- 
ship offices  of  Scott  township  and  during  the 
Civil  war  was  active  in  raising  bounties  for 
volunteers,  and  only  one  draft  was  made 
in  that  township.     His  first  wife   was  the 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


mother  of  our  subject,  ^Irs.  Elizalieth  Ellis 
Sawyer.  She  died  in  1847,  at  the  age  of 
about  twentv-eig-ht  years.  Her  father, 
Richard  Ellis,  was  an  engineer  in  a  coal 
mine  at  Burslem,  England.  Henry  Sawyer, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  her  only 
child.  John  Sawyer  afterward  married 
Edna  Smith,  who  died  without  children. 
He  married  a  third  time,  Hannah  Whit- 
tingham  becoming  his  wife.  She  also  died 
childless.  John  Sawyer  lived  to  be  seventy- 
three  years  of  age,  his  death  occurring  De- 
cember 15,  1893. 

Henry  Sawyer  went  to  school  for  the 
first  time  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-three  he  began  farming 
for  himself  in  Scott  township,  where  he  has 
lived  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  He  is  the 
owner  of  the  original  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  which  he  purchased 
in  1862  and  cleared  from  the  forest.  In 
addition  to  this  he  owns  a  farm  of  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres  in  Springvale  town- 
ship, a  portion  of  which  he  rents  to  tenants. 
He  has  divided  his  attention  between  grain 
and  stock. 

Since  1S99  Mr.  Sawyer  has  made  his 
home  in  the  village  of  Cambria,  though  he 
still  conducts  his  farming  business.  Mr. 
Sawyer  was  married  November  20,  1865, 
to  Ann  P.  Baillies,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  (Hamilton)  Baillies.  Mrs. 
Sawyer  was  born  in  Paisley,  Scotland,  and 
came  to  America  with  her  parents  in  1849, 
settling  in  Scott  township,  where  Mr.  Bail- 
lies  died  January  13,  1894,  aged  seventy- 
nine  years.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Baillies  died  in 
1S92,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Her 
father,  John  Hamilton,  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  died  in  Scott  township,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two  years.  He  was  a  weaver 
of  Paisley  shawls,  and  acquired  great  skill 
in  this  branch  of  trade.  Alexander  Baillies, 
the  paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Sawyer, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  P^ritish  army,  and  was 


statiunetl  in  Ireland  at  the  time  of  the  l)irth 
of  his  son,  Thomas. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sawyer  have  five  children, 
namely:  Elizabeth  Jane,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
Healy,  of  Ironwood,  Michigan;  Mary  Ellen, 
now  Mrs.  John  Dodge,  of  Springvale  town- 
ship; Jessie  Ann,  now  Mrs.  Samuel  Dodge, 
of  Springvale  township;  John  Henry;  Hugh 
Thomas,  the  two  last  named  being  at  home. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sawver  have  four  grandchil- 
dren. 

Mr.  Sawyer  is  a  member  of  the  A.  O. 
U.  \\.,  the  M.  W.  A.,  and  the  I.  O.  O.  F. 
His  fraternal  connections  are  with  the 
lodges  at  Pardeeville.  While  he  has  always 
been  a  v-alued  citizen  and  a  supporter  of  the 
principles  of  good  government,  he  has  never 
sought  political  preferment.  In  political 
views  he  is  a  Democrat.  Without  his  seek- 
ing it,  he  recei\ed  the  nomination  for 
member  of  the  general  assembly  on  the  Dem- 
ocratic ticket,  in  1900. 


HENRY  AMMIRAS  DARROW. 

Henry  Ammiras  Darrow,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  W'infield  township,  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  is  descended  from  worthy  New 
England  ancestry  and  exhibits  many  of  the 
sterling  qualities  which  characterize  the  peo- 
ple of  that  section.  He  was  born  in  Mecca, 
Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  June  20,  1839,  and 
is  a  son  of  H.  Ammiras  and  Luceba  (Dann) 
Darrow,  both  natix'os  of  New  York,  the 
former  born  in  Albany  county,  the  latter  in 
the  western  part  of  the  state. 

The  paternal  grandfather,  Ammiras 
Darrow,  who  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  made  his  early  home  in  Con- 
necticut, and  when  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  four, years  old  removed,  with  his 
family,  from  Albany  county,  New  York,  to 
Booneville,  Oneida  county,  that  state,  where 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


499 


he  built  and  operated  a  tannery.  This  es- 
tabhshment  was  afterward  Inirnetl  down, 
causing  him  a  serious  loss.  He  died  in 
Booneville.  He  was  of  Scotch  descent,  while 
his  wife,  Sarah  Fisher,  was  of  Irish  extrac- 
tion, her  father  being  a  iiati\c  nf  the  Em- 
erald Isle  and  pressed  on  bnard  a  British 
man-of-war,  from  wliich  he  escaped  and 
came  to  America.  She  was  born  in  New 
London,  Connecticut,  and  was  nine  years 
old  when  the  place  was  burned  liy  General 
Arnold,  whom  she  had  known  befure  he  en- 
tered the  army.  She  died  in  Reedsburg, 
Wisconsin,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
three  years. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  H.  Ammiras 
Darrow,  the  father  of  our  subject,  removed 
to  Trumbull  count}',  Ohio,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1839  came  to  Wisconsin,  first  locating 
in  Walworth  county,  and  became  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Allen's  Grove,  where  he 
lived  upon  a  farm  for  twelve  years.  When 
he  located  there  the  nearest  postofBce  was  at 
Beloit.  In  185 1  he  came  to  Sauk  county 
and  took  up  his  residence  in  Winfield  town- 
ship, where  he  died  in  his  ninety-sixth  year. 
He  was  always  a  vigorous  and  rugged  man, 
and  when  sixty-five  years  old  walked  to 
Madison  from  Winfield  and  returned  in 
three  days.  His  first  trip  to  this  county  from 
Allen's  Grove,  in  1851,  was  made  on  foot. 
When  the  town  of  Winfield  was  separated 
from  Reedsburg,  in  1852,  he  suggested  the 
name,  in  honor  of  Winfield  Scott,  who  was 
at  that  time  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-nine  years,  H.  Am- 
miras Darrow  married  Miss  Luceba  Dann, 
a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Elizabeth 
(Rull)  Dann.  The  former  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Francis  Dann,  who  founded  one  of 
the  earliest  Episcopal  churches  in  New 
England,  at  Danntown,  Connecticut,  in 
1675.  Mrs.  Darr(jw  was  also  a  rei)resenta- 
tive  of  the  Underbill  family,  mentioned  bv 
Whittier  in  one  of  his  famous  poems.     She 


died  a  few  years  licforc  her  husband  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years.  In  their  family 
were  ten  children,  li\-e  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  still  living,  namely: 
Elizabeth;  Adelia  R. ;  PhtEbe  M. ;  Henrv 
Ammiras;  Nathaniel;  Sarah,  wife  of  L.  N. 
Fish,  of  Winfield;  Albert;  George;  Caro- 
line, widow  of  Sherman  Winlield  ;  and  John, 
of  Barron  county,  Wisconsin.  All  are  resi- 
dents of  \Visc(.insin  with  the  exception  of 
Albert,  who  li\'es  in  Iowa. 

Mr.  Darrow,  whose  name  introduces  this 
review,  was  a  lad  of  tweh'e  years  when  he 
came  with  the  family  to  Sauk  county.  Dur- 
ing his  boyhood  and  y(-iuth  he  attended 
school  during  the  winter  months,  wdiile 
tlirough  the  summer  season  he  engaged  in 
farm  work.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
started  out  in  life  for  himself,  and  a  few 
years  later  bought  a  part  ui  his  present 
farm,  which  at  that  time  was  wild  land. 
He  has  since  owned  two  luuulred  and  eighty 
acres,  but  of  that  amount  he  has  sold  forty- 
one  acres.  He  now  has  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
and  improved  with  good  and  substantial 
buildings.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  State  Bank  of  Reedsburg,  in  1898, 
and  is  a  business  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  He  was  a  memljer  ui  the  Wiscon- 
sin Grange  for  a  time,  and  has  affiliated 
with  the  Republican  party  since  voting  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1S60.  Most  credit- 
ably has  he  filled  the  offices  of  town  super- 
intendent of  schools,  clerk  of  his  school  dis- 
trict twenty-five  years  and  town  treasurer, 
and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  public- 
spirited  and  progressive  citizens  of  his  town. 


JOFIN  WILLIAM  VROMAN. 

Prominent  among  the  agriculturists  and 
pioneer  settlers  of  Adams  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, is  the  gentleman  whose  name  appears 


500 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


at  the  head  of  tliis  review.  He  is  a  resident 
of  Jackson  township,  and  many  are  the 
stories  of  early  Hfe  in  Wisconsin  told  by 
this  leader  in  the  march  of  ci\'ilization. 

John  William  \'roman  was  born  in 
Sharon,  Schoharie  connty.  New  York,  Jan- 
uary 5,  1829,  the  son  of  Josiah  A.  and  Eliza- 
beth (Fritcher)  Vroman,  both  natives  of 
Sharon,  New  York,  where  the  father  was 
born  December  24,  1799,  and  the  mother 
in  1803.  In  1841  our  subject's  father,  Jo- 
siah Cronian,  came  with  his  family  to  Wis- 
consin, locating  at  Darion,  in  Walworth 
county,  where  he  lived  about  ten  years,  and 
then  settled  in  Adams  county.  He  died  at 
Oxford,  Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years. 

John  WiUiam  Vroman  settled  upon  his 
present  farm  in  1857,  staking  ofif  a  "squat- 
ter's" claim,  and  a  few  years  later  pur- 
chased it  from  the  government  at  one  dollar 
and  a  cjuarter  per  acre.  He  is  the  owner  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  excellent 
land,  with  a  high  class  of  improvements  and 
conveniences  added  by  his  *own  industry. 
He  now  rents  his  farm  to  his  son,  and  gives 
his  own  attention  to  an  apiary,  with  which 
he  is  meeting  with  success.  He  spends 
much  of  his  time  now  in  fishing  and  hunt- 
ing, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  well-earned 
competence.  He  has  been  a  great  hunter  in 
his  day,  and  when  large  game  was  more 
plentiful  than  now  his  chosen  sport  was  the 
deer  hunt.  At  three  different  times  in  his 
life  he  has  killed  two  of  these  animals  at 
one  shot,  a  fact  which  is  testified  to  by  liv- 
ing witnesses  in  whose  presence  the  deed 
was  done.  For  several  years  his  larder  was 
supplied  with  choice  venison  killed  upon  his 
own  lands. 

Mr.  Vroman  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Murphy  May  10,  1852.  Mrs.  Vroman  was 
born  in  Albany,  New  York,  December  24, 
1828.  Her  parents  dietl  during  her  infancy. 
After  many  years  spent  in  faithful  duty  to 


her  family  and  kindness  and  Christian 
helpfulness  to  her  friends  and  neighbors, 
]\Irs.  Vroman  passed  away  April  21,  1884, 
her  death  occurring  in ,  Jackson  township. 
Fi\'e  children  were  born  to  J\Ir.  and  Mrs. 
\'roman,  namely:  Mary  E.,  who  died  Sep- 
tember 10,  1S72,  aged  eighteen  years; 
George  W.,  now  a  farmer  of  Adams  county; 
Charles  Henry,  born  September  29,  1857, 
and  died  December  28,  1893;  Hattie  J.,  a 
professional  nurse,  of  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin ;  and  Frank  C,  who  now  carries  on  farm- 
ing on  the  old  home  farm,  and  was  mar- 
ried December  28,  1892,  to  Miss  Maud 
Smith,  of  Oxford,  Wisconsin. 

yir.  Vroman  is  a  member  of  Oxford 
Lodge,  No.  91,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  which  he 
has  been  an  officer  several  years.  He  voted 
for  General  Winfield  Scott  for  the  presi- 
dency in  1852  and  since  that  time  has  lent 
his  support  to  the  men  and  measures  of  the 
Republican  party,  never  missing  a  vote  at  a 
presidential  election.  He  has  held  several 
local  public  ofifices,  and  enjoys  to  a  high  de- 
gree the  esteem  and  respect  of  his  fellow 
citizens,  of  all  political,  beliefs. 


JAMES  WHIPPLE  ROBINSON. 

James  \Vhipple  Robinson,  Poynette,  Wis- 
consin, is  now  living  in  honorable  retire- 
ment in  that  village,  and  is  numbered  among 
the  older  and  more  venerable  residents  of 
C(jlumbia  county.  He  was  born  in  Castle- 
ton,  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  October  3, 
1822,  and  is  a  son  of  Dean  Tyler  and  Try- 
phena  (Whipple)  Robinson.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  Castleton  Seminary,  and  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  1846,  settling  in  the  town  of 
Leeds,  Columbia  county.  He  bought  sev- 
enty-six acres  of  land  upon  his  settlement  in 
the  town,  and  as  he  made  progress  he 
bought  more  land  from  time  to  time  until 


J.  W.  ROBIHSOH. 


MRS.  J.  W.  ROBIHSOH. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


503 


tlie  farm  consists  of  a  lialf-section  of  as  de- 
siral)le  land  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  county. 
His  tirst  stav  in  the  state  was  rather  brief, 
as  lie  returned  to  X'erniont  in  the  sprint;'  of 
1848,  and  kept  store  for  some  montlis  for 
a  railroad  company  then  building  a  line  from 
East  Rutland  to  Whitehall,  Xew  York.  The 
summer  of  1849  he  spent  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland  engaged  in  fishing,  giiing 
out  from  Pro\'incetown  in  May  and  return- 
ing in  October.  He  was  seeking  the  im- 
pro\ement  of  his  health,  which  at  that  time 
was  somewhat  impaired.  On  his  return  from 
this  prolonged  stay  among  the  cod  fishermen 
he  was  t|uite  well  again,  and  in  November 
of  that  year  he  was  married  to  Miss  Theresa, 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Sophia  (Bray- 
ton)  Flagg,  of  Hubbard  ton,  Vermont.  She 
was  born  in  that  place,  and  was  a  gradu- 
ate of  Castleton  Seminary.  She  was  a  very 
successful  teacher  and  had  taught  a  number 
of  terms  previous  to  her  marriage.  The 
young  couple  came  on  immediately  to  their 
Wisconsin  home  and  here  four  children  were 
born  to  them — James  F.,  Jane,  Ada  Theresa 
and  Dean  Tyler.  At  the  birth  of  the  latter 
the  mother  passed  away.  James  I",  was 
born  October  12,  1851,  and  is  now  living  in 
Denver,  Colorado.  The  other  children  died 
in  infancy  and  early  childhood,  James  F. 
was  married  in  September,  1885,  to  Miss 
Alma  Curtiss,  the  daughter  of  Elbridge  Cur- 
tiss,  of  Lowville.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  two  children — Arthur  and  Mary 
'J'heresa.  Mrs.  Robinson  died  in  1892;  he 
married  again  in  1892,  Miss  Flelen  Scott 
becoming  his  wife.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Smith  J.  and  Marian  Scott,  of  Lowville. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children — 
Marian  Theresa  and  James  Scott,  who  died 
in  infancy. 

James  Flagg  had  a  large  family,  which 
he  reared  upon  an  extensive  Vermont  farm. 
They  were:  Theophilus,  born  in  1819,  and 
died  in  Parishville,  New  York,  at  an  ad- 


vanced age;  James  Madison,  1811,  died  in 
Chicago;  Amasa  Wesson.  1813,  died  in 
Castleton,  July  9,  1870;  Orlando  died  in 
Kaukauna,  Wisconsin,  in  1896;  Stephen  B. 
d-ed  in  Hubbardton,  \^ermont ;  Minerva 
married  Elisha  Cook,  and  is  now  living  in 
Leicester  Junction,  X'ermont ;  Theresa,  the 
wife  of  J.  \\'.  Robinson,  was  born  August 
20,  1821,  and  died  December  2,  1855; 
Charles  is  now  living  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Hubbardton;  and  Horatio  died  in  early 
manhood.  These  children,  on  the  mother's 
siile,  had  an  uncle,  the  Rew  Durlin  L.  Bray- 
ton,  who  was  a  missionary  in  Burmah  for 
nearly  sixty  years  and  who  recently  died. 
Two  children  died  in  early  childhood. 
Conspicuous  among  these  children  was 
James  Madison,  who  graduated  at  Middle- 
bury  College,  in  1835,  and  served  one  year 
in  the  college  as  a  tutor.  He  studied  law 
and  settled  in  southern  Lidiana.  While 
there  he  was  employed  by  the  heirs  in  a  dis- 
puted will  case  involving  eighty  thousand 
dollars  in  mining  lands  in  the  mountains  of 
Tennessee.  Mr.  Flagg's  fee  was  one-half 
if  he  won  the  suit  for  the  heirs.  He  handled 
the  case  skillfully,  met  all  the  assaults  of 
the  enemy  boldly,  and  won  the  suit  and  got 
liis  fee.  A  son  of  Amasa  Wesson  is  the 
Rev.  Rufus  Cushman  Flagg,  D.  D.,  now 
president  of  Ripon  College,  Wisconsin. 

The  second  wife  of  J.  W.  Robinson  was 
Sarepta,  the  daughter  of  Halsey  Scovill,  of 
the  state  of  New  York.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  1856,  and  this  union  was  blessed 
by  two  children — Edward  Miner,  who  was 
born  in  Columbus,  Wisconsin,  in  1858,  and 
married  Clara  Bowman.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Adam  Bowman,  of  Lodi,  and  had  one 
son,  Adam  James.  Horton  Boardman,  her 
other  son,  was  born  in  Columbus,  Wisconsin, 
in  1859.  He  married  Miss  Mina  Thomas, 
the  daughter  of  Enoch  Thomas,  of  Poy- 
nette,  Wisconsin.      Horton  died    in     1888. 

Li   1856  Mr.   Robinson,  at  the  time  of 


504 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


his  second  marriage,  left  his  farm,  and  re- 
sided in  Columlnis  fur  aliout  live  years  as  a 
buyer  of  wheat  and  other  farm  produce. 
\\  heat  was  then  a  staple  commodity  in  Co- 
lumbia county.  Mr.  Robinson  exchanged 
his  Columlius  pn.iiierty,  consisting  of  two 
warehouses,  a  house  and  lot,  for  eighty  acres 
of  land  adjoining  his  home  farm.  He  came 
back  to  the  farm,  and  turned  his  attention  to 
stock  raising,  taking  much  interest  in  Per- 
cheron  horses.  It  was  largely  through  his 
efforts  that  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Low- 
ville  was  instituted.  He  was  an  elder  in 
this  organization  for  many  years.  He 
voted  for  Henry  Clay  for  president  and  has 
..been  an  active  working  Republican  since  the 
organization  of  that  party.  He  was  town 
clerk  for  several  years,  assessor  and  school 
superintendent  He  has  always  been  a  de- 
moted friend  of  the  public  schools,  doing 
•what  he  could  to  promote  their  efficiency. 
In  1 89  5,  having  passed  the  allotment  of  three 
score  years  and  ten,  he  commenced  selling 
his  farm  in  parts  as  o])portunities  occurred, 
and,  after  closing  out  the  whole,  bought  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in 
Lowville,  which  he  now  owns. 

Peter  Robinson,  the  grandfather  of  J. 
W.,  was  born  in  Andover,  Massachusetts, 
in  1757.  He  married  Jane  Carlton  in  1781. 
He  emigrated  with  most  of  the  Robinson 
family  in  1790,  and  settled  for  a  time  at 
Georgia,  Vermont,  where  Dean  Tyler  was 
born  in   1794. 

Dean  Tyler  Robinson  married  Tryphena 
Whipple  in  181 5,  and  died  in  1862,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-nine.  Peter  Robinson  was  the 
father  of  nine  children :  Nancy,  born  in 
1781;  William  R.,  1784;  Pohy,  1786; 
Amelia,  1788;  Joseph,  1790;  Betsy,  1792; 
Dean  Tyler,  June  4,  1794;  Peter,  1799;  and 
James,  who  died  in  1891.  W^illiam  was  the 
father  of  one  son,  Charles,  born  in  1823,  and 
several  daughters.  Joseph  was  the  fa- 
ther of  one  son,  Dean  Tvler,  born  in   St. 


Albans,  Vermont,  in  1828,  who  is  now  living 
in  Rock  Island,  Illinois.  Spencer  R.,  a  son 
of  Dean  Tyler,  was  born  in  Rock  Island  in 
1870.  Peter  Robinson  had  three  sons  and 
one  daughter,  and  the  onl}-  one  of  the  family 
riow  living  is  the  Rev.  Charles  E.  Robinson, 
v.ho  married  Clara  Vale.  He  is  now  the 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  at  Scran- 
ton,  Pennsylvania.  They  ha\'e  one  son, 
Allen  R.  James  Robinson  died  in  Parish- 
ville,  New  York,  in  1891.  He  was  the  fa- 
ther of  one  son,  Porter,  and  three  daughters. 
Dean  Tyler  Robinson,  the  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  had  four  children — Sarah 
A.,  born  1817;  she  married  Edward  H.  Deni- 
si;>n.  of  Castleton,  and  was  the  mother  of 
four  children.  Pier  daughter  Anna  mar- 
ried the  Rev.  John  A.  Williams,  twenty 
years  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Peacham,  Vermont.  Of  her  sons,  William 
is  a  merchant  at  Pittsford,  Vermont;  Francis 
was  appointed  consul  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  Edward  was  an  assayer  and  died  out 
v;est.  Samuel  M.  Robinson  was  born  Au- 
gust 31,  181 8,  in  Hubbardton,  Vermont, 
ar.d  moved  to  Castleton,  when  a  child.  He 
went  to  Cincinnati  in  1840,  and  shortly 
after  to  Watertown,  New  York,  where  he 
practiced  dentistry  nearly  forty  years.  In 
1846  he  married  Anna  Foreman,  of  Seneca 
Falls,  New  York.  A  daughter  of  this  couple 
was  Anna  F.,  who  was  born  August  20, 
1849,  at  which  time  the  wife  and  mother 
passed  away.  Mr.  Robinson  married  Maria 
PI.  Bingham  May  16,  1851,  and  she  became 
the  mother  of  four  children — Allen  B., 
Angle,  John  Sterling  and  John  Carlton. 
Allen  died  in  1877.  Sterling  married  Miss 
May  Flower  in  1879.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  George  W.  Flower,  and  a  niece  of  ex- 
Governor  Roswell  P.  Flower,  of  New  York. 
He  died  September  19,  1896,  leaving  a  son, 
Anson  F.  Robinson,  born  September  .23, 
1 88 1,  in  Watertown,  New  York.  He  is  now 
in  Columbia  College,  New  York  City,  with 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


505 


his  mother  and  other  members  of  his  fam- 
ily, who  are  in  the  banking  business  at  No. 
49  Broadway.  The  biograpliy  of  James 
Whipple  forms  the  theme  of  this  writing. 
The  youngest  daughter  of  this  family,  Jane 
Carlton,  who  was  born  September  i8,  1845, 
died  December  3,  1855. 

Asa  Robinson,  the  father  of  Peter  Rob- 
inson, was  born  in  Andover,  Massachusetts, 
in  1725,  and  married  Maria  Hovey,  who 
was  born  in  1723.  Dean  Robinson,  the  fa- 
ther of  Asa,  was  born  in  Ando\-er  in  1699, 
and  married  Sarah  Perley  in  1723.  Dean 
Robinson  was  born  in  1672  and  married 
Miss  Mary  (her  parents'  names  are  not  legi- 
ble in  the  record)  in  1697.  Joseph  Robinson 
\vas  born  about  1640,  and  married  Miss 
Phoebe  Dean,  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dean,  the  first  pastor  of  the  first  church  of 
Andover.  Isaac,  the  father  of  Joesph  Rob- 
inson, married  Margaret  Hanford,  of  Scitu- 
ate,  Massachusetts.  The  Rev.  John  Roljin- 
son  was  born  in  1575,  entered  Cambridge 
University,  Eng'land,  in  1590,  and  was  made 
Fellow  of  the  University  in  1599.  He 
was  pastor  of  the  Pilgrim  church  in  Hol- 
land, and  died  in  Leyden  in  1625.  His 
widow  and  son,  Isaac,  followed  the  Pilgrims 
to  America  and  settled  in  Scituate.  In  clos- 
ing this  article  Mr.  Robinson  says:  "If  any 
family  has  a  right  to  be  grateful  for  an 
h.onored  ancestry  we  have  reason  to  be  so, 
for  we  are  descendants  of  so  great  and  good 
a  man  as  John  Robinson,  the  minister  of  the 
Pilgrims."  The  historian  adds  that  to  the  eye 
of  the  thoughtful  student  of  history  there 
is  scarcely  more  significant  scene  than  the 
affecting  parting  of  Pastor  Robinson  with 
I'lis  faithful  followers  on  the  sands  of  the 
Holland  shore  as  they  were  about  to  sail 
for  the  new  world,  leaving  him  behind,  and 
he  took  up  the  Bible  and  pressed  against  the 
heart  of  their  leader,  saying  "Take  this 
book,  and  treasure  it,  for  new  light  is  about 
to  break  out  of  its  sacred  pages."    The  light 


has  burst,  and  the  world  is  made  anew,  and 
its  present  peace  and  liberty  is  largely  due 
to  the  piety  and  dex'otion  of  such  men  as 
Pastor  Robinson. 


BENJAMIN  SHELDON  BEMENT. 

Benjamin  Sheldon  Bement,  one  of  the 
most  successful  farmers  of  Del]  Prairie 
township,  Adams  county,  is  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  that  region.  He  was  born  in 
Mason  township,  Cass  county,  Michigan, 
August  8,  1839,  and  was  the  son  of  David 
and  Roxana  (Schutt)  Bement.  The  father 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  was  of 
English  lineage.  He  moved  with  his  father, 
Sheldon  Bement,  in  1820,  while  still  a  youth, 
to  Manchester  township,  Ontario  county. 
New  York,  where  his  father  followed  his 
trade,  that  of  carpenter,  and  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  in  New  York.  Our  sul)- 
ject's  father  was  born  October  12,  1813,  and 
went  to  Cass  county,  Michigan,  in  1838, 
where  he  resided  on  a  farm  until  his  death, 
December  8,  1879.  He  was  a  reserved  man, 
careful  in  business  detail,  and  was  success- 
ful., and  enjoyed  the  respect  of  all.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  born  June  21, 
181 9,  in  Ontario  county.  New  York,  and 
was  the  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Chris- 
tina (Bruzee)  Schutt,  who  were  of  Holland 
Dutch  descent.  Her  father  was  a  thrifty 
farmer,  and  Ixjth  narents  tlied  in  Cass  coun- 
ty, Michigan.  Mrs.  David  Bement  passed 
away  in  Cass  county,  Michigan,  June  26, 
1889. 

The  family  to  which  our  subject  be- 
longed consisted  of  the  following  children : 
George,  residing  in  Ontwa  township,  Cass 
county.  Michigan ;  Edwin,  also  a  resident 
of  Cass  county;  Harley  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-six  vears  :  Martha,  who  married  Lewis 
Thompson,  and  died  in  Michigan;  and  Ar- 


506 


COMPEA'DIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


tliur  died  in  childhood.  Benjamin  S.  Be- 
nient  attended  tiie  district  school  and  re- 
ceived a  good  edncation.  He  worked  in  a 
grist-mill  for  a  few  years  after  he  reached 
Ins  manhood,  but  later  li\-ed  on  a  farm  in 
Cntwa  township,  Cass  county,  remaining 
there  until  1872.  He  then  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, and  purchased  a  farm  in  section  12, 
Dell  Prairie  township,  Adams  county.  The 
"Campbell  Railroad"  had  been  surveyed 
across  the  county,  and  land  values  were  at 
the  highest  mark.  His  original  farm,  c(.)m- 
prising  two  hundred  acres,  cost  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  he  paid  five  hundred  cash 
at  the  tune  of  purchase,  and  has  since  can- 
celletl  the  balance.  Eighty  acres  were 
cleared,  and  he  was  successiiU  in  his  busi- 
ness. He  now  possesses  nine  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  some  of  which  has  been  ap- 
portioned among  his  sons.  He  has  raised 
some  fine  crops  ot  cl.over  seed,  and  also  gives 
some  attention  to  stock  raisnig.  He  erect- 
ed a  fine  brick  residence  in  1S84,  which  is 
one  of  the  best  in  Adams  county,  and  the 
other  buddmgs  and  improvements  on  the 
farm  are  of  the  best  and  Inult  with  an  idea 
to  comfort  and  convenience. 

Mr.  Bement  enlisted  at  the  first  call  for 
volunteers  in  1861,  in  Company  A,  Chandler 
Horse  Guards,  which  was  recruited  at  Cold- 
water,  Michigan.  He  served  three  months 
and  twelve  days,  when  the  company  was  dis- 
charged. He  then  enlisted  for  three  years, 
but  owing  to  some  technicality  in  the  en- 
listment rolls  the  regiment  was  mustered 
out. 

Our  subject  was  married  January  25, 
1862,  to  Eliza  Kellogg,  daughter  of  Daniel 
and  Mary  Ann  (Neal)  Kellogg,  of  Ontwa 
township,  Cass  county,  Michigan.  Mrs.  Be- 
ment was  born  in  Bloomfield,  Ontario  coun- 
ty. New  York,  and  her  father  was  a  native 
of  the  same  county,  and  was  of  English 
descent.  Her  mother  was  born  in  England 
'  of  Scotch  parentage  and    died    in    Adams 


county,  ^Visconsin,  in  1880.  aged  seventy- 
three  years.  Three  sons  and  one  daughter 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bement,, 
as  follows:  Georgia,  who  married  Andrew 
J.  Tuesley,  and  wdao  died  March  31,  1888, 
aged  twenty-five  years;  Sidney,  farming  in 
Dell  Prairie  township;  Harley,  also  farming 
in  Dell  Prairie  township;  and  Frank,  who 
conducts  the  homestead  farm.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bement  have  four  grandchildren.  Mrs. 
Bement  was  reared  in  the  Baptist  faith, 
and  is  a  lady  of  refinement  and  kindly  feel- 
ings. Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Delle 
I,odge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  at  Kilbourn,  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  order  for  over  thirty 
years.  He  adhered  to  the  Greenback  move- 
ment in  early  years,  and  of  late  has  become 
afliliated  with  the  Populist  party.  He  is  a 
gentleman  who  keeps  posted  on  imp(  .1 1 
issues,  and  is  strong  in  his  convictions.  He 
has  filled  several  township  offices,  and  is  one 
of  the  prominent  men  of  his  community,  and 
highly  esteemed  for  his  good  (qualities. 


REV.    JOSEPH    FRANKLIN    BACON. 

Rev.  Joseph  Franklin  Bacon,  who  is 
practically  living  a  retired  life  in  Kilbourn 
City,  was  l)orn  in  Seneca  county,  New  York,, 
h'ebruary  7,  1824,  a  son  of  Noah  B.  and 
Charlotte  (York)  Bacon.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  Elijah  Bacon,  who  came  to 
this  country  from  England  in  cokjuial  days, 
and  aided  the  colonies  in  their  struggle  for 
independence  as  a  soldier  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary war.  The  father  of  our  subject 
was  born  in  Cayuga  county.  New  York,  De- 
cember 19,  1799,  and  is  still  living,  his  home 
being  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  He  is  a  man 
of  considerable  literary  talent  and  on  each 
birthday  writes  a  poem.  In  1842  he  came 
to  Wisconsin  and  first  located  in  Muk- 
wonago,   Waukesha  county,   but  afterward 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


507 


lived  in  La  Grange,  this  state,  and  still  later 
in  Adams  county.  His  wife,  who  was  a 
native  of  Canada,  died  in  White  Creek, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in  May,  1874,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Her  parents 
^vere  of  Holland  descent  and  died  in  Batavia, 
New  York. 

In  early  life  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
learned  the  blacksmith's  trade  in  New  York, 
and  after  coming  to  this  state,  at  the  age 
of  nineteen  years,  lie  followed  that  trade  in 
Alukwonago  for  several  years.  Subsecjuent- 
ly  he  conducted  a  shop  in  La  Grange  and 
also  did  more  or  less  wagon  work.  He  next 
made  his  home  in  Oregon,  Dane  county, 
wdiere  he  erected  a  stone  shop  and  carried 
on  business  until  his  removal  to  Easton, 
Adams  county,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade 
and  also  engaged  in  farming.  Later  he 
lived  two  years  at  \\'hite  Creek  and  ten 
3'eaTs  at  Briggsville,  where  he  carried  on  a 
shop  for  a  time,  and  from  there  removed 
to  Portage,  but  since  1895  he  has  made  his 
home  in   Kilbourn   City. 

On  the  27th  of  July,  1845,  -^1''-  Bacon 
married  Miss  Ann  Algard,  a  nati\e  of  I'itts- 
burg,  Penns}'lvania,  and  a  daughter  of  Jo- 
seph and  Eliza  (Remer)  Algard.  Of  the 
nine  children  born  Xn  them,  one  died  in  in- 
fanc}'  and  three  died  of  diphtheria  within 
eight  days  at  Easton,  Wisconsin — Laura  D., 
at  the  age  of  eleven  years ;  Henrietta,  at  the 
age  of  six;  and  Jay,  at  the  age  of  three. 
The  others  are  as  follows :  William,  a 
farmer  of  Easton  township ;  Frank,  who 
was  drowned  at  Briggsville  in  his  twentieth 
year;  Charlotte  Eliza,  wife  of  H.  S.  Worden, 
of  Portage;  Bertia  F.,  a  resident  of  Madi- 
son, Wisconsin ;  and  Carrie  I\Iay,  at  home. 

]Mr.  Bacon  experienced  religion  at  a  re- 
\i\al  meeting  in  Bath,  Steuben  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  was  at  once  appointed  class 
leader.  He  began  preaching  at  that  place 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  became  a 
great  Bible  student,  but    was    accused    of 


skepticism  and  infidelity  by  the  elders  of  the 
church  on  account  of  his  peculiar  views. 
He  invited  his  neighbors  and  associates  to 
come  and  hear  him  express  his  views  on  a 
certain  date,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service 
was  congratulated  by  a  L'ni\-ersalist  min- 
ister, who  ha]i])ened  to  Ije  i)resent — the  first 
person  of  that  faith  whom  he  had  e\-er  met. 
He  preached  occasionally  thereafter.  Init  was 
not  identified  with  any  church.  \\'hile  livinsr 
at  Easton,  Wisconsin,  he  began  to  hold  regu- 
lar services.  He  joined  the  Universalist 
conference  and  was  ordained  a  minister  at 
Plainville,  Adams  county.  Subsequently 
he  organized  a  society  at  Briggsville  and 
built  a  church  there.  Though  the  first  build- 
ing was  destroyed  by  a  cyclone,  in  two  years 
he  succeeded  in  rebuikling  it,  devoting  four 
years  of  almost  constant  laJ)or  to  the  build- 
ing of  that  church.  For  some  years  past  he 
has  not  been  acti\'ely  engaged  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  though  he  is  frequently 
called  upon  to  officiate  at  funerals.  He  has 
always  been  a  contributor  t(j  religious  pub- 
lications and  still  does  more  or  less  literary 
work.  Even  while  holding  regular  religious 
services,  he  labored  daily  at  his  trade,  and 
is  still  noted  for  his  industrious  habits,  as 
well  as  his  honoral)le  and  upright  life. 


JAMES  L.  BONHAM. 

James  L.  Bonham,  a  leading  and  promi- 
nent attorney  of  Baraboo,  \Visconsin,  is  one 
of  the  native  citizens  of  Sauk  county,  his 
birth  ha\-ing  occurretl  in  Troy  township, 
August  28,  1862.  His  parents  were  George 
and  Ruhamah  E.  (Jacoby)  Bonham.  The 
father  was  born  in  Buckinghamshire.  Eng- 
land, October  15.  1821,  and  in  his  native 
land  learned  the  trade  of  a  baker  and  also 
worked  as  a  common  laborer.  While  a 
young  man  he  became  interested  in  religious 


508 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


matters  and  was  made  a  licensed  preacher 
in  the  Methodist  church.  As  earlv  as  1835 
he  came  to  the  United  States  and  first  lo- 
cated near  jMansfield,  Ohio.  A  few  years 
later  he  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Sauk 
county.  Wisconsin,  locating-  on  a  farm  in 
Troy  township.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
organizing  the  Methodist  church  in  this  sec- 
tion and  often  officiated  at  funerals  and  on 
other  occasions  when  no  regular  minister 
was  at  hand,  his  services  always  being  gratu- 
itously given.  He  also  took  an  active  inter- 
est in  organizing  and  maintaining  good 
schools,  though  he  himself  never  attended 
school  but  eighteen  days.  He  was,  iK^wever, 
a  natural  orator  and  a  tireless  student  who 
kept  himself  well  informed  on  the  leading 
topics  and  questions  of  the  day.  He  died 
September  4,  1892,  honored  and  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him.  His  widow  is  still 
living  in  Spring  Green,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three  years.  She  was  born  in  Stark  county, 
Ohio,  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch  parentage,  and 
was  married  May  5,  1853.  To  Air.  and 
Mrs.  Bonham  the  following  children  were 
born;  Susan  E.,  who  married  Benjamin 
Young  and  is  now  deceased;  HoU.is  G.,  who 
died  near  Nelson,  North  akota;  Phoebe  A., 
wife  of  Amos  D.  Henry,  of  Kempton,  North 
Dakota;  Lucy  L.,  wife  of  W.  H.  Palmer, 
of  Marshall,  Minnesota;  Tames  L.,  our  sub- 
ject; John  E.,  a  farmer  of  Troy  township, 
Sauk  county;  and  William  B.,  who  operates 
the  homestead  farm. 

After  leaving  the  common  schools  James 
L.  Bonham  entered  Lawrence  Unix'ersitv, 
Appleton,  \\  isconsin,  where  he  pursued  a 
scientific  course  and  was  graduated  with  the 
class  of  1889.  He  then  matriculated  in  the 
law  school  of  the  State  University  at  Madi- 
son, and  was  graduated  from  that  institu- 
tion in  1 89 1.  He  at  once  opened  an  office 
in  Baraboo  and  has  since  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profes- 
sion, making  a  s])ecialty    of    probate    law. 


Soon  after  coming  here  he  was  appointed 
police  justice  of  the  city,  which  office  he 
most  creditably  filled  until  the  fall  of  1897, 
\'  hen  he  was  appointed  justice  of  the  peace, 
for  the  first  ward. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1895.  ^I''-  Bon- 
ham was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  M. 
Grace  Stanley,  a  native  of  Baraboo  and  a 
daughter  of  William  Stanley,  a  leading 
citizen  (jf  that  place,  and  they  now  have  a 
little  daughter,  Mabel  L.  They  attend  the 
Methodist  church,  where  Mr.  Bonham  has 
sung  in  the  choir  for  mam'  years.  He  is 
also  second  tenor  in  the  Columbian  Male 
Quartet,  an  organization  of  considerable 
local  repute,  which  is  engaged  for  many  pub- 
lic occasions  throughout  the  state.  He  is  a 
prominent  member  of  Baraboo  Lodge,  No. 
47,  K.  P..  in  which  he  has  passed  through 
all  the  principal  chairs  and  has  recently  been 
elected  chancellor  commander.  He  is  also 
captain  of  the  Uniform  Rank  of  Ivnights 
of  Pythias,  and  a  member  of  Baralioo  Lodge, 
No.  34,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  Since  attaining  his 
majority  he  has  affiliated  with  the  Republi- 
can partv  and  has  stumped  the  county  in 
three  different  campaigns,  speaking  in  nearly 
every  voting  precinct.  Genial  and  affable 
in  manner,  he  makes  many  friends  and  has 
the  happy  faculty  of  being  able  to  retain 
them. 


JAMES  AUGUSTIN  SWEANY. 

James  Augustin  Sweany,  an  influential 
farmer  of  Fort  ^Vinnebago  township,  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  represents  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  progressive  families 
of  that  locality.  He  was  born  in  Lunv, 
county  Londonderry,  L^elaiul,  August  i, 
1840,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (  Mc- 
Willjams)  Sweany,  natives  of  the  same 
county.  His  ])aternal  grandparents,  Law- 
rence and  Mrs.  (Ivelle_\')  Sweany,  livetl  and 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


509 


(liecl  in  Iroland,  hut  tlic  maternal  grandfa- 
ther. i\ndre\v  McW'iUiams,  came  to  Amer- 
ica about  1S30  and  located  in  the  vicinity  of 
Lake  Champlain,  his  death  occurring  at 
Burlington.  X'ermont.  Several  of  his  sons 
became  prominent  citizens  of  that  locality. 
and  there  representatives  of  the  family  still 
li\e. 

In  his  natix'e  land  John  Sweany.  the  fa- 
ther of  our  suljject,  followed  the  occupation 
of  a  farmer  and  linen  wea\-er  until  1842, 
when  he  came  to  the  new  world,  being  eight 
weeks  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  from  Belfast 
tc  Quebec.  Canada.  He  first  located  in 
Burlington.  Vermont;  later  he  spent  two  or 
tl'.ree  years  in  Plattsburg.  New  York,  and 
two  in  St.  John's.  Canada,  where  he  and 
his  elder  sons  were  employed  in  a  glass  fac- 
tory. Subsequentlv  they  engaged  in  the 
same  business  near  Hookset.  New  Haiujj- 
shire.  In  1849  the  father  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin by  way  of  the  lakes  to  Milwaukee,  where 
be  arrived  June  15,  and  first  located  in  Sun 
Prairie,  Dane  county,  but  two  months  later 
came  to  Fort  \\'innebago,  which  had  re- 
cently been  vacated  by  the  garrison.  He 
made  a  squatter's  claim  on  lands  which  had 
been  granted  to  the  state  by  the  United 
States  for  improvements  on  the  Fox  river, 
and  a  number  of  years  later  bought  the 
same.  The  odd  numbered  sections  were  in- 
cluded in  this  grant.  Mr.  Sweany  built  a 
log  house  on  section  26,  which  was  the 
home  of  the  family  for  eleven  years,  and  to 
his  original  purchase  he  added  from  time 
to  time  until,  he  and  his  sons  had  about  one 
thousand  acres  before  his  death,  most  of 
vdiich  is  still  owned  by  the  family.  He 
cnntinued  to  acti\elv  engage  in  farming 
until  a  short  time  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  December  t,,  1874.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  St.  Mary's  Catholic 
church,  at  Portage,  of  which  he  was  al- 
ways a  prominent  member,  and  to  w'hich  he 
was  a  liberal  contributor.     On  becoming  an 


American  citizen  he  ga\'e  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  remained  (jne  of 
its  stanch  supporters.  Idis  worthy  wife 
sur\-ived  him  many  years,  dving  January  29, 
1896,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years, 
retaining  her  physical  and  mental  faculties 
until  the  last.  Thev  were  people  of  more 
than  average  intelligence,  and  took  great 
pains  in  cultivating  the  mental  and  moral 
((ualities  of  their  offspring,  most  of  whom 
attended  high  schools  or  colleges  and  be- 
came capable  men  and  women,  several  (occu- 
pying important  public  positions.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a,  brief  record  of  the  children : 
Lawrence  is  ex-municipal  judge  of  Pales- 
tine. Texas :  Anilrew  is  mentioned  below ; 
John  was  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
glass  at  Pittsburg.  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
chetl  in  1892,  aged  fiftv-nine  vears :  Charles, 
a  resident  of  Fort  Winnebago  township,  Co- 
lumbia county,  Wisconsin,  died  in  1895. 
ageil  fifty-nine;  Isabella  C,  James  A.  and 
Michael  A.  occupy  the  old  iiomestead ; 
Bernard  J.  died  in  1865.  aged  twent}'  }-ears : 
Mary  J.  is  Sister  Mary  Philip,  of  the  Do- 
minican Order  at  Sinsinawa  Mound,  Wis- 
consin. 

From  earlv  liinhood  James  A.  Sweanv 
lias  residetl  on  the  home  farm  in  Fort  Win- 
Ticbago  township.  He  attended  Regiopolis 
College.  Kingston,  Ontario,  and  alsi")  took 
an  elective  course  at  the  Wisconsin  Cni\er- 
sity  with  the  view  of  fitting  himself  for  the 
legal  profession,  but  owing  to  illness  and 
death  in  the  family  he  did  not  complete  his 
studies  at  that  institution,  where  he  was  a 
classmate  of  John  C.  Spooner.  now  United 
States  senator  from  Wisconsin.  Since  1872 
he  and  his  brother,  Michael,  lia\e  carried 
on  the  homestead,  consisting  of  over  six 
hundred  acres  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion and  well  improved.  Thev  .give  con- 
siderable attention  to  the  raising  of  high 
grade  stock,  and  in  connection  with  his  agri- 
cultural pursuits  our  subject  has  at  different 


510 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


times  been  interested  in  other  enterprises, 
having  taught  school  for  several  years  in 
the  surrounding  country.  He  always  keeps 
abreast  of  the  times,  being  well  informed 
on  the  leading  questions  and  issues  of  the 
day.  and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  For  several  terms  he  was 
chairman  of  the  town  of  Fort  \\'innebago, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  building  commit- 
tee which  had  charge  of  the  erection  of 
the  county  insane  asylum  at  Wyocena  in 
1 891.  He  was  the  candidate  of  his  party  for 
county  clerk  in  1874,  and  clerk  of  the  court 
in  1878,  and  received  a  very  flattering  vote, 
but  as  the  Democrats  were  in  the  minority 
he  failed  of  election.  He  is,  howe\'er,  one 
of  the  most  influential  antl  prominent  men 
of  his  community. 

Andrew  Sweany,  a  lirother  of  James  A., 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Luny,  county  Lon- 
donderry, Ireland,  October  29,  1829,  and 
died  in  Fort  Winnebago  township,  Colum- 
bia county,  Wisconsin,  March  20,  1873. 
He  came  with  the  family  to  America,  and  be- 
fore their  remo\al  to  Wisconsin,  he  engaged 
in  school  teaching  in  the  east  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  }-ears.  The  following  year  he  com- 
menced stud}'  f(.ir  the  priesthootl,  but  ow- 
ing to  ill  health  never  entered  the  church. 
Some  time  previous  to  his  death  he  was  a 
student  at  St.  Francis  Seminary,  Milwau- 
kee. He  was  elected  town  supervisor  of 
Fort  Winnebago  in  1852;  town  clerk  in 
1855;  and  was  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  the  poor  in  1S57  and  1858.  being  one  of 
the  chief  jiromotors  of  the  system  still  in 
vogue  in  caring  for  the  poor  of  the  county. 
From  an  obituary  written  by  a  personal 
friend  and  acquaintance  of  this  gentleman, 
we  quote  the  following: 

"He  was  of  remarkable  depth  of  mind, 
gifted  with  a  clear,  well-poised  intellect  and 
good  natural  endowments,  his  apprehension 
quick  and  judgment  accurate.  No  one  could 
more  nicelv  or   justlv  discriminate  the  de- 


fects or  excellencies  of  a  performance  or  e.K- 
hibition  of  talent  or  genius,  but  his  good 
sense  and  self-diffidence  generally  sup- 
pressed the  declaration  of  his  sentiments. 
He  \alued  and  ap]:)reciated  erudition  in  all 
its  branches  and  for  all  its  legitimate  pur- 
poses, and  strove  patiently  and  laboriously 
to  acquire  an  extensive  knowledge  of  sound 
literature.  He  was  a  rapid,  correct  and  in- 
structive writer.  He  could  speak,  too,  and 
when  he  did  so  it  told  with  effect — it  was 
always  to  the  point.  He  was  a  firm,  con- 
sistent and  conscientious  Catholic,  but  his 
homage  was  a  reasonable  one.  He  was  not 
fanatic  or  visionary.  His  veneration  for 
religion  and  its  ministers  was  not  servile 
or  forced,  not  springing  from  ignorance  or 
superstition,  but  voluntary  and  enlightened. 
For  those  who  differed  from  him  in  his  re- 
ligious convictions  he  retained  neither  hatred 
nor  prejudice.  His  nature  was  to  show  re- 
spect and  proper  appreciation  for  the  honest 
opinion  and  convictions  of  his  fellow  crea- 
tures, Ijut  he  did  not  display  aggressiveness 
e\-en  when  con\'inced  of  the  justness  of  his 
cause ;  hence  the  respect  in  which  his  opin- 
ions were  e\-er  held  by  those  who  did  not 
agree  or  coincide  with  them." 


REV.  ROBERT  B.  CONDON. 

Re\-.  Robert  B.  Condon,  of  Reedsburg, 
Sauk  countv.  is  a  native  of  Chicago,  Illinois. 
His  father  was  Thomas  D.  Condon  and  his 
mother,  still  living,  Katherine  M.(Carberry) 
Condon. 

Father  Condon  completed  his  classical 
and  philosophical  courses  at  Camsius  Col- 
lege, Buffalo,  New  York,  in  1 891,  graduating 
with  the  highest  honors,  first  in  his  class. 
I'pon  his  graduation  he  received  the  degree 
of  A.  B.,  the  next  year  the  degree  of  A.  M. 
He  pursued   his   theological   studies   at    St. 


REY,  ROBERT  B.  COHDOS. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


513 


Thomas'  Seminary,  St.  Paul,  ami  at  St. 
John's  Seminary,  Collegeville,  Minnesota. 
After  his  ordination  Father  Condon  was  as- 
sistant pastor  of  St.  Gabriel's  church,  Prairie 
du  Chien.  He  was  then  appointed  pastor  of 
St.  Phillip's  church,  Crawford  county,  and 
is  now  pastor  of  Sacred  Heart  Catholic 
church,  Reedshurg,  with  W'infield  and  I^el- 
lona  as  missions. 

Father  Conxion  is  identified  with  many 
public  movements.  He  was  president  of  the 
committee  for  organizing  the  public  library 
of  Reedsburg.  He  was  one  of  the  first  con- 
tributors to  the  nubile  library  fund,  and  de- 
livered a  lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the  library. 
As  an  evidence  of  his  widespread  and  gen- 
eral p(jpularitv  he  was  prominently  men- 
tioned as  a  candidate  for  congress  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  from  his  district,  the  third 
Wisconsin,  but  positi\ely  declined  to  enter 
the  political  arena. 

An  extract  from  a  ^Memorial  Day  ad- 
dress of  Father  CondiMi  is  the  leading  ar- 
ticle in  the  Memorial  Day  pamphlet  issued 
by  the  state  department  of  public  instruc- 
tion for   1900. 

As  an  orator,  it  is  uni\ersany  conceded. 
Father  Contlon  has  no  superior,  and  as  a 
citizen  and  a  man  is  held  in  the  highest  es- 
teem. Ever  reatly  for  the  ad\-ancement  and 
welfare  of  his  fellow  man,  he  is  a  model 
worker,  sjiaring  no  time  or  labor  to  enhance 
the  advantage  and  enlarge  the  interests  of 
the  city,  county  and  state  of  his  residence. 
A  portrait  of  this  noble  Christian  gentleman, 
who  has  won  the  warmest  regard  of  all  who 
know  him,  is  shown  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 


JOHN  PARDEE,  Dece.\sed. 

John  Pardee,  deceased,  was,  during  his 
residence  in  Colum])ia  county,  one  of  the 
prominent  pioneer  settlers    of    Pardeeville, 


which  place  was  founded  by  his  son,  John 
S.  Pardee.  He  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Litch- 
field county,  Connecticut,  February  15,  1796, 
and  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Anna 
(Miner)  Pardee.  His  ancestors  came  from 
France  and  were  among  the  first  Huguenots 
to  come  to  America.  Fler  father  was  a  shoe- 
maker in  early  life  and  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  declining  years  on  a  farm  in  New 
York  state. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Eben- 
ezer Pardee  ( i )  was  married  to  Anna  Rich- 
ards. He  enlisted  in  Captain  Rogers'  Com- 
pany of  Continental  Troops  at  Cornwall, 
Connecticut,  and  participated  in  numerous 
engagements,  inckuHng  the  battle  of  White 
Plains,  where  he  was  severely  wounded  and 
died   there   a   few   davs   later. 

\Mien  our  subject  was  but  sixteen  years 
of  age  the  father's  death  forced  the  care 
of  the  fami]\-  u].)on  him.  He  served  during 
the  war  (jf  1812  as  a  lieutenant,  and  in  1824 
went  to  Wadsworth,  Ohio,  where  he  fol- 
lowed mercantile  pursuits  successfully  until 
1849,  ^vl^en  he  removed  to  Pardeeville.  Wis- 
consin, where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death. 

Our  subject  chose  Eunice  Chamlierlain, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Sarah  (Harris) 
Chamberlain,  as  his  life  com])anion.  Mrs. 
Pardee  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut, 
in  1800,  and  died  July  2.  1869.  Eight  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pardee, 
as  follows:  John  S.,  founder  of  Pardeeville, 
died  at  Juan  del  .Sur,  Nicaragua,  while 
ser\-ing  as  United  States  consul :  Caroline, 
who  Ijecame  the  wife  of  William  N.  Pardee, 
and  died  at  Battle  Creek,  Michigan ;  Emily, 
who  married  A.  M.  Hanchett  and  died  at 
Marshall,  Wisconsin:  Miner\-a,  widow  of 
Joseph  Ltley,  of  Hagerstown,  Maryland ; 
Charles  J.,  for  some  years  a  prominent  citi- 
zen of  Pardeeville,  died  at  Fox  Lake,  Wis- 
consin; Kirby  died  in  childhood:  Virginia 
Maria,  now  Mrs.  Y.  Ashley,  of  Pardeeville, 


514 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Wisconsin ;  and  Jane,    now    Mrs.    George 
Vilas,  of  Whitewater,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Pardee  died  in  Pardeevilie,  Wiscon- 
sin, June  26,  1873.  He  was  one  of  tlie  most 
prominent  members  of  tlie  Masonic  frater- 
nity, and  was  also  ]Trominent  in  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fell(>ws  and  large 
numbers  from  both  orders  participated  in 
the  funeral  services.  He  was  liberal  in  his 
political  and  religious  views,  and  was  firm 
in  his  convictions. 


HON.  YATES  ASHLEY,  Deceased. 

Among  the  prominent  and  influential  pio- 
neers of  Pardeevill.e  a  foremost  rank  was  ac- 
corded this  gentleman  during  his  residence 
there.  He  labored  zealously  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  community  and  was 
deeply  mourned  at  his  death.  Mr.  Ashley 
was  born  in  West  Bloomfield,  New  York, 
September  10,  1824,  and  was  a  son  of  Dan- 
■  iel  and  Hattie  (Cooper)  Ashley. 

Our  subject's  father  was  a  descendant 
of  Robert  Ashley,  of  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, who  was  a  prominent  pioneer  of 
that  place.  When  our  subject  was  about 
three  years  of  age  he  removed  with  his  par- 
ents to  Nunda,  New  York,  wliere  he  at- 
tended the  district  school  and  Nunda  Liter- 
ary Institution,  where  he  studied  surveying 
and  civil  engineering.  He  later  clerked  in 
a  store  there,  and  in  1844  he  went  to  Madi- 
son, Indiana,  and  later  visited  New  Orleans 
and  other  southern  cities.  His  former  em- 
ployer at  Nunda  solicited  him  to  join  him  at 
Milwaukee  and  accept  a  position  in  his 
store  there,  and  he  reached  that  city  in  Jan- 
uary, 1845.  He  then  made  a  trip  to  Fox 
Lake,  Wisconsin,  where  he  and  his  father 
er;tered  claim  to  six  hundred  acres  of  gov- 
ernment land,  and  our  subject  continued  his 
clerkship  in  Milwaukee  until  the  spring  of 


1849,  when  he  joined  John  S.  Pardee  at 
Pardeevilie,  and  assumed  charge  of  his  store 
tliere  and  grist-mill,  then  in  course  of  erec- 
t'on.  He  was  soon  afterward  appointed  the 
first  postmaster  of  Pardeevilie,  and  later 
spent  one  year  at  Whitewater  and  about  a 
year  in  the  engineer  ciirps  of  the  Alilwau- 
kee  &  LaCrosse  Railroad  CompauA-.  In 
April,  1855,  he  acquired  an  interest  in  the 
water  power  at  Pardeevilie  and  proceeded 
to  complete  the  mill,  which  began  operation 
in  November,  1856,  and  he  retained  an  in- 
terest in  the  property  until  his  death.  Mr. 
Ashley  was  appointed  mail  clerk  on  the  C. 
M.  &  St.  P.  R.  R.  March  3,  iSGy,  and  con- 
tinued as  head  clerk  until  1885,  when  he  was 
discharged  for  political  reasons,  being  the 
first  postal  clerk  in  Wisconsin  to  be  removed 
for  political  reasons  under  the  Cleveland  ad- 
ministration. 

Our  subject  was  married  October  4, 
1855,  to  Virginia  Maria  Pardee,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Eunice  (Chamberlain) 
Pardee,  of  Wadsworth,  Ohio.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  to  this  union,  who  were  as 
follows :  John  Stanley,  residing  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio;  Carrie  Frances  died  in  Octolier, 
1863,  aged  three  years;  Ernest  Partridge, 
of  Pardeevilie,  a  sketch  of  whom  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work;  Louis  Pardee,  of 
Pardeevilie ;  and  Jessie  Helen,  now  Mrs.  H. 
E.  Spear,  of  Pardeevilie.  John  Ashley  was 
born  in  Pardeevilie,  Wisconsin,  September 
12,  1856,  and  was  educated  at  the  i)ublic 
schools  and  at  a  pri\-ate  school  in  Ocono- 
mowoc.  Pie  learned  telegraphy  in  Pardee- 
vilie and  followed  the  same  at  different  sta- 
tions luitil  1890,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  local  managing  agent  of  the  M.  .\. 
Flanna  Company,  an  extensive  coal  company 
of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Louis  Pardee  i\shley 
was  born  June  15,  1868,  and  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools.  He  spent  several 
years  in  a  store  at  Pardeevilie,  and  one  year 
in  the  employ  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  R.  R. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


515 


Company,  and  later  conducted  a  mercantile 
establishment  at  Dorchester,  ^^'isc^)nsin, 
where  he  continued  about  five  years.  Since 
1895  he  has  de\'oted  his  attention  to  car- 
penter work  and  the  study  of  architecture. 
Hon.  Yates  Ashley  died  at  Pardeeville, 
June  2;^,  1897.  He  was  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  was  a 
charter  member  of  the  Wisconsin  Consistory 
of  Milwaukee,  and  a  charter  member  of 
J'ardee  Ludge  at  Pardeeville.  He  was  elect- 
ed a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  Legislature 
in  1862  and  re-elected  the  f(jllowing  year. 
In  1865  he  was  appointed  by  Go\'ernor  Lew- 
is as  a  trustee  of  the  Wisconsin  Hospital  for 
Insane  and  served  until  that  board  was  aliol- 
ished.     Politically  he  was  a  Republican. 


ERNEST  PARTRIDGE  ASHLEY. 

Ernest  Partridge  Ashley,  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Pardeeville,  commands  the  high- 
est esteem  and  respect  of  his  associates,  and 
was  an  active  candidate  for  sheriff  of  Co- 
lumbia county,  before  the  con\'ention  in 
1900.  He  is  public-spirited  and  progressive 
and  is  a  thorough  business  man  and  exem- 
plary citizen.  He  is  a  native  of  Pardeeville, 
and  was  born  February  15,  1862. 

A  biography  of  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, Hon.  Yates  Ashley,  appears  elsewhere 
in  this  work.  Ernest  P.  Ashley  attended  the 
pulilic  schocil  and  wnrked  in  his  father's  mill 
a  number  of  years.  He  entered  the  employ 
of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  R.  R.  Company  in 
1885,  and  became  a  conductor  on  the  North- 
ern division,  and  was  in  their  employ  about 
ten  years.  Since  1895  li^  ^''^'^  charge  of 
the  mill  at  Pardeeville  until  the  spring  of 
1900,  when  the  property  was  sold.  He  then 
became  a  candidate  for  sheriff  of  Columbia 
county. 

Our  subject   was   married   October   28, 


1896,  to  Effie  Amelia  Hood,  a  daughter  of 
Isaac  L.  antl  Amelia  (Ellis)  Hood,  of 
Beaver  Dam,  \Visconsin.  Mrs.  Ashley  was 
born  in  Beh'idere,  Illinois.  Her  father  was 
a  nati\-e  of  X'ew  York  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin and  settled  at  Ashippun  about  1861.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Forty-seventh  Regiment. 
Company  D,  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  died  in  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, July  23,  1865.  Mrs.  Ashley's  mother 
re-married  and  became  Mrs.  Lorenzo  D.  Liv- 
ermore,  and  now  resides  at  Beaver  Dam, 
W'isconsin.-  Two  children  ha\-e  been  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ashley,  both  of  whom  dietl  in 
infancy.  Mr.  Ashley  is  a  member  of  the 
O.  R.  C.  and  Ft.  Winnebago  Lodge  and  Ft. 
Winnebago  Chapter,  A.  F.  &  A.  .\l.  He 
is  a  man  of  prominence  in  his  communitv 
md  represented  the  village  on  the  countv 
board  of  supervisors  five  years,  and  is  now 
a  member  of  the  village  board  of  trustees, 
these  facts  attesting  the  confidence  reposed 
ir   him  by  his   fellow   citizens. 


CHARLES  H.  HOUGHTON. 

Nature  and  her  phenomena  make  every 
man  a  student,  but  it  is  only^hose  who  fol- 
low agriculture  as  a  pursuit  who  are  closely 
linked  with  her  many  forms.  They  have 
the  opportunity  to  observe  her  every  change, 
and  take  ad\-antage  of  the  more  propitious 
ones.  In  the  ]:)ursuit  of  this  calling  the 
gentleman  above  named  has  met  with  suc- 
cess, and  onl_v  through  keen  observance  and 
earnest  efforts.  He  has  been  a  resident  of 
Adams  township,  Adams  county,  for  thirty 
years  and  in  that  time  has  witnessed  the 
growth  and  development  of  that  region  and 
assisted  it  to  its  present  high  plane.  He 
had  naught  with  which  to  begin,  aside  from 
a  courageous  heart  and  willing  mind,  and 
a  good  ph\'siiiue.  and  is  now  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial men  of  his  community. 


516 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


Mr.  Houghton  was  born  at  Lyndon, 
Caledonia  county,  Vermont,  January  26, 
1833,  and  was  the  son  of  Horace  and  Ade- 
line (Balch)  Houghton,  natives  of  Ver- 
mont. His  father  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
and  went  to  Kenosha  county,  Wisconsin,  in 
1839,  where  he  remained  until  his  death  in 
1849.  T'le  mother  died  in  1884  and  is 
buried    in    Kenosha. 

Our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin  with  Iiis 
parents  when  six  years  of  age,  going  with 
teams  from  Vermont  to  St.  Joe,  Michigan, 
thence  by  boat  to  Chicago.  He  attended 
the  public  schools  and  received  a  good  edu- 
tion.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  learned 
the  trade  of  iron  molder  at  Kenosha  and 
\\orked  there  until  1861.  In  that  vear  he 
enlisted  in  Company  A,  McClellan  Dra- 
goons, and  served  as  body  guard  for  Gen- 
eral McClellan.  He  later  enlisted  in  the 
Twelfth  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  became  a 
member  of  Company  H.  He  saw  service 
at  Gettysburg,  and  was  under  Burnside, 
Hooker  and  Meade.  He  was  discharged  in 
1866,  his  being  the  last  Illinois  regiment 
mustered  out  of  service.  For  about  three 
years  after  he  left  the  service  he  worked  at 
his  trade  in  Kenosha,  and  in  1869  came  to 
Adams  township,  Adams  county,  and  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  kuul.  It  was 
almost  all  wikl  land,  and  the  only  dwelling 
was  a  log  cabin.  He  now  has  seventy  acres 
under  cultivation,  and  has  erected  a  com- 
fortable house  and  good  barns,  and  engages 
in  general  farming.  For  a  number  of  years 
after  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Adams 
county,  be  went  to  the  city  to  work  at  his 
trade  during  the  winter  months.  For  three 
j-ears  be  worked  for  the  Esterly  Harvester 
'Works,  at  \\'hitewater,  Wisconsin,  which 
furnished  him  lucrative  emi)loyment  for  the 
winter  and  early  spring  and  permitted  him 
to  work  the  farm  during  the  farming  season. 

Mr.  Houghton  was  married  in  1866  to 
Elizabeth  Park,  daughter  of  Elisha  Park,  of 


Kenosha,  Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Houghton  died 
November  20,  1894,  and  rests  at  Friendship, 
Wisconsin.  Two  children  were  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Houghton,  as  follows:  Jennie 
A.,  now  Mrs.  Frank  Pease,  of  Chicago; 
and  Horace  H.,  residing  at  home.  The  son 
was  married  September  30,  1894,  to  Lena 
Iveson,  daughter  of  Henry  and  C}'nt]iia  I\-e- 
son,  of  Adams  township. 

Mr.  Houghton  is  a  meiuber  of  Badger 
Post,  No.  122,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Friendship.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  political  sentiment,  but 
does  not  take  an  active  part  in  politics.  He 
is  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  township 
and  county,  and  is  one  of  the  loyal  men  of 
Wisconsin,  and  enjoys  the  respect  of  his  en- 
tire communitv. 


GEORGE  TITUS  SIMONS. 

George  Titus  Simons  is  one  of  the  best 
known  citizens  of  Lodi,  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  a  man  of  much  character  and 
influence.  He  was  born  at  Amsterdam, 
Montgomery  county.  New  York,  April  7, 
1829,  and  is  a  son  of  Titus  and  Elizabeth 
(Sharp)  Simons.  The  father  was  born  in 
Montgomery  county,  and  died  about  1833 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five.  During  the  war  of 
1812  he  kept  a  boarding  house  in  Quebec. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Simons  was  born  near  Que- 
bec, and  died  at  Amsterdam  when  about 
sixty-five  years  old.  Her  parents  were  of 
Holland  lineage.  She  was  the  mother  of 
eight  sons  antl  one  daughter.  One  son  died 
in  infancy.  William  C.  died  in  Lodi.  John 
D.  died  near  Mineral  Point,  ^\'isconsin,  and 
Joseph,  who  went  to  California  in  1849,  •'''-''1 
in  that  state.  Ann  is  the  widow  of  A.  W. 
Kline,  and  li\-es  at  Amsterdaiu.  Roswell 
D.  died  in  Lodi.  James  and  George  T.  are 
still  living. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


517 


George  Titus  Simons  attendetl  scliool  in 
his  native  place  and  in  1846  left  home  for 
Wisconsin.  He  made  the  journey  around 
the  lakes,  landed  in  Milwaukee,  and  walked 
a  good  part  of  the  way  to  Lodi.'  Here  he 
hired  out  as  a  farm  hand  for  se\'en  di.illars 
a  month.  Two  years  later  the  young  man 
thought  he  would  secure  a  home,  ami,  as  the 
saying  is,  "took  u])"  a  nice  tract  of  land, 
comprising  one  hundred  and  twenty  aci'es 
a  mile  or  so  from  Lodi,  and  when  he  had 
perfected  his  title  went  back  to  the  east,  and 
worked  for  several  years  in  a  piano  factory 
at  Albany,  and  became  skilled  in  fine  cabinet 
work.  In  the  fall  of  1851  Mr.  Simons 
came  back  to  Lodi,  and  in  onler  to  recruit 
his  health  spent  the  following  winter  on  an 
island  in  the  Wisconsin  river  below  Merri- 
mac,  engaged  in  cutting  wood  which  he  sold 
to  steamboats  the  next  summer.  There  were 
three  steamers  then  making  regular  trips  in 
the  Wisconsin  river  traffic,  all  doing  well, 
running  between  Prairie  du  Chien  and  Port- 
age. He  also  kept  a  small  store  opposite 
the  present  village  of  Merrimac.  In  1852 
Mr.  Simons  began  the  manufacture  of  fine 
cabinet  goods  at  Lodi.  He  found  a  ready 
market  at  home  for  e\'erything  he  could  pro- 
duce. For  some  years  he  and  his  partner 
were  the  only  mechanics  in  the  town.  In 
1856  he  opened  a  hotel,  the  Simons  House, 
and  conducted  it  himself  for  about  a  year. 
It  was  headcjuarters  for  the  stage  line  be- 
tween Madison  and  Baraboo.  Mr.  Simons 
was  engaged  in  farming  for  a  time,  and  in 
1865  resumed  the  hotel  business  and  was  in 
it  for  about  four  years.  In  1871  he  went  on 
the  road  with  a  patent  broom  which  took 
him  over  Wisconsin  and  part  of  Michigan. 
In  the  meantime  he  had  a  livery  stable  which 
he  ran  from  i860  to  1894.  This  business 
was  his  main  occupation  and  he  found  it  the 
most  satisfactory  and  profitable  of  all  his 
enterprises.  In  1878  Mr.  Simons  re-fur- 
nished and  enlarged  his  hotel  and  opened  it 


once  more  for  the  pulilic  i)atronage,  and  was 
its  acti\-e  landlortl  until  189 J,  since  which 
time  he  has  lived  in  practical  retirement. 
This  establishment,  known  as  the  Briggs 
House,  is  still,  the  leading  hotel  of  the  town. 

In  1855  Mr.  Simons  was  appointed  dep- 
uty sheriff  at  Lodi,  and  continued  to  fill  the 
duties  of  that  position  for  twelve  years.  He 
conducted  a  paint  shop  for  a  long  time,  and 
was  a  capable  and  efficient  house  and  sign 
painter.  He  has  erected  at  different  times 
a  number  of  buildings  in  Lodi,  and  still  owns 
several  of  them.  Mr.  Simons  has  in  Ifis  own 
home  several  pieces  of  very  fine  and  artistic 
furniture,  which  were  made  by  him  through- 
out. He  is  a  horseman  of  zeal  and  knowledge, 
and  has  owned  some  of  the  l:)est  Ijred  horses 
in  the  state.  He  invus  at  the  present  time 
"Ben  Bolt,"  a  fine  bred  stallion,  contljining 
some  of  the  best  strains  of  driving  horses 
in  the  workl,  and  capable  of  showing  as- 
tonishing bursts  of  speed. 

Mr.  Simons  was  married  to  Miss  Me- 
lissa Burroughs,  May  3,  1853.  Her  father, 
William  Burroughs,  was  a  captain  in  the 
United  States  army  during  the  war  of  1812, 
and  spent  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  in 
Columbia  county.  He  died  in  Lodi.  Mrs. 
Simons  died  in  Lodi,  Januarj^  i,  1892, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and 
left  three  chiklren :  Harley  N.  is  a  banker 
of  Mammoth  Springs,  Arkansas,  and  was 
formerly  a  banker  at  Evansville  and  Albany, 
Wisconsin.  Jessie  is  the  widow  of  M.  Hay- 
den,  and  lives  in  Lodi.  Etta  married  Burt 
Clements  and  lives  in  Alljert  Lea,  Minnesota. 
There  are  eight  grandchildren  in  the  family. 

Though  he  makes  no  religious  profes- 
sions, Mr.  Simons  has  contributed  very  lib- 
erally to  the  general  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  all  the  churches  and  many  other 
public  enterprises  in  Lodi.  He  has  been  a 
Republican  since  the  formation  of  the  party, 
though  he  has  never  sought  an  office. 


518 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


.   ALEXANDER  RODGERS. 

Alexander  Rodj^ers,  one  of  Adams 
county's  most  successful  a^xiculturists, 
whose  pleasant  home  is  situated  in  Jackson 
township,  is  a  native  of  Marquette  county, 
Wisconsin,  born  in  the  township  of  Mound- 
ville,  March  19,  1852.  His  parents,  John 
and  Margaret  (Giller)  Rodgers,  were  na- 
tives of  Scotland.  The  father,  a  typical 
Scotchman,  \\as  born  in  Markinch  parish, 
F'ifeshire,  Scotland,  April  15,  1819.  He 
came  to  America  in  184Q,  settling  at  Fox 
Lake,  antl  later  in  Marcjuette  county,  where 
he  died  January  ^i,  1891,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-two years.  He  was  a  very  successful 
farmer,  and  a  member  of  the  Scotch  Pres- 
b\'terian  church.  Our  subject's  mother  died 
about  three  years  before  the  death  of  her 
husband. 

Alexander  Rodgers  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  Marquette  county.  In  1879  he  pur- 
chased his  present  homestead  farm,  in 
Adams  county,  and  he  is  now  the  owner  of 
two  hundred  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the 
county,  well  improved  and  enhanced  in  value 
by  the  addition  of  many  modern  conven- 
iences of  rural  life,  including  a  large  and 
commodious  residence,  erected  in  1885.  He 
gives  considerable  attention  to  live  stock, 
and  has  made  farming  a  success. 

Mr.  Rodgers  was  married  December  13, 
1877,  to  Eliza  M.  Round,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Almon  L.  and  Henrietta  (Clark)  Round. 
Mrs.  Rodgers  was  born  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
Wisconsin,  March  4,  1853.  She  taught 
school  several  years  in  Columbia  and  Mar- 
quette counties.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  Bap- 
tist minister.  He  preached  some  years  in 
Marcellon  and  elsewhere  in  Columbia  coun- 
t)',  Wisconsin.  He  came  to  W^isconsin  in 
1850,  and  died  in  Marquette  countv  March 
20,  1880,  aged  fifty-nine  years.  His  wife 
Avas  Ijiirn  in   Willett,   Cortland  county,   N. 


Y.,  and  is  still  living  at  the  aee  of  sixty- 
se\'en  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rodgers  are  the 
parents  of  fi\-e  children,  named  in  the  order 
of  their  birth  as  follows:  Carrie,  now  Mrs. 
Fred  Gorsline,  of  Buffalo  township,  Mar- 
quette county;  John;  Ray;  Almon,  and 
Margaret.  IMr.  and  ]\L-s.  Rodeers  and 
their  datighter  Carrie  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Oxford,  where  the 
family  worships.  Their  home  is  one  of  re- 
finement and  culture.  ]Mr.  Rodgers  has 
turned  his  success  in  his  calling  to  the  pro- 
viding" of  those  means  of  education  and  re- 
finement so  rarely  found  in  country  homes, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  great  influ- 
ence for  enlightenment  and  good  exerted  by 
such  homes  in  advancing  the  better  interests 
of  the  communities  where  they  are  found. 
I\Ir.  Rodgers  is  a  member  of  the  Oxford 
Camp,  M.  W.  A.  He  has  been  a  life-long 
Republican,  but  has  never  sought  political 
preferijient.  He  is  held  in  high  respect  and 
esteem  bj-  the  entire  community  in  which  he 
resides. 


STEPHEi\  HOFSTATTER,  Deceased. 

Stephen  Hofstatter,  deceased,  was  a 
thrifty  and  prosperous  citizen  of  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin,  who  took  an  active  part  in  pro- 
moting its  substantial  improvement  and  ma- 
terial development.  An  adopted  son  of 
America,  his  loyalty  was  above  question  and 
his  labors  in  the  interests  of  the  city  and 
county  were  most  effective  and  beneficial. 

Mr.  Hofstatter  was  born  in  Munich,  Ba- 
varia, March  17,  1819,  and  died  in  Baraboo, 
May  21,  1890.  His  parents  were  Robert 
and  Agnes  Marguerite  (Schutte)  Hofstat- 
ter. The  father,  who  was  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, spent  his  entire  life  near  jNIunich. 
Five  of  his  sons  were  snkliers  of  the  Bavar- 
ian army,  including  our  subject,  who  was 
in  the  service  for  a  number  of  years.     1\\  his 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


519 


r.ative  land  he  learned  the  carjjenter's  trade, 
antl  remained  there  until  1856,  when  he  emi- 
grated to  the  New  World  and  located  on  a 
farm  on  Sauk  prairie,  Sauk  county,  Wiscon- 
son,  to  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of 
which  he  devoted  his  energies  for  twelve 
years.  That  place  is  in  the  possession  of  his 
heirs.  In  connection  with  the  operation  of 
liis  land  he  also  worked  at  the  carpenter's 
trade,  erecting  a  numher  of  buildings  for  the 
earlv  settlers  in  his  neighborhood. 

^Ir.  Hofstatter  manifested  his  patriot- 
ism and  love  for  his  adopted  country  by  his 
service  in  the  Civil  war,  enlisting  February 
24,  1863,  in  Company  A,  Thirty-sixth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry.  Under  com- 
mand of  General  Hancock  he  took  part  in 
several  important  engagements,  including 
the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania, 
Cold  Harbor,  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  and 
the  battles  of  Deep  Bottom,  Reams  Station 
and  Hatchie's  Run.  At  Reams  Station, 
while  going  after  water,  he  was  captured 
August  25,  1864,  and  confined  in  Libby 
prison  until  February  20,  1865,  when  he  was 
exchanged  and  came  home  on  a  furlough  to 
try  to  recuperate,  his  health  being  ruined  by 
the  abuse  he  suffered  there.  He  was  finally 
discharged  May  11,  1865,  as  hostilities  had 
ceased  and  his  services  were  jno  longer 
needed. 

Finding  himself  unfitted  for  farm  labor, 
Mr.  Hofstatter  removed  to  Baraboo  in  1868, 
aiid  for  a  time  was  engaged  in  business  there, 
but  spent  most  of  the  remainder  of  his  life 
in  retirement  from  active  business.  He 
erected  a  two-story  brick  store  building, 
v.hich  is  still  one  of  the  principal  business 
blocks  of  the  town,  and  in  other  ways  was 
prominently  identified  with  public  affairs. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  1854,  Mr. 
Hofstatter  married  Miss  Carolina  Freder- 
icka  Schwerdtfegger,  who  is  still  a  resident 
of  Baraboo.  She  was  born  at  Geratstac- 
ten,     near     Stuttgart,    Wurtemburg,    Ger- 


many, a  daughter  of  Gottlieb  and  Kath- 
erina  ;\Iarguerite  (Leder)  Schwerdtfegger. 
Her  father  was  a  dealer  in  glassware.  To 
our  subject  and  his  wife  were  born  four 
children,  namely:  John  Robert,  a  well- 
known  merchant,  of  Baraboo;  Katherina 
Marguerite,  wife  of  George  McCaskey, 
of  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada;  Matilda  Lou- 
ise, wife  of  James  A.  McCaskey,  of  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota;  and  William  Tobias,  a  journal- 
ist, who  has  s])ent  some  time  as  a  reporter 
for  newspapers  in  New  York  and  other 
cities. 

Mr.  Hofstatter  was  reared  in  the  Rom- 
an Catholic  faith,  but  ne\-er  united  with  any 
church  in  Baraboo.  He  was  a  member  of 
Joseph  Hooker  Post,  No.  9,  G.  A.  R.,  of 
Baraboo,  and  was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party  but  never  an  office  seeker, 
preferring  the  peace  and  contentment  of  pri- 
vate life  except  when  he  felt  that  the 
preservation  of  the  nation  demanded  his 
services.  He  was  always  found  true  to  every 
trust  reposed  in  him  and  commanded  the  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  all  with  wdiom  he 
came  in  contact  either  in  public  or  private 
life. 


PETER  NELSON  PETERSON. 

Peter  Nelson  Peterson,  a  prosperous  ag- 
riculturist and  dairyman,  residing  in  Jack- 
son township,  Adams  county,  is  one  of  the 
foremost  men  of  his  calling,  and  has  been  a 
resident  of  that  region  for  many  years.  He 
is  among  that  class  of  farmers  who  progress 
in  their  work  and  modern  methods  are  used 
in  carrying  on  his  estate.  He  has  made  a 
success,  and  is  respected  throughout  his 
community,  as  a  gentleman  of  integrity  and 
honest  dealings. 

Mr.  Peterson  was  born  near  Copenhag- 
en, Sj;eland  Island,    Denmark,    January  3, 


520 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


1846,  and  was  the  son  of  Nels  and  Margaret 
(Albright)  Peterson,  nati\es  of  the  same 
locahty.  Her  father  was  a  farmer  in  his 
native  land,  and  was  employed  for  some 
time  at  road  building.  He  came  to  America 
with  his  family  in  1867,  and  after  sev-entcen 
days  on  board  the  steamer  landed  at  New 
York.  He  settled  in  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, in  1868,  and  now  resides  at  O.xford, 
Wisconsin,  aged  eighty-three  years.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  is  seventy-six  years  of 
age,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  are  still 
active  and  industrious  and  have  gained  a 
comfortable  competence  by  their  labors. 

Our  subject  remained  with  his  parents 
until  1881  when  he  located  on  his  present 
farm,  which  adjoins  the  homesteatl  farm. 
He  is  the  possessor  of  (jue  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  of  well  improved  land',  and  his 
farm  is  supplied  with  a  complete  set  of  farm 
buildings,  part  of  which  he  has  erected  since 
taking  up  his  residence  thereon.  He  gives 
his  attention  chiefly  to  dairying,  and  h'is 
herd  of  cows  consists  principall}^  of  high 
grade  Durhams. 

Our  subject  was  married  April  20,  1879, 
to  Mrs.  Mary  Johnson,  widow  ©f  Thomas 
Johnson,  and  the  daughter  of  Oliver  and  El- 
sie Strusley,  of  Houston,  Minnesota.  Mrs. 
Peterson  was  born  in  Norway  and  came  to 
America  with  her  parents  when  she  was  but 
five  years  of  age.  Her  father  was  a  farmer 
and  settled  first  on  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent city  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota.  He  after- 
ward moved  to  Houston  when  that  lo- 
cality was  a  wilderness,  where  both  he  and 
his  wife  died.  Mrs.  Peterson  died  March 
13,  1899,  aged  fifty-two  years.  She  had 
one  daughter  by  her  former  marriage,  Lot- 
tie, now  Mrs.  A.  Conger,  residing  in  Jack- 
son township.  Three  children  were  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peterson,  as  follows :  Charles, 
Laura  and  William.  Mr.  Peterson  became 
a  naturalized  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  has  since  voted  the  Republican  ticket. 


He  is  a  gentleman  who  is  well  versed  on  the 
topics  under  daily  discussion,  and  takes  an 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  community. 


JOHN  CINDER. 

John  Cinder,  a  ]jrominent  contractor  and 
builder  of  Portage,  Wisconsin,  has  for  over 
half  a  century  been  identified  with  the  de- 
velopment and  prLisperity  of  that  city,  and 
on  all  sides  may  be  seen  evidences  of  his 
handiwork.  He  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  Cerman  descent.  His  grandfather, 
Philip  Cinder,  was  born  in  Germany,  and 
came  to  America  prior  to  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  He  made  the  first  discovery  of  coal 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  it  proved  to  be  the 
world  renowned  Lehigh  Valley  coal.  While 
out  hunting  he  came  across  a  tree  which 
had  been  uprooted  and  blown  over.  In  the 
excavation  he  discovered  what  he  thought 
to  be  a  peculiar  kind  of  rock,  and  taking 
a  piece  showed  it  to  one  of  his  neighbors, 
Thomas  Wise,  who  investigated  and  found 
it  to  be  hard  coal.  As  the  land  on  which 
it  was  found  belonged  to  the  government, 
Mr.  Wise  entered  it  and  afterward  purchased 
the  same,  but  did  not  have  the  means  to  de- 
velop the  property  and  afterward  sold  it  to 
a  company,  who  founded  the  present  Lehigh 
Coal  Company.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  Philip  Cinder  was  one 
of  the  first  to  shoulder  a  musket  and  go  to 
the  defense  of  the  colonies,  serving  through- 
out the  entire  eight  years  of  the  war. 

Jacob  Cinder,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1780,  and  fol- 
lowed the  occupations  of  a  farmer  and  mill- 
stone cutter.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  war 
of  1 81 2,  and  fought  under  Ceneral  Jack- 
son in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  On  re- 
ceiving his  discharge  he  resumed  farming  in 
Carbon  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  re- 


'''*^ 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


528 


mained  until  liis  deatli,  wliicli  occurred  in 
1846.  In  1 814  lie  married  Catherina  Dau- 
benspeck.  and  to  tlieni  were  born  ten  chil- 
dren, (ine  lit  wlmni  died  at  the  age  of  fue 
years.  '1  bey  were:  l)a\id ;  Pauline;  Isaac; 
Jacob;  James,  a  li\e  stuck  buyer  of  Nebras- 
ka; Philip,  a  carpenter  of  Mauch  Chunk, 
I'ennsylvania ;  Catherine;  John,  our  subject; 
and  Daniel,  also  a  carpenter  of  Portage, 
Wisconsin. 

It  was  in  1847  that  our  subject  left  his 
native  state  and  came  to  Wisconsin.  After 
spending  some  time  in  Milwaukee,  be  re- 
moved to  Portage  in  January,  1850,  and  here 
he  has  since  made  bis  home.  On  locating 
here  the  town  was  known  as  Gougeville,  and 
all  the  business  was  done  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
the  present  site  of  Portage  being  at  that 
time  Indian  land.  Mr.  Cinder  bought  the 
place  where  he  now  resides  in  1855.  Here 
he  has  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  with 
good  success,  and  has  erected  some  of  the 
best  buildings  in  the  city. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1855,  Mr. 
Cinder  married  Miss  Hannah  Slifer,  who 
came  to  Portage  from  Philadelphia,  Penn- 
sylvania, with  her  parents  in  1849.  Her 
father  was  also  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and 
continued  to  follow  that  occupation  through- 
out life.  To  our  subject  and  his  wife  have 
been  born  nine  children,  namely :  Charles 
Francis,  a  locomotive  engineer,  residing  in 
Portage;  Eliza  Sophia;  Hannah  L.,  wife  of 
John  Brenner,  of  Olympia,  Washington, 
who  is  a  contractor  in  the  lumber  woods  and 
the  owner  of  a  large  oyster  bed  at  that  place; 
George  W.,  also  a  railroad  engineer;  Esther 
E.,  wife  of  Daniel  Hill,  a  farmer  living  near 
Huntley,  Minnesota ;  Sarah ;  Addie  N. ; 
Daniel  I.  and  Mary  J. 

Since  casting  his  first  presidential  vote 
for  James  K.  Polk,  Mr.  Cinder  has  been 
unwavering  in  his  support  of  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Democratic  party.  For 
thirty-eight  years  he  has  been  an  honored 


and  prominent  member  of  Winnebago 
Lodge,  No.  33,  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  which  he  has 
filled  nearly  all  of  the  otifices.  In  all  the  re- 
lations of  life  he  has  been  found  true  to 
every  trust  reposed  in  him,  and  is  held  in 
liigh  regard  by  his  fellow  citizens.  A  por- 
trait of  him  appears  upon  one  of  the  pages 
of  this  volume,  and  will  be  duly  appreciated 
by  his  numerous  and  admiring  friends. 


JAMES  PRICE. 

James  Price,  an  honored  veteran  of  the 
great  Civil,  war,  in  wliich  be  conducted  him- 
self with  such  signal  bravery  and  displayed 
such  ability  that  he  rose  from  the  ranks  to 
become  a  lieutenant,  is  now  passing  the  eve- 
ning of  his  days  in  the  quiet  and  peace  of 
the  little  village  of  Poynette,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, far  removed  from  the  thunder  and  light- 
ning of  that  gigantic  struggle  in  which  he 
played  such  a  manly  part. 

Mr.  Price  was  born  in  Albany,  New 
York,  September  12,  1832,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Mary  (McCann)  Price.  John 
Price  was  for  twenty-one  years  a  gallant 
soldier  of  the  British  army,  and  it  may  be 
well  said  that  his  martial  spirit  descended 
to  his  son,  who  proved  himself  no  unworthy 
offspring  of  such  a  warlike  sire.  He  was  a 
native  of  Cheshire,  England,  and  during  the 
war  of  1812  came  to  this  country.  He 
fought  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg,  where  he 
was  severely  wounded.  He  was  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Waterloo  under  command  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington.  When  peace  returned 
he  was  stationed  in  Ireland,  where  he  mar- 
ried Mary  McGann.  After  the  expiration 
of  his  services  as  a  soldier  he  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1831,  lived  in  New  York, 
where  he  died  four  years  later  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five.  His  widow  afterwards  mar- 
ried Michael  Early,  and  died  in  New  Leb- 


524 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


anon,  Xew  York,  in  Marcli,  1850.  at  tlie  age 
of  forty-five.  Her  husband  survived  her 
many  years,  and  died  in  Dekorra  township, 
Cohunbia  count}',  W'isconsin,  when  over 
eigl^ity  years.  John  and  Mary  Price  liad 
eight  children,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Early  be- 
came the  parents  of  four. 

James  Price  spent  his  early  days  on  a 
farm  in  the  state  of  New  York,  and  in  1850 
made  his  first  appearance  in  W'isconsin.  Five 
years  later  the  young  man  bought  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Lowville  township,  and 
devoted  his  life  to  its  improvement  and  cul- 
tivation. He  occupied  it  until  1899,  when 
he  rented  it  to  his  son,  and  moved  into  the 
village  of  Poynette  where  he  owns  a  neat 
and  comfortable  residence.  As  noted  above, 
l\Ir.  Price  has  a  most  creditable  record  as 
a  soldier  of  the  Union.  He  enlisted  Septem- 
ber 9,  1861,  in  Company  E,  Second  Wiscon- 
sin Volunteer  Cavalry,  and  was  discharged 
December  16,  1865,  a  period  that  covered 
the  most  exciting  scenes  of  the  greatest  and 
most  magnificent  war  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  During  this  time  he  was  mainly  en- 
gaged in  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi, 
being  frequently  employed  on  scouting  and 
outpost  duty.  He  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  and  had  a  hand  in  many  of  the 
greatest  battles  of  the  west.  Twenty-three 
of  his  company  were  captured  at  Yazoo 
City  in  December,  1864,  though  he  escaped. 
He  covered  many  thousand  miles  in  the  sad- 
dle, and  had  many  interesting  and  thrilling- 
experiences.  One  week  he  rode  from  St. 
Louis  by  way  of  Jefferson  City,  Springfield 
and  Ozark,  to  Helena,  Arkansas,  a  distance 
of  nearly  five  hundred  miles. 

Mr.  Price  and  Miss  Emily  S.  Mason,  a 
daughter  of  Boomer  and  Sarah  (Ripley) 
Mason,  were  married  November  5,  1855. 
Mrs.  Price  was  born  in  Rutland,  Vermont, 
and  came  with  the  family  to  Wisconsin  in 
1853.  Her  father  died  in  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,    when     over    eighty-six.      Her 


mother  lived  to  be  eighty-four.  Her  ances- 
tor, Nathaniel  Ripley,  came  to  this  country 
in  the  "Mayflower,"  and  a  number  of  genera- 
tions of  his  descendants  made  their  home  in 
Vermont.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Rip- 
ley served  in  the  war  of  181 2. 

Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  f^'ice  ha\-e  had  a  numer- 
ous family,  and  their  oldest  son,  James  C, 
lives  in  Belgrade,  Montana.  Maria  E.  mar- 
ried C.  M.  Theissen  and  died  in  Leeds  town- 
ship, Columbia  county;  Ella  A.  is  the  wife 
of  L-a  C.  Luce,  of  Poynette;  Lewis  died 
when  eighteen  months  of  age;  Sarah  E. 
lives  in  Lowville;  Mary  A.  died  in  1888  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  years ;  Fred  C.  is  in  the 
bank  at  Poynette;  Charles  Elwyn  lives  in 
LowN'ille  on  the  home  farm;  Albert  E.  Lives 
in  Belgrade,  Montana :  he  served  in  Com- 
pany F,  Third  \Visconsin  Infantry,  during 
the  Cuban  war ;  Nettie  May  married  Hugh 
Jamieson  and  lives  in  Poynette;  Otto  W.  is 
in  Lowville;  Leonard  A.  is  a  farmer  in 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  There  are  six 
grandchildren  in  the  family. 

Mrs.  Price  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  of  Poynette.  Mr.  Price  be- 
longs to  Rousseau  Post,  No.  14,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Portage,  and  is  a 
Democrat  of  independent  proclivities.  He 
has  held  all  the  local  offices  in  Lowville, 
been  chairman  of  the  town  board  six  years, 
clerk  six  years,  and  while  a  member  of  the 
county  board  served  on  the  committee  that 
purchased  and  established  the  poor  farm  at 
W3'ocena.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Columbia  County 
Lasane  Asylum,  and  the  erection  of  suitable 
buildings  for  it. 


CHARLES  MAIR. 

Charles  Mair,  one  of  the  leading  farm- 
ers of  Arlington  township,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, is  widely  known  as  the  proprietor  of  the 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


525 


"Fairview  Stock  Farm,"  and  a  man  of  indus- 
trious habits  and  upriglit  character. 

Mr.  Mair  was  born  near  New  Mihis,  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland,  December  13,  1844,  and  is 
a  .son  of  Thomas  Mair,  whose  biography 
appears  on  anotlier  page  of  this  work.  He 
came  with  his  parents  to  the  United  States 
in  1849,  and  never  set  eyes  on  his  native  land 
again  until  1897,  when  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
spending  some  months  in  that  storied  land. 
He  spent  his  early  boyhood  in  the  town  of 
Lima,  Grant  county,  Wisconsin,  and  in  1855 
came  into  Columbia  county.  In  1868  Mr. 
Mair,  at  that  time  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  bought  one  hundred  acres 
of  land,  which  became  the  nucleus  of  one  of 
the  most  attractive  and  pleasant  farms  in 
Columbia  county.  He  has  increased  his  acre- 
age by  subsequent  purchase  until  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  a  half  section  of  tillable  land. 
He  has  erected  tine  buildings  in  the  center 
of  the  tract,  and  given  it  the  name  of  "The 
Fairview  Farm."  It  is  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable rural  estates  in  Columbia  county. 

Mt.  Mair  has  given  his  attention  very 
largely  to  the  raising  of  Clydesdale  horses, 
Shorthorn  cattle  and  Poland-China  swine. 
Much  of  his  stock  is  finely  bred,  and  is 
rapi'dly  imjjroving.  Fie  sends  to  market 
annually  ab(jut  four  car  loads  of  stock,  and 
his  cattle  run  well  to  the  head  of  the  market. 
He  is  also  a  large  stockholder  in  the  Ma- 
rengo Farm  and  Live  Stock  Company,  which 
owns  about  ten  thousand  acres  in  northern 
Wisconsin.  This  corporation  is  paying  large 
returns  on  the  investment  and  contemplates 
some  material  improvements  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. The  Mair  family  are  associated  with 
the  United  Presbyterian  church  at  Arlington, 
and  Mr.  Mair  is  a  member  of  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  is  a  Demo- 
crat but  exercises  the  privilege  of  independ- 
ent voting.  He  has  filled  several  important 
town  offices,  and  is  a  man  who  commands 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  associates 


in  agriculture  and  in  business  in  this  part  of 
the  county,  not  only  by  his  excellent  busi- 
ness habits  but  also  by  his  upright  character 
and   kindly  disposition. 

Charles  Mair  and  Margaret  Caldow  were 
married  July  4,  1865.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Janet  (Kenneth)  Caldow,  and 
was  born  on  a  farm  called  "Chippelton,"  near 
Stewarttown,  Ayrshire.  The  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mair  are  Nettie  K. ;  Thomas 
H.,  a  grain  dealer  at  Morrisonville,  Wiscon- 
sin; William,  a  grain  dealer  at  Charter  Oak, 
Iowa ;  Hugh  C. ;  Agnes,  now  Mrs.  James 
W.  Stevenson,  of  Rice  Lake,  Wisconsin; 
and  John  R.  All,  these  children  have  had 
good  educational  advantages  and  Hugh  C. 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Story  Business  College 
at  Portage. 

In  1852  William  Caldow  started  for 
America  with  his  famil)-  in  the  sailing  ves- 
sel, "Ellen  Thom]3son."  The  ship  was 
wrecked  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and 
the  passengers  rescued  by  a  salt  vessel.  The 
"Ellen  Thompson"  sank  twenty  minutes 
after  the  last  person  was  taken  ofi^.  Mr. 
Caldow  and  his  family  saved  only  the  clothes 
they  wore.  They  came  through  New  Bruns- 
wick and  thence  to  the  west.  They  made  a 
protracted  stay  in  Illinois,  and  in  1856  lo- 
cated in  the  town  of  Caledonia,  Columbia 
county,  and  lived  there  many  years.  Mr. 
Caldow  spent  his  last  days  in  the  town  of 
Arlington,  where  he  died  March  9,  1888,  in 
his  eighty-third  year.  Before  he  left  Scotland 
he  was  a  member  of  a  cavalry  regiment  of 
home  guards.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Unit- 
ed Presbyterian  church,  and  a  Republican. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  town  board  and  of 
the  county  board  for  some  years.  Mrs.  Janet 
Caldow  died  in  January,  1869,  at  the  age 
of  sixty  3-ears.  She  was  the  mother  of  four 
sons  and  five  daughters :  Adams,  of  Win- 
neshiek county,  Iowa;  William,  cashier  of 
the  bank  at  Lodi,  Wisconsin;  Peter  K.,  now 
living  a  retired  life  at   Janesville,  Wiscon- 


526 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


sin  ;  and  John,  a  niercliant  at  C(ileman,  South 
Dakota.  All  are  accomphslied  business  men 
and  stand  well  in  the  world.  Anna  married 
Alexander  Harvey  and  died  at  Aurora,  Illi- 
nois, in  1868;  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Rob- 
ert Caldwell,  one  of  the  most  successful 
farmers  in  the  town  of  Arlington.  Mrs. 
Caldwell  died  in  1888;  Janet  married  Will- 
iam Dunlop  and  died  at  Poynette  February 
27,  1892;  Margaret  is  Mrs.  Charles  Mair; 
and  INlartha  is  Mrs.  John  Neal,  of  Arlington. 


WILLIS  ELLSWORTH  SNYDER. 

Adams  county.  Wisconsin,  is  not  with- 
out her  full  quota  of  intelligent  and  enter- 
prising farmers,  and  foremost  among  those 
of  New  Haven  township  stands  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  introduces  these  para- 
graphs. He  has  not  engaged  in  that  call- 
mg  many  years,  Init  has  steadily  pushed 
himself  to  the  front  and  is  recognized  as  one 
of  the  rising  young  men  of  his  community. 
He  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  leading  fam- 
ilies of  Adams  county,  and  at  present  re- 
sides on  the  Snyder  homestead,  and  aside 
from  his  farming,  devotes  a  share  of  his 
time  to  teaching. 

Mr.  Snyder  was  born  in  Kilbourn,  Wis- 
consin, April  29,  1867,  the  son  of  Alfred 
and  Jane  (Whii^nle)  Snyder.  The  great- 
grandfather of  our  subject  came  from  Ger- 
many and  settled  in  New  York,  and  the 
grandfather,  George  Snyder,  moved  to 
Bradford,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died,  his 
wife,  Caroline  Snyder,  passing  away  in  New 
York.  Our  subject's  father,  Alfred  Snyder, 
was  born  in  Sardinia,  Erie  county,  New 
"I'ork,  Sei^tember  19,  1833,  and  died  in  the 
town  of  New  Haven,  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, June  3,  1886.  He  lived  some  years  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  \Visconsin  about 
1854,  locating  at  Stevens  Point,  where  he 


was  engaged  in  lumbering,  and  also  had 
more  or  less  logging  contracts.  He  later 
lived  in  Marathon  county,  and  in  1863 
moved  to  Ailams  county.  He  enlisted  in 
Battery  F,  First  Wisconsin  Heavy  Artillery, 
August  19,  1864,  and  on  account  of  dis- 
ability was  discharged  February  22,.  1865, 
after  he  had  spent  some  time  in  Fort  Lyon 
l.ospital.  iVfter  the  war  he  was  employed 
in  operating  a  ferry  on  the  Wisconsin  river 
at  Kilbourn  and  in  1874  he  purchased  a  farm 
in  section  16,  New  Haven  township,  Adams 
county,  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 
He  clearetl  most  of  the  land  and  made  im- 
pro\-ements.  and  left  the  farm  to  his  heirs  at 
his  death.  He  had  filled  the  principal  oflices 
in  his  township,  and  for  a  time  was  under 
sheriff  of  Adams  county.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare 
of  his  community,  and  attended  numerous 
conventions.  He  was  a  Republican  in  po- 
litical faith  and  worked  zealously  ftir  his 
party.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Feflows,  and  John  Gd- 
lespie  Post,  G.  A.  R..  at  Kilbourn.  FIis 
marriage  to  Jane  E.  Whipple,  the  mother 
of  our  subject,  occurred  Januai^y  28,  1856. 
Mrs.  Snyder  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Marcy  (Aldrich)  Whipple,  the  father 
of  Welch  lineage,  and  both  natives  of  Ver- 
mont. Her  father  settled  in  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  in  1854.  and  died  June  8,  1867, 
aged  seventy  years.  Her  mother  died  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  1843,  aged  forty- four 
years.  Mrs.  Snyder  is  the  mother  of  three 
sons,  Charles  L.,  a  resident  of  New  Haven 
township;  Frank  L.  died  in  1866,  aged  two 
years;  and  Willis  E.,  our  subject. 

W.  E.  Snyder  attended  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  place  and  in  1894  com- 
pleted a  course  in  the  Capital  City  Commer- 
cial College,  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  He 
taught  school  for  several  years,  and  for  a 
time  was  employed  in  a  store  at  Victor. 
Colorado.     Since  1896  he  has  resided  on  the 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


527 


liomestead  farm  in  New  Haven  township, 
Adams  county,  and  the  estate  hears  evidence 
oi  prosperous  management  and  care.  He 
also  spends  a  portion  of  his  lime  as  an  m 
s;ructor  in  the   puhhc   schools. 

Mr.  Snyder  was  married  Septemher  U- 
1892,  to  Beulah  Powers,  daughter  of  Oscar 
and  Louise  (Rider)  Powers,  and  a  native 
of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  The  father 
of  Mrs.  Snyder  died  in  Canada,  and  her 
mother  resides  in  Big  Springs,  Wisconsin. 
Two  children  ha\-e  been  horn  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Snyder:  Marjorieand  Wesley  Howard. 
Both  our  subject  and  wife  are  members  of 
the  Congregational  church  at  Big  Springs, 
and  ]\Ir.  Snyder  holds  membership  in 
Hustler  Camp.  Modern  W'oodmen  of  Amer- 
ica, and  is  treasurer  of  the  local  lodge.  In 
political  sentiment  he  is  a  Republican  and 
stands  firmly  for  the  principles  of  his  party. 
He  is  awake  to  the  needs  of  his  community, 
and  is  one  of  the  puljlic-spirited  men  of 
New  Haven  township. 


GEORGE  CHARLES  KEITH. 

George  Charles  Keith,  a  successful 
farmer  and  citizen  of  Cohimljia  county, 
whose  long  and  honorable  career  is  a  credit 
to  the  state,  is  now  living  in  retirement  in 
the  town  of  Scott.  He  was  hi:)rn  in  Geauga 
county,  Ohio,  April  24,  1830,  and  is  a  son 
of  Charles  and  Arethusa  (Clark)  Keith,  both 
natives  of  Massachusetts.  The  father  went 
to  Ohi(j  while  a  young  man  and  there  settled 
on  a  farm  where  he  died  December  29,  1829. 
The  mother  died  in  Juneau  county,  \Y\s- 
consin,  in  1863.  After  the  death  of  Mr. 
Keith  she  married  Joseph  Hewitt,  who  died 
in  Todd  county,  Minnesota,  in  1896,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-five.  The  parents 
of  Mrs.  A.  Keith  were  ])ioneers  on  the 
'■^^'estern   Reserve"   and    died    in    Geauga 


county.  Ohio.  She  Iiore  three  children  to 
InIt.  Clark:  Charlotte,  who  married  twice, 
her  husbands  being  named  C.  Clark  and 
Henry  McClutchins;  she  died  in  Minne- 
apolis: IMason.  living  in  Blue  Earth  county, 
Minnesota,  and  George  C,  the  subject  of 
this  biographical  review.  To  her  second 
husband,  Joseph  Hewitt,  she  bore  a  numer- 
ous family:  John,  Clarissa,  Lena,  Joseph 
and  Clark  (twins),  Charles,  Carlisle,  Henry 
and  Arethusa. 

Mr.  Keith  lived  with  his  step-father  dur- 
ing the  first  fourteen  years'  of  his  life,  and 
accompanied  the  family  in  their  removal  to 
Walworth  cnmty,  Wisconsin,  in  1841.  Two 
years  later  he  left  home,  and  in  i8j-7  came 
to  Columbia  county.  '1  he  next  year  he  took 
up  government  land  in  the  town  of  Scott, 
which  he  afterwards  sold.  He  spent  ten 
years  in  Marquette  county.  In  the  spring  of 
1867  he  bought  his  present  fanu  of  two 
l-.undred  acres  in  the  town  of  Scott.  It  had 
but  poor  improvements  at  the  time,  but  to- 
day it  shows  the  touch  of  a  master  hand. 
There  are  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
under  cultivation,  and  has  ample  and  com- 
modious buildings.  ^Ir.  Keith  now  rents  it 
to  his  son-in-law. 

]\Ir.  Keith  and  Ann  E.  Turner  were 
married  October  16.  1852.  She  died  De- 
cember 6,  1885,  while  still  a  young  woman. 
She  was  born  May  20,  1832,  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  was  a  daughter  of  \Villiam 
and  Marv  (Wood)  Turner,  who  came  to 
this  country  from  Leeds,  England.  Her  fa- 
th.er  died  in  the  town  of  Scott  in  1874,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four.  Her  mother  died 
in  the  town  of  Lyons,  Walworth  county. 
Mrs.  Keith  was  a  woman  of  exemplary  char- 
acter, and  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  She  was  the  mother  of 
seven  children,  of  whom  six  are  still  living: 
Marinette  died  at  the  age  of  seven  months ; 
William  D.,  of  Pardeeville;  Willard  B.  and 
George  E.,  of  the  same  place;  Henry  N., 


528 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


of  the  tijwn  of  Scott;  Espy  R.,  of  Pardee- 
\ille;  and  Mary  A.,  who  married  Steplien 
Hanson  and  lives  on  tlie  old  homestead. 

Mr.  Keith  enlisted  in  November,  1862, 
in  Company  .\.  34tli  Wisconsin  \'olunteer 
Infantry,  and  spent  a  year  at  the  front. 
He  re-enlisted  in  1864  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany G,  First  Wisconsin  Heavy  Artillery, 
and  was  discharged  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
June  2j.  1865.  His  first  term  of  service  was 
spent  on  detached  duty  along-  the  Missis- 
sippi ri\er.  and  .his  second  term  was  spent 
on  guard  duty  at  Arlington  Heights,  Vir- 
gmia,  and  elsewhere.  He  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  William  Payne  Post.  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Pardeeville.  He 
has  been  a  Republican  since  the  organization 
of  the  party,  and  has  filled  several  local  of- 
fices. He  was  a  member  of  the  town  board 
a  number  of  years.  He  is  a  genial  and  hos- 
pitable gentleman,  is  full  of  reminiscences 
of  early  days,  and  has  vivid  memories  of  the 
great  "hard  cider  campaign." 


EDU-ARD  N.   TRUMBULE. 

Edward  N.  Trumlnile,  the  genial  pro- 
prietor of  the  North  Freedom  Hotel,  Sauk 
county,  and  an  honored  veteran  of  the  Civil 
war,  comes  from  a  family  that  through 
many  generations  has  been  celebrated  for 
its  loyalty.  His  grandfather,  John  Trum- 
bule,  came  to  this  country  from  Ireland  in 
1773,  and  as  a  British  soldier  served  for 
two  years.  After  recei\-ing  his  discharge 
he  enlisted  in  the  patriot  army  in  the  I^evo- 
lution  and  aided  in  the  defense  of  the  col- 
onies until  their  liberty  was  secured,  win- 
ning the  rank  of  major  l)y  meritorious  con- 
duct. After  the  war  he  located  in  Connect- 
icut, where  he  married.  He  was  a  tanner 
and  currier  by  trade.  His  son,  Ebenezer 
Trumbule,  father  of  our  subject,  was  born 


in  Connecticut  and  when  a  young  man  re- 
moved to  New  York.  He  established  and 
operated  a  tannery  in  Ellisburg,  Jefferson 
county.  For  a  number  of  years  he  served 
as  a  captain  in  the  L'nited  States  army,  tak- 
ing part  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  was  wound- 
ed at  Sacket  Harbor,  and  after  the  war  he 
had  command  of  the  fort  at  that  place  for 
about  thirty  years.  During  the  Mexican 
war  he  accompanied  General  Scott's  army 
to  the  city  of  Mexico  on  detached  service. 
In  the  spring  of  1849  he  was  placed  on  the 
retired  list,  and  came  to  Wisconsin,  locating 
at  Lake  Hoshkonong.  Later  he  engaged  in 
farming  at  Lemonweir,  Juneau  county, 
where  he  died  in  April,  1853,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig. 
His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jane 
Temple,  and  was  born  in  Leatherville,  ]\Iont- 
gomery  county,  New  York,  where  her  fa- 
ther, Richard  Temple,  a  native  of  Holland, 
followed  farming.  Her  death  occurred  in 
Lemonweir,  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight. 

Edward  Nelson  Trumljule,  subject  of 
this  review,  was  born  in  Schenectady, 
Montgomery  county.  New  York,  Septem- 
ber 17,  1842,  and  came  to  ^Visconsin  with 
his  parents  when  seven  years  of  age.  He 
pursued  his  education  in  the  country  schools 
during  a  few  winter  terms,  and  at  the  first 
call  for  volunteers,  prompted  by  a  spirit  of 
patriotism,  he  enlisted  April  14,  1861,  at 
Mauston,  in  Company  K,  Sixth  Wisconsin 
Infantry,  with  the  "Lemonweir  Minute 
Men."  On  the  expiration  of  the  three- 
months  term  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  F, 
Sixteenth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  was 
wounded  in  the  right  hand  and  hip  at  Pitts- 
burg Landing,  wdiich  necessitated  his  dis- 
charge November  14,  1862.  On  the  ist  of 
May,  1863,  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  K, 
of  the  Sixth  \\'isconsin  Regiment,  which 
formed  a  part  of  the  "Iron  Brigade."  On 
the  8th  of  April,  1865,  he  was  wounded  at 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


529 


Spottsylvania  in  the  left  leg,  and  remained 
in  the  Emergency  Hospital  in  \\'ashingt(in 
until  discharged,  jinie  2^.  i8C)5,  He  par- 
ticipated in  t\vent\'-h\'c  important  engage- 
ments, inclnding  the  battles  of  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  Gettys- 
burg, the  seven-days  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, Cold  Harbor,  the  siege  of  Petersburg, 
Hatcher's  Run,  Dunbv's  Mill,  Gravelly  Run, 
Five  Forks  and  Appomattox.  Throughout 
his  service  lie  was  ever  loyal  and  brave  and 
was  frequently  called  upon  to  perform  special 
duty  in\-i)hing  considerable  danger  and  re- 
sponsibility. At  Gettysburg  he  was  sent  in 
charge  of  several  wagnnloatls  of  ammunitinn 
to  replenish  a  battery,  to  reach  which  it  was 
necessary  to  cross  an  open  field  exposed  to 
the  enemv's  fire.  Several  of  the  mules  at- 
tached to  the  wagon  were  killed.  Imt  he 
reached  the  battery  in  safety. 

In  1866  Mr.  Trumbule  began  farming 
in  the  town  of  Freedom.  Sauk  county,  and 
since  1880  he  has  lived  in  the  village  of 
North  Freedom.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  conducted  a  livery  stable,  but  since  1888 
has  engaged  in  the  hdtel  business.  He  was 
proprietor  of  the  Hackett  House  for  sev- 
eral years,  but  since  1896  has  been  widely 
known  as  the  genial  and  obliging  host  of 
the  North  Freedom  Hotel,  which  he  is  suc- 
cessfully conducting,  furnishing  first-class 
entertainment   for   his  guests. 

On  the  17th  of  May.  1867,  Mr.  Trum- 
bule was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary 
Waddell,  daughter  of  James  and  Betsey  A. 
Waddell,  of  the  town  of  Freedom.  Only  one 
child  has  l^een  born  to  our  suljject  and  his 
wife,  Edward  James,  and  he  died  at  the 
age  of  two  years.  They  have  man\'  warm 
friends  in  the  community  and  are  widely 
and  favorably  known.  Mr.  Trum])ule  has 
always  upheld  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  served  in  several  local  posi- 
tions, having  filled  the  offices  of  police  jus- 
tice, marshal  and  street  commissioner  in  the 


town  of  Freedom,  in  a  must  acceptaljle  man- 
ner. In  business  he  is  e\'er  honorable  and 
upright  in  his  dealings,  and  he  enjoys  the 
confidence  and  good  will  nf  all  with  whom 
he  comes  in  contact. 


GEORGE  THOMAS  WILSON. 

George  Thomas  Wilson,  the  editor  of  the 
"Columbia  County  Reporter."  exerts  a  wide 
influence  in  this  part  of  the  state,  and  has 
quite  a  reputation  as  an  al>le  country  news- 
paper man.  He  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Eng- 
land, March  20,  1862,  and  is  a  srjn  of  George 
and  Margaret  S.  (Mofifatt)  Wilson.  His 
parents  still  live  at  that  place,  and  there  his 
father  carried  on  a  business  as  carriage 
blacksmith  until  failing  health  compelled 
his  retirement.  The  Wilson  family  is  of 
Scotch  extraction,  and  the  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  article  was  born  in  Cupar, 
Fifeshire,  Scotland,  and  was  taken  to  Eng- 
land in  his  early  childhood.  His  father, 
George  Wilson,  was  a  veterinary  surgeon 
and  horseshoer  and  was  in  business  at  New- 
castle-upon-Tyne for  many  years.  He  died 
when  over  seventy  years  of  age.  Thomas 
iNloffatt,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Margaret  S.  Wil- 
son, was  a  tailor  and  had  a  shop  in  the  same 
city.  He  died  during  the  last  cholera  epi- 
demic in   England. 

George  T.  Wilson  was  educated  in  the 
local  schools  of  Carlisle,  and  when  four- 
teen years  old  was  apprenticed  to  the  print- 
ing trade  in  that  city.  After  the  old  English 
fashion  he  learned  his  business  thoroughly 
and  has  made  it  his  life  calling.  In  the 
spring  of  1889  he  came  to  this  countr}-  and 
secured  employment  at  the  case  in  the  office 
of  the  state  printers  at  I'ro\-iilence,  Rhode 
Island.  He  worked  in  a  jol)  office  at  Boston, 
and  on  the  opening  da}-  of  the  year  1892 
lie   reached     l'(_)rtage,    Wisconsin.      In    1895 


530 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


he  went  into  the  office  of  the  ^'Wisconsin 
Rundscliau,"  and  remained  there  nntil  tiie 
fall  of  1899.  That  year  he  came  to  Rio  and 
took  cliarge  of  the  "Columbia  County  Re- 
porter," wliich  has  continued  under  his 
management  to  the  present  time.  He  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows  in  England,  and  united  with 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  at 
Portage.  He  was  reared  in  the  Church  of 
England.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  the 
Calumet  Club,  antl  was  instrumental  in  its 
oro-anization. 


JOHX  LAFFAN. 

John  Laffan,  one  of  the  enterprising  and 
successful  hop  growers  of  central  Wiscon- 
sin, was  born  in  March,  1857,  in  the  town 
of  Newport,  Columbia  county,  and  is  a  son 
of  Thomas  and  Maria  (Croke)  Laffan,  who 
were  pioneers  of  that  locality.  The  father 
was  born  at  Newport,  Ireland,  and  when  a 
young  man  crossed  the  Atlantic,  locating 
in  Canada,  where  he  owned  and  operated  a 
grist-mill.  In  the  year  1850  he  came  to 
Columbia  county.  \\'isconsin,  and  named  the 
town  of  Newport  in  remembrance  of  his 
birthplace.  He  secured  a  squatter's  claim 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  for  the  land 
\\as  not  then  on  the  market,  and  not  only 
developed  a  fine  farm,  but  became  one  of  the 
leading  and  influential  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity. He  was  a  highly  educated  man, 
served  as  town  superintendent  of  schools 
for  some  years,  was  town  clerk  for  a  long 
]jcri(Kl  and  also  held  the  office  of  town  treas- 
urer. Tax  receipts  which  he  signed  are  still 
t(  <  be  found  in  the  county.  He  not  only  wit- 
nessed the  progress  and  advancement  made 
in  the  county  in  early  days,  but  took  an  active 
part  in  the  work  of  improvement  and  left 
the  impress  of  his  indi\iduaht\'  upon  the 
j)ublic  life  of  the  county.      He   met  death 


by  drowning  June  22,  1858,  and  was  buried 
at  Portage,  \\  isconsin.  His  widow  is  still 
I'.ving  and  makes  her  home  with  her  son 
John,  who  kindly  cares  for  her  in  her  de- 
clining years.  This  worthy  couple  were  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are 
residents  of  Dakota,  with  the  exception  of 
Thomas  and  John.  The  former  was  born 
in  1858  in  the  town  of  Newport,  Columbia 
county,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  and 
high  schools  of  Kilbourn  City.  For  many 
years  he  occupied  a  position  as  salesman  in 
the  store  of  Dixon  &  Sons,  at  Kilbourn,  and 
later  was  traveling  salesman  for  the  firm  of 
Jolin  Tollman  &  Company,  of  Chicago. 
Still  later  he  engaged  as  a  clerk  for  Mr. 
Jones,  of  Baraboo.  He  is  now  a  represent- 
ative of  the  Northwestern  Mutual  Life  In- 
surance Companv  and  the  Northwestern 
Insurance  Company. 

John  Laff'an,  whose  name  introduces  this 
review,  spent  his  boyhood  days  on  the  home 
farm,  and  at  an  early  age,  his  father  having 
died,  he  assumed  management  of  the  place. 
He  obtained  his  education  in  the  schools  of 
the  neighborhood,  and  was  well  erpiipped 
with  a  good  knowledge  of  the  English 
branches,  for  the  practical  duties  of  life. 
With  the  exception  of  one  year  passed  in 
Dakota,  he  has  spent  his  entire  life  upon 
the  home  farm,  and  .by  his  perseverance  and 
industry  he  has  met  with  excellent  and  well- 
deserved  success.  He  has  ninety  acres  un- 
der a  high  state  of  cultivation;  most  of  it 
being  jalanted  to  hoi:>s,  and  his  place  is 
known  as  the  Xewpnrt  hoj)  farm.  He  is 
thoroughlv  informed  as  to  the  best  methods 
of  producing  hops,  and  his  large  sales  each 
year  indicate  the  success  of  his  efforts. 

In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  un- 
swerving in  his  support  of  the  principles  of 
the  party,  and  in  its  success  he  takes  a  deep 
interest.  His  fellow  townsmen,  recognizing 
his  \\orth  and  abilitv,  ha\e  frequently  called 
upon  him  to  serve  in  local  offices  and  his 


n! 

iK^ 

^^^^ 

fj^^L  m. 

JOHH  LAFFAH. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


533 


duties  have  ever  been  discharo-ed  with 
promptness  and  fidelity.  He  is  a  rehable  citi- 
zen and  one  who  commands  the  respect  of 
all.  For  three  years  he  has  been  chairman 
of  the  town  board,  a  position  wdiich  he  fills 
with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  gratifica- 
tion of  his  constituents.  A  portrait  of  Mr 
Laffan  may  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
volume,  the  prominence  it  occupies  being  en- 
tirely due  to  the  leading  part  he  has  taken 
in  the  upbuilding  and  de\'el(ipment  of  the 
countv. 


JACOB  C.   EVANS. 

Agriculture  yields  a  rewartl  for  intelli- 
gence in  its  conduct  perhaps  greater  than  any 
other  calling.  Those  who  bring  to  its  prose- 
cution a  fund  of  experience,  clear  foresight 
and  industry  find  a  ready  response  in  liberal 
returns  and  the  steady  accumulation  of  valu- 
able property.  The  subject  of  this  review 
bears  testimony  to  the  trutli  nf  these  as- 
sertions, as  will  be  obser\'ed  in  the  well- 
kept  estate,  of  which  he  is  the  owner,  situ- 
ated in  section  i.  New  Haven  township,  in 
Adams  county. 

]\Ir.  E\-ans  was  burn  in  Minersville, 
Schuylkill  C(>unt\-,  PennsvKania.  His  par- 
ents were  William  and  Iktse}-  (Morgan) 
Evans,  natives  of  Wales,  where  thev  grew 
to  maturity  and  were  married.  The  father 
was  a  coal  miner,  and  came  to  America  after 
the  war  and  engaged  in  nuning  at  Miners- 
ville, Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  about 
l852_.  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  The  mnther's 
death  occurred  about  184J.  when  she  was 
about  forty  years  of  age.  Tliey  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Welsh  Baptist  church.  They 
were  the  ])arcnts  of  four  children,  two  of 
whom  still  survive.  Their  names  are  as 
follows :  Thomas,  of  Minersville,  Pennsyl- 
vania: .\bram  died  at  Minersville,  Pennsyl- 
vania; Isaac  also  died  at  Minersville;  and 


Jacob  C.  our  sul)ject.  '1  he  last  named  two 
were  twins. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  his  mother  young 
Jacob  was  bound  out  to  a  Mr.  James  Spen- 
cer, with  the  condition  that  he  was  to  re- 
ceive two  suits  of  clothing  each  year,  and 
one  year  of  steady  schooling  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  vears.  His  guardian  was  a  miner, 
but  removed  to  Wisconsin  in  1850  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Marquette  county, 
where  he  died  a  few  years  later.  Thus  the 
latter  clause  of  the  contract  was  never  car- 
ried out.  Nevertheless  Mr.  Evans  made  the, 
best  of  his  opportunities  and  managed  to  get 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  af- 
fairs of  life,  and  improved  his  mind  by 
much  reading  and  observation.  In  1854  he 
purchased  his  present  farm,  then  in  a  state 
of  nature,  though  to  obtain  it  he  was  com- 
pelled to  purchase  the  claim  of  a  "sf|uatter" 
for  seventy-five  dollars,  and  to  pay  the  gov- 
ernment a  dollar  and  a  cpiarter  per  acre. 
He  is  now  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  acres  of  excellent  land,  nearly  all 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  im- 
proved by  a  substantial  farm  house,  large 
barns  and  commodious  outbuildings.  He 
devotes  his  attention  to  grain  and  stock  rais- 
ing, and  has  succeeded  admirably.  Ijy  means 
of  his  own  perseverance,  industry  and  intelli- 
gent management. 

Mr.  Evans  enlisted  August  23,  1864,  in 
Company  K,  Fort}'-second  Wisconsin  \'ol- 
unteer  Infantry,  and  his  company  was  sta- 
tioned at  Cairo,  Illinois,  where  he  did  duty 
in  guarding  government  property  antl  m 
garrison.  His  company  was  afterwards 
stationed  at  Chicago  for  about  three  months. 
SIX  weeks  of  which  time  our  subject  was  in 
the  Marine  Hospital.  He  received  his  hon- 
orable discharge  at  Madison.  Wisconsin, 
June  20,  1865. 

December  25,  1855,  Mr.  Evans  was  mar- 
ried to  Thurrissa  S.  Jackson,  daughter  of 
George    and    Margaret   (Cha])in)   Jackson. 


534 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Mrs.  Evans  was  horn  in  Erie  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1846. 
Her  father  was  a  carpenter  hy  trade,  and 
died  in  New  Haven  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  in  1885,  aged  eighty-four 
years,  and  the  mother  passed  away  in  1875. 
They  were  both  natives  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans  are  tlie  par- 
ents of  the  following-  children:  William 
J.,  who  dietl  in  February,  1898,  at  the 
age  of  forty-three  years.  Mary  M., 
who  married  Mr.  I.  Mitchell,  and  is  nov/ 
Mrs.  D.  Drinkwater,  of  IMarquette  county, 
Wisconsin.  George  W.,  of  Marquette  coun- 
ty. Daniel  J.,  of  New  Haven.  Elnora  E., 
who  died  in  1885,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years.  Emma  L..  who  died  in  infancy. 
Cora  T.,  now  Mrs.  Charles  Witt.  Eva  E., 
now  Mrs.  George  Byers,  of  New  Haven, 
Wisconsin.  Charles  I.,  of  Jackson,  who 
married  Lottie  \'roman.  Elizabeth  M.,  now 
Mrs.  Ed.  AX'ardiier,  of  Portage.  Frank  A., 
at  home.  Minnie  .\..  now  Mrs.  Schellkopf, 
of  Marquette  county,  Wisconsin.  Isabelle 
L.,  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans  ha\'e 
thirty-si.x  grandchildren.  The  family  are 
nearly  all  members  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Jackson,  which  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Evans  helped  to  organize,  and  of  which 
he  is  a  trustee.  He  holds  membership  in  the 
Joseph  Miller  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Oxford. 
He  has  always  been  an  ardent  Republican, 
but  has  ne\-er  sought  political  preferment. 


EDWTN  O.  CLAPP. 

Edwin  O.  Clapp,  a  native  of  South  Had- 
ley  Falls,  Massachusetts,  born  December  20, 
1840,  has  been  a  resident  of  Adams  county 
since  his  seventeentli  year,  and  it  is  but 
natural  for  him  tcj  be  well  known  in  that 
vicinity,  and,  in  view  of  the  e.xcellent  traits 
of    character     which     have     actuated     him 


tlirougiiout  his  career,  it  is  also  natural  tliat 
he  should  occupy  his  present  high  place  in 
the  minds  of  his  associates.  He  resides  on  the 
homestead  in  Adams  township,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  all  that  goes  to  make  farm  life 
a  pleasant  one. 

Mr.  Clapp  is  the  son  (if  Edwin  H.  and 
Mary  A.  (Searlesj  Clapp.  The  family  re- 
sided in  Massachusetts  many  years,  and  the 
father  was  a  jjaper  maker,  and  worked  in 
the  mills  at  South  Hadley,  and  was  very 
proficient  in  his  calling.  He  came  to  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1856,  and  took  one 
hundred  and  si.xty  acres  of  land  on  section 
29,  in  Adams  township.  The  land  at  that 
time  was  wild,  and  for  the  marketing  of 
their  grain  they  drove  to  Oxford.  The 
country  abounded  with  wild  game,  and  In- 
dians were  plentiful.  The  father  died  in 
Adams  township,  in  1895,  aged  eighty-two 
years,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  Friendship. 
1  he  mother  still  sur\i\'es  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-three  years,  and  lives  on  the 
old  home  farm  with  her  son,  Edwin,  our 
subject.  Four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
•living,  were  born  to  this  worthy  couple,  as 
follows :  Charles,  in  Gettysburg,  South  Da- 
kota; Mary,  now  Mrs.  Woolsey,  of  Easton; 
and  Edwin. 

Edwin  O.  Clapp  came  to  Adams  county 
with  his  parents  when  seventeen  years  of 
age,  and  prior  to  that  had  attended  school 
and  obtained  a  good  education.  He  as- 
sisted in  clearing  the  land,  and  is  now  in 
possession  of  four  hundred  acres,  with  one 
hundred  under  cultivation,  and  engages  in 
general  farming  and  stock  raising.  Fie  en- 
listed August,  1862,  in  Company  K,  Twenty- 
fifth  \Msconsin  Infantry,  and  was  under 
Sherman  and  accompanied  him  on  his 
famous  march  to  the  sea,  thence  went  to 
Washington  and  jjarticipated  in  the  Grand 
Review.  He  saw  hard  service,  and  was  in 
the  hospital  at  Memphis  for  about  one 
month.     After  three  vears  of  ser\-ice  he  was 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


5B5 


discharged  at  Memiiliis,  Tennessee,  J»ne  24, 

1865.  Me  did  not  once  shrink  from  dnty, 
and  was  always  found  with  his  rei;inient, 
ready  for  whatever  came. 

Mr.    Ciapp    was    married    February    6, 

1866,  to  Sarah  S.  PhiUips,  daughter  of  Jo- 
seph Phihjps,  of  New  York  state,  who  set- 
tled in  \\'isconsin  in  the  early  days  of  the 
history  of  this  state.  Four  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clapp,  as  fol- 
lows :  Frank,  residing  in  Cranbrook,  British 
Columliia :  Lester,  in  Colfax,  Washington; 
William,  w(.)rking  with  his  father  on  the 
farm;  and  ^larv  Adelaide,  at  home  with 
her  parents.  Mr.  Clapp  is  a  member  of 
Eadger  Post,  No.  122,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Friend- 
ship. In  political  faith  he  is  a  Republican 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  move- 
ments of  his  party,  but  does  not  seek  pub- 
lic ofifice.  and  prefers  to  advance  the  inter- 
ests of  his  township  and  county  in  other 
ways.  He  is  public-spirited  and  progressive, 
and  everv  man  who  knows  him  is  his  friend 


ROBERT  F.  ROBERTS. 

Robert  F.  Roberts  is  an  honored  and  re- 
spected citizen  of  Randolph,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  where  he  has  spent  his  ca- 
reer and  engaged  in  active  business  pur- 
suits. He  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Ran- 
dolph, Columbia  county,  and  was  born  July 
12,   1858. 

Our  subject  was  the  only  son  born  to  F. 
Iv.  and  Catherine  Roberts,  a  biography  of 
whom  appears  elsew  here  in  this  volume.  His 
parents  emigrated  fr(jm  Llanddeiniolan, 
Csernarvonshire,  North  Wales,  in  the  fall  of 
1844  and  came  direct  to  Wisconsin,  where 
the  father  entered  a  claim  to  land  in  section 
iJ,  in  Randolph  township,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, and  in  Novemljer  of  that  year  settled  on 
the  place.    This  land  is  now  possessed  by  our 


subject.  The  parents,  with  the  grandmother, 
Catherine  Foulks,  two  uncles  and  some  other 
families,  settled  there  at  the  same  time  and 
were  the  first  Welsh  penple  who  settled  in 
the  county  and  this  small  band  was  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  afterward  flourishing  Welsh 
settlements  Blsen-y-Cae,  Lake  Emily,  Pros- 
coeron.  Rock  Hill,  Portage  Prairie  and  Welsh 
Prairie,  which  was  at  one  time  the  largest 
Welsh  settlement  in  America  devoted  to  ag- 
ricultural pursuits.  Our  subject  had  four 
sisters,  all  of  whom  are  nati\'es  of  Colum- 
bia county,  \Visconsin,  and  are  now  li\'ing, 
with  the  exception  of  Sarah,  Mrs,  R.  P. 
Wynne,  who  died  in  April,   1899. 

Our  subject  was  the  youngest  of  the  fam- 
ily of  five  children.  After  he  attained  his 
majority  he  assumed  charge  of  his  father's 
estate  in  Randolph  one  year,  and  then  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  the  town  of  Fox  Lake, 
Dodge  county,  Wisconsin,  and  remaineil  at 
farming  there  four  years,  when  he  disposed 
of  the  land  and  purchased  the  old  homestead 
farm  from  his  father.  He  remained  there 
until  1898  and  made  a  success  of  the  work. 
In  1896,  while  grinding  feed  with  a  geared 
windmill,  he  was  caught  in  the  belt  of  the 
machine  and  was  so  badly  injured  as  to  ne- 
cessitate amputation  of  one  liml).  He  re- 
tired from  his  farm  in  i8g8,  renting  the 
land  to  his  brother-in-law,  and  mijved  to  the 
village  of  Randolph,  and  there  engaged  in 
the  agricultural  implement  business  under 
the  firm  name  of  Roberts  &  \\'illiams.  The 
firm  tlissoh^ed  partnership  in  the  fall  of 
1899,  and  our  subject  is  at  present  engaged 
as  traveling  salesman  for  a  manufacturing 
company. 

Mr.  Roberts  was  married  Sei)tember  9, 
1880,  to  Mars'aret  Ann  Jones,  a  daughter 
of  Owen  W.  and  Ann  (Davis)  Jones,  of 
Oshkosh,  Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Roberts'  father 
was  the  son  of  John  Jones,  of  Tynygraig, 
Llanfihengel,  near  Carwen,  Merionetlv 
shire,  North  Wales,  who  was  a  shoemaker 


536 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


by  trade.  Owen  \\'.  Jones  came  to  Amer- 
ica fmm  Wales  in  1851,  and  after  remain- 
ing in  Oliio  until  1853  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  settled  near  Oshkosh,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming-.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Rob- 
erts was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Margaret 
Davis,  of  Oshkosh,  who  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica from  Tregaron,  Cardiganshire,  South 
Wales,  in  1847,  when  Mrs.  Jones  was  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  settled  in  Oshkosh,  Wis- 
consin, where  they  followed  agricultural 
pursuits.  1  he  parents  of  Mrs.  Roberts  were 
married  in  the  fall  of  1857.  Two  daughters 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts,  who 
are  as  follows  :  Jennette,  aged  eighteen  years, 
and  Catherine  Ann.  aged  thirteen  years,  both 
of  whom  reside  at  home  and  attend  school. 
Mr.  Roberts  is  a  member  of  the  Welsh  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodist  church,  in  wdiich  denom- 
ination he  was  reared  and  is  a  consistent  and 
active  member  of  the  same.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Pvthias  and  E.  F.  W., 
and  politically  is  a  stanch  Republican. 


CHARLES  HENRY  STODDARD. 

Charles  Henry  Stoddard,  an  old  and 
honored  resident  of  Prairie  du  Sac.  Sauk 
county,  W^isconsin,  was  born  July  10,  1831. 
at  Colebrook,  New  Hampshire,  and  is  the 
son  iif  Asa  Stoddard,  who  was  the  son 
of  Lemuel  Stoddard,  and  the  grandson 
of  David  Stoddard,  of  Chesterfield,  New 
Hampshire.  The  Stoddard  name  has  a  high 
place  in  English  annals.  According  to  the 
records  of  Heraldry  '"William  Stoddard,  a 
knight,  came  to  England  from  Normandy  in 
A.  D.  1066,  with  William  the  Conquerer, 
wdio  was  his  cousin."  A  descendant  of  his 
was  Richard  Stoddard,  of  Nottingham,  Kent, 
near  Elthan,  about  seven  miles  from  Lon- 
don bridge,  where  was  located  the  familv 
estate  of  about  four  hundred  acres  of  land. 


which  was  in  the  possession  of  the  family 
as  early  as  1490.  It  remained  in  the  family 
hands  as  late  as  1795,  when  it  was  divided 
under  the  law,  as  there  was  no  one  to  suc- 
ceed Nicholas  St(iddard,  who  was  a  bach- 
elor, and  died  in  that  year.  Thomas  Stod- 
dard lived  at  Royson ;  John  at  Grindon ; 
William  and  John  at  Royson ;  Anthony, 
Zadean,  Anthony.  William  and  Anthony. 
This  last  Stoddard  emigrated  to  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  about  the  year  1639,  and  be- 
came the  ancestor  of  the  .Vmerican  Stod- 
dards. 

Asa  Stoddard,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  article,  was  tlie  fifth  child  of  Lemuel, 
who  was  himself  the  fifth  child  of  his  fa- 
ther. David  Stoddard  seT\etl  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary army  as  an  officer  of  considerable 
note,  and  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Ben- 
nington, and  the  record  is  that  he  died  on 
his  way  home  from  the  army,  l)ut  no  date 
has  been  preserved.  Asa  Stoddard  was  first 
married  to  Lucinda  Swears,  of  Dummerston, 
V'ermont.  about  1822,  and  one  son,  Benja- 
min.  was  the  issue  of  this  marriage.  He 
was  born  in  1823  and  died  in  1891.  Asa 
Stoddard  was  next  married  to  Sarah  Roger 
Littie.  of  Colebrook,  New  Hampshire,  Jan- 
uary 20,  1828,  and  five  children  were  born 
of  this  marriage ;  William  Little,  born  De- 
cember 18,  1828;  Charles  Henry,  July  10, 
1831;  Abbie  Elsie,  September  18,  1833; 
Calvin  Thomas,  August  29,  1835;  Emma 
E.,  July  19,  1 84 1, — all  lieing  born  in  Cole- 
brook, where  the  wife  and  mother  died  May 
21,  1842.  The  bereaved  husband  was  again 
married  to  Philinda  Frizzle.  March  2,  1843, 
and  three  daughters  were  the  fruit  of  this 
marriage:  Sarah  A.,  born  at  Canaan,  Ver- 
mont, February  3,  1845;  Lucinda  N.,  Lem- 
ington,  August  16,  1847;  and  Fanny  M., 
Lemington,  March  6,  1850.  Mr.  Stoddard 
moved  from  the  east  to  Prairie  du  Sac  in 
1884.  He  located  his  family  u]:)on  a  farm, 
and  preached  occasionally  as  a  supply.     He 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


537 


died  in  April,  1884,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty-two,  his  wife  dying  the  following 
April  at  sixly-fonr.  They  are  l.ioth  buried 
in  the  Prairie  dn  Sac  cemetery,  and  are  ten- 
derly renienibered  l>y  a  host  of  friends  and 
relatives.  They  left  eight  li\'ing  children. 
His  son,  Benjamin,  was  twice  married,  at 
North  Adams,  Massachusetts,  and  was  the 
sire  of  a  large  family.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  died  in  North  Adams  in  1891.  William 
L.,  the  oldest  child  by-  his  second  marriage, 
wedded  Luvie  Elliott,  of  Brooktield,  Can- 
ada, and  had  one  son  and  two  daughters. 
He  came  to  Prairie  du  Sac  in  1805,  and 
spent  three  years  in  this  vicinity,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Laddonia,  Missouri,  where  he  died 
April  25,  1900,  leaving  a  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren. His  youngest  daughter,  Lillian,  had 
married  some  years  before,  and  both  she  and 
her  husband  had  died,  leaving  one  son. 
His  son,  Fred,  is  married  and  lives  at  St. 
Louis,  and  his  daughter,  Adda,  is  at  home 
in  Laddonia  with  her  mother.  Abbie  Elsie 
married  Walter  Baldwin  in  1857  at  Coat- 
cook,  Canada.  She  was  the  muther  of  two 
sons  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bald- 
win came  to  Prairie  dn  Sac  from  Canada 
in  1870,  and  settled  with  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  in  this  vicinity.  They 
left  three  children :  Wright  is  a  railroad  en- 
gineer, is  married  and  lives  at  Los  An- 
geles, California;  Walter  is  a  dentist  at 
Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  and  Edith  is  Mrs. 
Hewitt,  of  Oconomowoc.  Calvin  Thomas 
li  a  machinist  at  Sewardtown,  New  Hamp- 
shire. Emma  E.  is  Mrs.  Hugh  Shull,  of 
Prairie  du  Sac.  She  was  married  in  1869, 
and  has  one  daughter.  In  April,  1900,  they 
moved  to  Pennsylvania,  where  they  now  re- 
side. Lucinda  N.  is  Mrs.  Albert  Clough, 
of  Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin.  Fanny  M.  mar- 
ried Joshua  B.  McCoy,  now  and  for  the  last 
four  years  a  policeman  in  the  state  capitol 
at  Madison. 

Charles  Henry  Stoddard,  the  subject  of 


this  article,  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter 
and  house-builder,  under  his  father's  instruc- 
tions while  still  a  resident  of  Colebrook,  and 
there  he  was  married  in  the  early  part  of 
1855.  That  year  his  wife  came  west  with 
her  people  and  settled  on  what  was  known 
as  the  Sauk  Prairie,  while  he  remained  to 
close  up  certain  business  transactions  that 
needed  time  for  their  adjustment.  He  ap- 
peared in  Prairie  du  Sac  July  10,  1855,  and 
taking  land  began  farming.  He  also  worked 
at  his  trade  and  when  his  brother,  William 
L.,  came  west,  they  formed  a  partnership, 
and  set  up  a  wagon  and  carriage  factory. 
This  they  conducted  for  some  three  years 
v.'ith  varying  fortunes,  but  finding  they  had 
anticipated  the  growth  of  the  country,  they 
dissolved  their  business  relations,  and  Will- 
iam L.  left  the  country,  while  the  subject 
of  this  review  applied  himself  with  re- 
doubled vigor  to  the  work  of  winning,  suc- 
cess out  of  a  hard  fortune.  He  built  houses, 
dug  wells,  put  up  windmills,  and  fairly 
forced  a  way  into  the  high  road  of  success. 
He  was  left  a  widower  by  the  death  of  his 
wife  December  16,  1861.  She  left  one  son, 
Herbert  Alvin,  who  grew  up,  married  and 
died  in  Rockford,  Illinois,  March  23,  1889, 
leaving  a  widow  and  two  sons,  Richard  and 
Herbert.  He  was  an  educated  man  and  a 
teacher  of  wide  reputation.  At  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  part  proprietor  of  a  com- 
mercial school  at  Rockford,  with  a  branch 
at  Freeport,  and  an  enrollment  of  five  hun- 
dred students. 

Mr.  Stoddard  was  married  a  second  time, 
July  3,  1 871,  Florence  O.  Higbay,  of  Prairie 
du  Sac,  becoming  his  bride.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Clarinda  Higbay.  Her 
maternal  grandfather,  Jonathan  Hatch,  is 
remembered  as  the  first  to  run  a  furrow  in 
Sauk  county  in  the  spring  of  1843.  Mrs. 
Stoddard  is  the  mother  of  four  children, 
three  sons  and  one  daughter :  Lawrence  Cal- 
vin was  born  November  2,  1872,  was  mar- 


538 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ried  to  Lucy  Youno',  September  ii,  1897, 
and  has  one  son,  Ralph  Herbert,  born  in 
Septem1)er,  1898;  George  Bruce,  was  born 
May  27,  1875;  Roy  Charles,  July  7,  1881 ; 
and  ]\l}-rtle  A.,  December  16,  1884.  They 
are  all  at  home,  and  are  co-operating  with 
their  jjarents  in  work  and  planning. 

Mr.  Stoddard  has  always  been  a  busy 
man,  and  though  his  educational  oppor- 
tunities have  not  been  great,  yet  he  has  a 
knowledge  of  men  and  affairs  seldom  sur- 
passed. He  is  a  Republican  and  cast  his 
first  vote  for  General  Fremont  in  1856.  He 
has  generally  voted  with  his  party,  though 
he  has  prohibition  ideas.  He  is  a  close 
sympathizer  with  the  doctrines  of  'the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  attends  its  services  c]uite 
regularly.  He  has  a  reputation  widespread 
for  character  and  ability,  and  for  nine 
months  had  charge  of  the  exhibit  of  the 
Baker  Manufacturing  Company  at  the  Chi- 
cago World's  Fair. 


THOMAS  REYNOLDS,  Dece.^sed. 

Li  the  death  of  the  late  Thomas  Reynolds 
Adams  county  lost  an  influential  and  re- 
spected citizen  who  had  resided  in  Spring- 
ville  township  for  nearly  forty  years.  He 
had  transformed  a  wilderness  into  a  pleas- 
ant home,  and  at  tlie  time  of  his  death  was 
well-to-do. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  born  in  West  Felton, 
Shropshire,  England,  August  8,  1816.  He 
received  a  fair  education  and  about  1853 
came  to  the  United  States  and  lived  six 
years  in  Wiljoughby,  Ohio.  From  thence  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  settling  in  Springville 
township,  Adams  county,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  and  resided  thirty  years 
on  one   farm. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  married  in  England: 
his  first  wife,  who  died  there,  left  one  daugh- 


ter, Libbie,  now  Mrs.  Theodore  Cummings, 
of  Point  Bluff,  Adams  county.  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds married  Bessie  Aleredith,  a  native  of 
Shropshire,  England,  in  1846.  j\lr.  and  Mrs. 
Reynolds  were  the  parents  of  three  children 
who  reached  maturity,  as  follows:  William 
Henry  died  October  14,  1898,  aged  forty- 
three  years ;  George  E. ;  and  Andrew  T. 

Mr.  Reynolds  died  in  Springville  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  January  12, 
1896,  and  his  wife  survived  him  but  one 
year,  passing  away  February  27,  1897,  aged 
seventy-nine  years.  Both  were  consistent 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
and  Mr.  Reynolds  took  an  acti\e  part  in 
the  affairs  of  that  denomination.  He  was  a 
Republican  in  political  sentiment,  but  was 
of  a  retiring  disposition  and  did  not  seek 
public  favor.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  sterling 
(jualities,  and  left  a  large  circle  of  friends  to 
mourn  for  him. 

George  E.  Reynolds  was  born  in  Wil- 
loughby,  Ohio,  February  i,  1858.  He  came 
to  Wisconsin  with  his  parents  when  he  was 
but  one  year  of  age,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Adams  county  since  that  time.  He 
gained  a  liberal  education,  attending  the  dis- 
trict school,  and  at  the  county  institute,  and 
began  teaching  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
and  for  several  years  followed  that  voca- 
tion. He  was  elected  county  superintend- 
ent in  1890,  on  the  Republican  ticket.  He 
organized  the  first  summer  school  for  teach- 
ers in  Adams  county,  and  continued  the 
same  annually,  thereby  adding  greatly  to 
the  educational  standard  of  Adams  county. 
George  W.  Reynolds  was  married  No- 
vember II,  1885,  to  May  Bacon,  daughter 
of  David  N.  and  Caroline  Bacon,  of  Point 
Bluff,  Wisconsin,  notice  of  whom  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds is  a  native  of  White  Creek,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin.  Two  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds,  as  follows : 
Bessie  and  Glenn  David.     Mr.  Reynolds  has 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


589 


filled  the  office  of  auditor,  clerk  and  chair- 
man of  Springville  township,  and  has 
gained  the  entire  confidence  of  the  people  of 
his  community.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  re- 
fined and  marked  literary  ahility,  and  is  a 
contributor  to  numerous  publications. 

Andrew  T.  Reynolds  was  l)orn  in  Spring- 
ville township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin, 
November  4,  1859.  Since  reaching  his  ma- 
jority he  has  followed  the  calling  of  an  agri- 
culturist, and  with  much  success.  In  1884, 
in  company  with  his  brother,  George  E., 
he  purchased  part  of  his  present  farm  on 
section  27,  in  Springville  township,  and  the 
brothers  now  own  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  all  of  which  was  wild  land  when  they 
purchased  it.  One  hundred  and  ten  acres 
have  been  cleared  for  cultivation,  and  on 
the  estate  they  have  erected  substantial  and 
convenient  buildings,  and  added  other  im- 
provements, and  aside  from  general  farm- 
ing are  interested  in  the  raising  of  horses, 
and  have  some  choice"  specimens.  Both  are 
well-known  members  of  the  community  of 
Spring"ville  township,  where  they  have 
passed  their  lives,  and  enjoy  the  highest  re- 
spect of  their  associates.  They  are  intelli- 
gent and  progressive  and  well  merit  suc- 
cess. 


FRITZ  WITT. 


Fritz  Witt,  a  prominent  miller  of  Adams 
county,  residing  in  Easton,  was  born  in 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Germany,  January 
18,  1844.  His  parents,  Christian  and  Do- 
rette  (Muller)  Witt,  were  natives  of  the 
same  country,  and  the  father  was  a  miller 
by  trade,  and  conducted  the  business  until 
his  death,  about  the  year  1863.  The  mother 
died  about  1852,  and  both  rest  at  Mecklen- 
burg. Of  a  family  of  six  children,  our  sub- 
ject was  the  second  in  order  of  birth. 

Mr.   Witt  attended  school   until  fifteen 


years  of  age,  and  then  learned  the  miller's 
trade  and  worked  at  it  in  his  native  land 
ur.til  nineteen  years  of  age,  when,  in  the 
spring  of  1866,  he  came  to  America,  and  lo- 
cated at  Lewiston,  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin. He  worked  with  different  farmers 
until  he  had  acquired  a  fair  knowledge  of 
the  English  language,  and  then  went  to 
Portage  and  worked  in  the  mill  at  that  place 
for  about  two  years  and  went  from  thence 
to  Delton  and  worked  in  the  two  mills  of 
that  town.  He  next  moved  to  Arkdale, 
Adams  county,  in  1873,  where  he  remained 
until  1880.  He  purchased  the  mill  prop- 
erty in  ^^'hite  Creek,  in  1882,  and  has  op- 
erated it  continuously  since.  The  power  is 
good  and  they  grind  wheat  and  all  kinds  of 
grain.  Mr.  Witt  and  sons  own  the  mill  at 
Easton,  where  they  grind  buckwheat  and 
feed.  Their  business  is  extensive  and  they 
are  well  known  as  men  whose  thorough 
knowledge  of  their  calling  entitle  them  to  the 
best  patronage. 

Mr.  W^itt  was  married  April  4,  1868, 
to  Cathrina  Paulson,  of  Frorop,  Holstein. 
Six  children  have  been  burn  to  bless  the 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Witt,  as  follows : 
Christian,  residing  at  Wildrose,  W^aushara 
county,  W^isconsin ;  Frank,  in  charge  of  the 
mill  at  Easton,  Wisconsin ;  Charles,  resid- 
ing in  Plainfield,  Waushara  county;  Ernest 
and  Irwin,  twins,  residing  at  home;  and 
Harry,  at  home. 

Mr.  Witt  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church.  In  political  sentiment  he  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, but  takes  no  active  part  in  political 
movements,  and  has  not  aspired  to  public 
office.  He  pursues  the  even  tenor  of  his 
way,  attending  to  his  business,  and  making 
friends  wherever  he  is  known.  He  is  one 
of  the  sons  of  the  German  empire  whose 
business  ability  and  thrift  are  noticeable  in 
whatever  they  undertake,  and  in  his  adopt- 
ed land  he  has  acquired  a  j^lace  among  the 
foremost  of  his  fellow  men,    through    the 


540 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


exercise  of  tliose  dominant  traits  of  cliarac- 
ter,  which  are  ever  bound  to  meet  with 
gratifyino-  results.  He  is  progressive  and 
practical  and  in  every  way  suited  to  his  call- 
ing, has  made  it  his  lifelong  study,  and  is 
competent  to  jjursue  that  line. 


JOHN  C.  HENRY. 

John  C.  Henry,  a  well-known  under- 
taker of  Kilhourn  City,  Wisconsin,  has  re- 
sided here  for  over  thirty-three  years,  and  his 
name  is  inseparably  connected  with  its  busi- 
ness interests.  His  thoro.ughly  American 
spirit  and  great  energy  have  enabled  him  to 
mount  from  a  lowly  position  to  one  of 
affluence.  One  of  his  leading  character- 
istics in  business  affairs  is  his  sense  of  order 
and  complete  system  and  the  habit  of  giv- 
ing careful  attention  to  details,  w-ithout 
which  success  in  any  undertaking  is  never  an 
assured  fact. 

Mr.  Henry  was  born  in  Canada  in  No- 
vember, 1842,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Esther  Henry,  natives  of  Scotland.  H'is 
parents  emigrated  to  America  in  1843,  land- 
ing in  New  York  City,  and  settled  in  Can- 
ada, where  both  died.  Our  subject  ob- 
tained his  literary  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  Canada,  and  remained  at  home 
until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  started 
out  in  life  for  himself,  working  for  the  first 
few  years  on  a  farm  for  his  uncle.  He  con- 
tinued to  follow  farming  for  several  years, 
and  then  took  up  the  carpenter  and  joiner 
and  cabinetmaker's  trades.  In  1866  he 
became  a  resident  of  Kilbourn  City,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  there  and  in  other  parts  of  the  state 
worked  as  a  cabinetmaker  and  carpenter. 
In  1 881  he  embarked  in  the  furniture  and 
undertaking  business  in  Kilbourn  City,  and 
is  to-day  one  of  the  most  proficient  in  the 
art  of  undertaking  in  the  northwest.      He 


possesses  good  business  cjualifications,  is 
progressive  and  energetic,  and  has  met  with 
well-merited  success.  Besides  his  business, 
he  owns  a  comfortalile  residence  in  Kilbourn 
City,  and  also  one  of  the  finest  homes  at 
Fern  Dell  summer  resort,  in  Del  ton  town- 
ship, Sauk  county,  Wisconsin. 

In  1890,  Mr.  Henry  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Emma  Lang.  The  lady  was 
born  in  Germany,  in  1875,  and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  that  country  and  Wiscon- 
sin. They  now  have  two  children :  Queen 
Emma,  born  August  2~,  1893;  and  King 
Charles,  born  January  12,  1895.  They  are 
the  pride  and  joy  of  the  home. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Henry  is  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason  and  Knight  Templar,  and  has  been 
treasurer  of  the  chapter  for  many  years. 
His  political  support  is  always  given  the 
men  antl  measures  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  as  alderman  of  the  city  he  has  rendered 
his  fellow  citizens  efificient  and  faithful  serv- 
ice, giving  his  support  to  every  measure 
which  he  believed  calculated  to  prove  of  pub- 
lic benefit.  As  a  business  man  and  citizen  he 
is  therefore  highly  esteemed. 


EDMOND  MAXFIELD. 

Edmond  Maxfield,  a  retired  farmer  of 
Otsego,  Columbia  county,  and  a  man  who 
has  conducted  himself  with  remarkable 
credit  throughout  the  varied  experiences  of 
a  long  and  active  life,  was  born  June  6, 
1843,  in  Somerset,  Cayuga  county.  New 
'S'ork,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Phebe 
(Haight)  Maxfield,  both  natives  of  the  state 
of  Massachusetts.  The  family  came  to  Wis- 
consin in  1846,  and  purchased  a  farm  in 
the  town  of  Hampden,  Columbia  county. 
Mrs.  Maxfield  died  in  1852,  and  her  be- 
reaved husband  sold  his  farm,  disposed  of 
h'is  household  effects,  and  went  back  to  the 


EDMOND  MAXFIELD. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


543 


east.  After  tliree  years  in  that  part  of  the 
Union  he  again  married,  Mrs.  Sarah  Holt 
becoming  his  wife,  and  once  more  he  set  his 
face  toward  the  west.  He,  on  his  arrival 
here,  bought  a  farm  in  Hampden,  which  he 
held  for  two  or  three  years,  and  then  ex- 
changed it  for  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Leeds. 
Ihis  he  made  his  home  until  the  death  of  his 
wife  in  1867.  He  died  in  January,  1886, 
when  over  eighty-three.  He  was  the  father 
of  nine  children,  among  whom  were:  David, 
who  "trailed"  it  to  California  in  1852,  and 
died  there  twelve  years  later;  Benjamin, 
who  died  in  youth;  Joseph,  who  grew  to 
young  manhood,  enlisted  as  a  Union  soldier, 
and  was  killed  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle 
of  the  Wilderness;  Edmond,  the  subject  of 
this  article;  and  Mary,  who  died  in  infancy. 
The  ancestry  of  our  subject  is  of  the  very 
best  character.  Both  families  were  well 
established  and  uniformly  well  to  do.  The 
Haight  family  has  an  extensive  genealogy 
gathered  in  an  attempt  t(.)  claim  a  large  Eng- 
lish fortune. 

When  Edmond  Alaxfield  was  nine  years 
old,  his  mother  having  died  in  the  meantime, 
he  went  to  live  with  his  grandfather,  Isaac 
Haight,  and  spent  two  years  with  his  grand- 
parents, then  he  changed  to  an  uncle,  Jona- 
than Haight.  \\'hen  his  father  remarried  he 
went  to  live  with  him,  but  he  had  formed  at- 
tachments at  his  home,  and  he  went  back 
to  live  with  his  uncle  mentioned  above,  and 
spent  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  his  hospitable 
home,  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He 
worked  out  for  a  time  after  that  in  Mar- 
shall, Dane  county,  Wisconsin.  Then  he 
rented  the  Loveless  farm,  and  gave  this  up 
to  take  charge  of  his  brother's  place,  that 
relative  having  gone  to  the  front  as  a  Union 
soldier.  Edmond  Maxfield  enlisted  himself 
a^  a  member  of  Company  M,  First  Wiscon- 
sin Heavy  Artillery,  August  2y,  1864.  This 
was  about  three  months  after  this  brother's 
death,  as  noted  above.  September  7, 1864,  the 


reo:ment  was  sent  to  Madison,  and  included 
in  the  ranks  some  of  the  best  blood  and 
sinew  of  the  country.  Captain  Ford  says 
of  part  of  this  regiment:  'T  took  out  one 
hundred  and  fifty-three  of  the  finest  fellows 
I  ever  saw."  1  hat  regiment  was  sent  to 
Washington,  and  then  to  Alexandria,  and 
finally  assigned  to  guard  duty  in  the  ad- 
jacent forts.  On  one  occasion  they  received 
orders  to  go  into  an  engagement,  but,  as 
they  thought  unluckily,  the  order  was  coun- 
termandeil.  Howe\er,  they  did  their  whole 
duty,  and  what  more  could  they  do?  Mr. 
Maxfield  was  sick  wdiile  at  the  front,  and 
was  once  in  the  hospital  three  weeks.  After 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  the  regiment  came 
back  to  Milwaukee,  and  was  mustered  out 
and  the  military  experiences  of  the  young 
man  came  to  an  end.  He  immediately  re- 
sumed farm  life  the  moment  he  was  free 
from  the  obligations  of  a  soldier,  and  began 
the  cultivation  of  a  little  farm  of  sixty  acres, 
which  he  ownetl  in  the  town  of  Otsego,  and 
this  has  been  his  home  for  thirty-five  years. 
From  time  to  time  he  has  added  to  the  orig- 
inal acreage,  until  he  now  owns  a  fine  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  acres, 
situated  on  sections  23,  24  and  25.  In  1897 
he  bought  a  residence  in  the  village  of  Ot- 
sego, which  he  now  occupies.  He  is  estab- 
lished in  a  cozy  and  convenient  home,  and  is 
entitled  to  take  life  easy  from  this  time  on- 
ward. In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  Re- 
publican and  the  respect  which  his  fellow 
townsmen  entertain  for  him  has  been  made 
evident  by  his  repeated  election  to  important 
local  positions.  He  has  been  on  the  town 
and  school  boards  many  times,  and  his  opin- 
ions command  the  utmost  respect  of  his  .fel- 
low citizens.  He  belongs  to  Harvey  M. 
Brown  Post,  of  the  Grand  .-\.rmy  of  the  Re- 
public, No.  146,  and  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason. 
He  is  a  Universalist,  while  his  family  are 
Baptists.  He  is  one  of  Otsego's  represent- 
ative men. 


544 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Alaxfiekl  was  married  August  29, 
1864.  ti)  ]\Iiss  Salome  L.  King,  daugliter  of 
Johnson  and  Adelia  (Brayton)  King.  The 
family  came  from  New  York  to  CoUimljia 
county  in  1845.  Tliey  remo\-ed  to  Dunn 
county  in  1870,  where  they  died,  the  fa- 
tlier  in  1894  and  the  mother  in  1890.  They 
liad  four  children :  Helen,  Mary,  Salome  and 
Ida,  and  an  adopted  son,  W'illje.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Maxfield  has  been  born  one  daugh- 
ter, Cora  L. 

Mr.  !Maxtield  has  all  his  life  been  occu- 
pied with  that  oldest  of  businesses,  the  tillage 
of  the  soil,  and  has  brought  to  his  aid  in 
the  successful  cultivation  of  the  earth  un- 
usual shrewdness  and  acumen.  His  success 
in  life  is  entirely  the  result  of  his  own  ef- 
forts and,  as  a  thorough-going,  energetic, 
capable  agriculturist,  he  is  looked  up  to  by  a 
large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances, 
who  will  be  pleased  to  see  his  portrait  as 
one  of  the  illustrations  of  this  work,  appear- 
ing on  another  page. 


CHARLES  \V.  DELANY. 

Charles  W.  Delany,  who  was  for  so 
many  years  prominently  identified  with  the 
hotel  life  of  Poynette,  Columbia  county,  has, 
since  severing  his  connection  with  the  Amer- 
ican Hotel,  taken  up  his  residence  in  that 
village.  For  sixteen  years  this  genial  host 
of  the  popular  hostelry  presided  over  its 
destinies  and  brought  the  business  to  a  high 
state  of  prosperity,  and  achieved  a  great 
success.  Enterprising  and  with  much  abilitv, 
Mr.  Delany  has  demonstrated  his  fitness 
for  tlie  business  and  is  now  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  his  victory  over  fortune,  and  in 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  is  taking  his  ease 
upon  the  results  of  his  labors. 

Charles  \V.  Delany  was  born  in  Che- 
mung county.  New  York,  February  7,  1844, 


and  was  the  son  of  H.  M.  and  Hannah 
(Bennett)  Delany.  His  father  was  born  in 
New  Jersey  in  181 2,  and  his  mother  in  New 
York  state,  March  15,  1823.  The  father 
was  a  farmer  and  horse  farrier  by  occupa- 
tion and  uKjN'ed  his  fanfily  to  \Visconsin  in 
1853,  and  purchased  a  farm  near  Poynette, 
where  his  death  occurred  May  12,  1892,  and 
where  the  mother  still  resides.  The  five  sur- 
viving children  of  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren are  as  f(jllows :  Adeline  Cortelyou,  now 
in  California;  Sarah  E.  Cortelyou,  now  in 
New  York  City;  John  F.,  in  Bitter  Root 
Valley,  Montana;  Charles  W.,  our  subject; 
Miles  B.,  now  residing  on  the  homestead 
farm  near  Pox'nette. 

The  subject  of  this  review  recei\-ed  most 
of  his  education  in  Wisconsin  and  assisted 
his  father  on  the  farm  until  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war,  when  he  enlisted  in  his 
country's  cause  September  i,  1861,  at  Port- 
age, Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years.  He  became  a  member  of  Company 
G,  Second  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  Washington,  and  from 
thence  to  Arlington  Heights,  where  he 
landed  September  21,  1861.  He  was  as- 
signed to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and 
served  three  years  and  fourteen  days,  and 
was  discharged  in  front  of  Petersburg,  as 
a  corporal,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
enlistment.  He  participated  in  most  of  the 
engagements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  was  wounded  in  the  right  leg  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Antietam.  After  his  discharge  from 
the  service  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Wis- 
consin, and  employed  his  time  in  farming. 
In  1874  he  purchased  a  farm  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  three  and  one-half 
miles  northwest  of  Poynette,  and  two  hun- 
dred acres  is  now  tillable.  The  farm  is  well 
equipped  with  modern  improvements  and 
conveniences,  and  he  is  still  in  possession  of 
tliis  estate.  He  purchased  the  American 
Hotel  in  Poynette  in  1883,  and  improved  the 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


545 


building  and  continued  the  hotel  business  for 
sixteen  years. 

Mr.  Delany  was  married  September 
27,  1865,  to  Anna  Campbell,  a  native  of 
Scotland,  who  was  born  in  1845,  ^"d  came 
to  America  in  1859.  j\Ir.  and  Airs.  De- 
kny  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  as 
follows :  Hannah  May  Russell,  now  in  Madi- 
son, Wisconsin;  Nettie  S.;  Grace;  John  C. ; 
and  Hazel  Anna.  The  children  are  intelli- 
gent and  are  possessed  with  unusual  musical 
talent,  and  are  well  known  as  vocalists. 
Mr.  Delany  held  membership  in  the  G.  A. 
R.  until  the  post  at  Poynette  was  discon- 
tinued. He  has  held  the  office  of  village 
trustee  two  years,  and  is  a  worthy  citizen 
and  influential  man. 


FRANCIS  MAEGERLEIN. 

Much  of  the  civilization  of  the  world  has 
come  from  the  Teutonic  race.  Continually 
mo\-ing  westward,  they  have  taken  with  them 
the  enterprise  and  advancement  of  their 
eastern  homes,  and  have  become  valued  and 
useful  citizens  of  various  localities.  In  this 
country,  especially,  they  have  demonstrated 
their  power  to  adapt  themselves  to  new  cir- 
cumstances, retaining  at  the  same  time  their 
l^rogressiveness  and  energy,  and  have  be- 
come loyal  and  devoted  citizens.  Mr. 
Maegerlein,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and 
successful  business  men  of  Sauk  City,  Wis- 
consin, is  a  worthy  representative  of  this 
class. 

He  was  born  in  Mecklenburg,  Germanv, 
June  14,  1841,  and  is  a  son  of  John  George 
Maegerlein,  who  was  a  butcher  by  trade,  as 
was  also  his  father,  grandfather  and  the  an- 
cestors of  our  subject  as  far  back  as  known. 
He  was  in  a  measure  brought  up  to  the 
same  business.     In  1850,  when  nine  years 


of  age,  he  sailed  with  the  family  from  Ham- 
burg on  a  brig  which  was  eight  long  weeks 
in  crossing  the  Atlantic.  Landing  in  New 
York  they  proceeded  by  steamboat  to  Al- 
bany, and  thence  by  canal  and  the  Great 
Lakes  to  Milwaukee,  where  they  arrived  two 
weeks  later.  After  five  years  spent  in  that 
city  they  came  to  Sauk  county  March  21, 
1855,  and  the  father  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Honey  Creek 
township.  This  locality  was  then  all  wild 
and  unimproved,  few  settlements  had  been 
made  and  there  were  no  roads,  but  in  going 
from  place  to  place  the  pioneers  followed  the 
cattle  paths  and  Indian  trails.  There  were 
only  two  teams  of  horses  in  the  township, 
cattle  being  used  for  all  purposes,  and  there 
were  still  a  good  many  Indians  here.  Tlie 
father,  with  the  assistance  of  his  family, 
commenced  to  clear  and  improve  his  farm, 
and  to  its  cultivation  he  devoted  his  energies 
until  his  death.  His  wife  survived  him  for 
for  some  time,  tlying  in  Sauk  City  about  six 
years  ago. 

To  this  worthy  couple  were  born  three 
children,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  oldest. 
He  attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
land  from  the  age  of  six  years  until  coming 
to  America,  and  was  a  student  for  a  short 
time  in  the  schools  of  this  country,  but  the 
greater  part  of  his  educaton  has  not  been 
gained  from  text  books  but  has  come  through 
observation  and  contact  with  the  business 
world.  He  has  a  good  practical  knowledge 
of  men  and  affairs  and  is  well  qualified  to 
fill  almost  any  position  in  business  or  public 
life.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he  took 
charge  of  the  home  farm,  which  he  now 
owns,  successfully  operating  the  same  until 
coming  to  Sauk  Citv  in  1882.  The  people 
of  Honey  Creek  tinvnshi[)  Ijv  this  time  were 
numerous,  the  land  was  developed  and 
adorned  with  many  nice  homes,  and  they 
were  loth  to  have  him  leave  the  township, 
as  he  proved  a  valuable  member  of  the  com- 


546 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


iiiunity;  but  having  a  son  and  an  adopted 
daughter  to  educate,  he  decided  to  locate  in 
Sauk  City,  wliere  tlie  educational  advantages 
were  better.  On  coming  here  lie  embarked 
in  business  as  a  dealer  in  farm  machinery 
and  grain,  and  being  a  progressive,  wide- 
awake business  man,  he  met  with  success 
from  the  very  start,  selling  over  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars  worth  of  machinery  in  two 
years.  At  present  he  has  an  elevator  near 
the  depot  and  he  and  his  son  are  engaged 
in  the  grain  business  under  the  firm  name 
of  Francis  Maegerlein  &  Son.  He  is  also 
one  of  the  board  of  five  directors  and  a 
stockhcjlder  in  the  canning  factory;  was  in- 
strumental in  organizing  the  Sauk  City 
I'ress  Publishing  Company,  of  wliich  he  was 
the  first  president,  and  succeeded  in  placing 
the  paper,  "Wisconsin  Workman,"  on  a 
good  paying  basis  and  secured  the  present 
efficient  editor,  Charles  F.  Ninman. 

In  Honey  Creek  township,  Mr.  Maeger- 
lein married  Miss  Jane  Quirk,  a  native  of 
L.ower  Canada,  and  they  have  one  child, 
John,  who  is  engaged  in  business  with  his 
father.  As  a  Democrat  Mr.  Maegerlein  has 
taken  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  local 
politics,  and  although  Honey  Creek  town- 
ship was  strongly  Republican,  his  popularity 
and  ability  were  such  that  he  was  chosen 
to  fill  many  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility. For  five  consecutive  years  he  repre- 
sented that  township  on  the  board  of  super- 
visors, and  has  been  elected  to  the  same  bodv 
since  coming  to  Sauk  City.  He  has  also 
been  chairman  of  the  board  for  Prairie  du 
Sac  township;  was  assessor  one  year;  post- 
master of  Sauk  City  for  four  years  and  three 
months;  president  of  the  village  two  terms; 
and  treasurer  three  years.  His  public  and 
private  life  are  alike  above  reproach;  he  has 
most  efficiently  discharged  all  duties  that 
have  devolved  upon  him,  and  has  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  the  entire  community. 
In  religious  faith  he  is  a  Catholic. 


MILES  BENXITT  DELANY,  V.  S. 

Miles  Bennitt  Delany,  V.  S.,  a  well- 
known  practitioner  of  his  profession,  repre- 
sents a  prominent  pioneer  family  of  Colum- 
bia county.  He  was  born  in  Big  Flats, 
Chemung  county.  New  York,  May  i,  1852, 
and  was  a  son  of  Henry  M.  and  Hannah 
(Bennitt)  Delany. 

The  father  of  our  suliject  was  a  native 
of  Morris  county.  New  Jersey.  He  studied  - 
the  veterinary  science  from  his  father  and  at 
tlie  age  of  twenty-five  years  went  to  New 
York,  where  he  practiced  the  profession  un- 
til 1853,  when  he  went  to  Wisconsin.  He 
resided  on  a  farm  in  Lowville  township  un- 
til about  1890,  and  then  removed  to  Poy- 
nette.  He  died  there  May  12,  1892,  aged 
about  eighty  years.  He  met  with  remarka- 
ble success  in  the  treating  of  horses  and  was 
widely  known.  He  was  active  and  vigorous 
until  the  day  of  his  death.  The  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  John  Delany,  was  of  Penn- 
sylvania Dutch  descent,  and  was  a  veteran 
of  the  war  of  181 2  and  was  in  the  expedition 
to  Quebec.  He  lived  and  died  on  a  farm  in 
New  Jersey.  Our  subject's  mother  was  born 
in  Big  Flats,  New  York,  March  15,  1823, 
and  is  now  living  on  the  homestead  farm  in 
Columbia  county.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Sarah  (Rockwell)  Bennitt.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Orange  county.  New 
York,  and  was  of  Pennsyhania  Dutch  de- 
scent. He  became  an  extensive  farmer  in 
Chemung  county  and  left  a  large  estate.  He 
died  December  8,  1837,  aged  about  fifty 
years.  The  maternal  grandmother  of  <iur 
subject  was  born  in  1786  in  Orange  county. 
New  York,  and  died  in  1849.  Our  subject 
v/as  one  of  eight  children,  who  are  as  fol- 
lows: Adaline,  now  Mrs.  T.  H.  Cortelyou, 
of  Los  Angeles,  California;  Sarah  E.,  now 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Cortelyou,  of  Leona,  New  Jer- 
sey; John  F.,  of  Montana;  Charles,  born  in 
1 84 1,  residing  in  Poynette;  Melvina,  who  be- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


547 


came  Mrs.  \V.  Jewett  and  died  in  Lowville 
in   iSSi  ;  Miles  P..,  onv  subject. 

Miles  B.  Delanv  began  the  study  of  vet- 
erinary suro-ery  at  tlie  age  of  fifteen  years, 
and  since  1892  lias  given  his  entire  atten- 
tion to  the  business,  succeeding  his  father 
ii.  the  practice  in  that  locality.  He  resides 
on  the  homestead  farm,  whlich  comprises 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  and  rents  the 
same.  He  deals  in  horses  and  other  live 
stock  to  considerable  extent. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  1878  to 
Cora  Thomas,  daughter  of  Enoch  and  Jen- 
nie (Phillips)  Thomas.  The  family  came 
to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1857,  set- 
tling at  Arlington,  but  removed  in  1868  to 
Poynette,  .where  the  father  was  a  carpenter 
and  farmer.  He  was  born  in  Canada  and 
died  in  Chicago  in  1893,  aged  sixty-five 
years.  His  widow  lives  at  Poynette,  aged 
sixty-seven  years.  Her  ancestors  settled  on 
the  site  of  Kinderhook,  New  York.  Mrs. 
Delany  was  born  at  Bangor,  Franklin  coun- 
ty, New  York.  Two  children  have  been  l)orn 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Delany,  who  are  named  as 
follows:  Myron,  and  Jennie,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  four  vears.  Our  subject  is  a  member 
of  Poynette  Camp,  No.  logo.  Modern 
\\'oodmen  of  America.  In  political  senti- 
ment he  is  a  Republican,  but  was  formerly 
a  Democrat  for  many  years.  He  is  a  mail 
of  strong  convictions  and  is  held  in  the  high- 
est esteem  by  his  fellowmen. 


WIT.LIAM  B.  BIDWELL. 

William  B.  Bidwell,  a  prosperous  and 
•\\ell-kn()\vn  agriculturist  of  Adams  county, 
residing  in  New  Haven  township,  was  bori: 
at  Waukesha,  Wisconsin,  December  23, 
1 84 1,  and  was  the  son  of  John  F.  and  Lydia 
P.  (Barker)  Bidwell. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  in 
Canton,  St.  Lawrence  county,   New  York, 


September  16,  1809.  He  went  to  Milwau- 
kee, \\'isccinsin,  in  1835,  and  a  short  time 
afterward  moved  to  Waukesha,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  remained,  engaged  in  farming  un- 
til 1845,  when  he  settled  at  Omro,  Winneba- 
go county,  Wisconsin.  He  moved  to  East- 
on  township,  Adams  county,  in  1855,  and 
entered  claim  on  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  which  he  improved.  He  cleared 
and  broke  sixty-three  acres  which  he  success- 
fully tilled.  Those  were  pioneer  days  and 
supplies  were  hauled  from  Portage,  Wiscon- 
sin, but  he  overcame  the  difficulties  of  life 
in  a  new  country  and  helped  to  bring  that 
region  to  its  present  prosperous  condition. 
He  was  postmaster  of  Grand  Marsh  for 
twenty-two  years,  and  he  organized  several 
school  districts  which  still  exist.  He  was 
married  January  i.  1833,  to  Miss  Lydia 
P.  Barker,  who  was  born  in  De  Kalb,  St. 
Lawrence  county.  New  York,  January  22, 
1812.  Four  children  were  born  of  this 
union  as  follows:  Mary  S.,  who  married 
M.  C.  Bushnell,  and  wlm  died  January  30, 
i860;  Harriet  A.,  who  married  D.  F.  Stone, 
and  is  now  residing  in  the  state  of  Wash- 
ington: Virnal  A.,  now  resitling  in  Eastou 
townshi]),  Adams  county:  and  William  B., 
our  subject. 

When  a  lad  of  fourteen  years  \\'illiam 
E.  Bidwell  came  with  his  parents  to  Easton 
township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  worked  with  his  father,  improving  a  tract 
of  wild  land,  which  was  purchased  of  the 
government.  He  received  a  good  common- 
school  education,  and  was  an  industrious, 
steady  young  man.  He  came  into  posses- 
sion of  his  father's  farm,  where  he  remained 
until  1888,  making  man}-  substantial  im- 
provements, and  by  perseverance  and  energy 
Iiecame  a  successful  farmer.  In  1888  he 
was  chosen  overseer  of  the  Adaiiis  County 
Poor  Farm,  where  he  remained  six  years, 
gaining  the  confidence  of  the  people  ami  the 
kindly  feeling  of  the  inmates.     By  his  sug- 


548 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


gestioii  many  improvements  were  made,  and 
his  management  was  a  success,  wliich  is  at- 
tested to  by  the  fact  that  he  was  again  offered 
the  position  by  the  county  poor  commission- 
ers at  an  advance  of  salary,  which  he  de- 
cHned.  He  had  grown  tired  of  the  perplex- 
ing cares  which  the  inmates  entailed  upon 
him,  and  following  the  longing  for  the 
peace  and  quiet  of  private  life  he  retirerl 
from  the  management  of  the  poor  farm,  and 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  fertile  land  on 
section  nine  in  Xew  Haven  township,  where 
lie  is  meeting  with  success.  He  engages 
in  diversified  farming,  ami  his  estate,  al- 
though not  as  large  as  others  in  the  vicinity, 
is  among  the  best. 

Mr.  Bidwell  was  married  October  i, 
1862,  to  Miss  Adelia  A.  Colver,  a  native  of 
Toronto,  Canada,  who  was  born  May  20, 
1846.  Four  children  ha\e  been  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bidwell,  as  follows:  Delephene 
S.,  who  married  Perry  Cavanaugh,  and  now 
resides  in  Lincoln  township,  Adams  county ; 
V'irnal,  who  died  in  infancy;  Carrie  S.,  who 
married  Fred  Colver,  and  now  resides  in 
Montana ;  and  Marion  L.,  now  Mrs.  Frank 
Coon,  of  New  Haven,  Adams  county. 

Mr.  Bidwell  is  a  public-spirited  man, 
taking  an  active  interest  in  the  educational 
matters  of  his  district,  and  has  served  many 
years  as  a  school  officer.  He  represents  the 
township  of  New  Haven  on  the  county 
boartl,  and  is  an  active  member,  taking  a 
firm  stand  for  the  right  on  all  popular  meas- 
ures. He  is  a  member  in  good  standing 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  in  political 
faith  is  a  Republican,  and  has  always  advo- 
cated the  jjrinciples  of  that  party. 


GEORGE  F.  NOBLE. 

George  F.  Noble  is  a  well-known  con- 
tractor and  Iniilder  of  Kilbourn  City,  Wis- 
consin, iif  whose  skill  manv  notable  exam- 
ples are  to  be  seen   in   this  section  of  the 


state.  Thoroughly  reliable  in  all  things,  the 
fiualit)'  of  his  work  is  a  convincing  test  of 
his  own  personal  worth  and  the  same  admira- 
ble trait  is  shown  in  the  conscientious  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  different  positions  of 
trust  and  responsibility  to  which  he  has  been 
chosen  in  business  and  political  life. 

Mr.  Noble  was  born  in  Bristol,  \'ermont, 
August  8,  181 8,  a  son  of  Roger  and  Lucy 
(Fitch)  Noble,  both  of  English  descent. 
The  father  was  born  in  Westfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  was  a  descendant  of  Thomas 
Noble,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1650. 
In  earl}'  life  Roger  Noble  followed  the  oc- 
cupation of  farming  until  meeting  with  an 
accident,  and  then  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  iron.  Li  1828  he  moved  to  Dixboro, 
Michigan,  where  he  died  the  following  year. 
The  mother  then  returned  with  her  family 
to  Vermont  where  she  died  in  1829. 

Reared  in  his  native  state,  our  subject 
attended  the  ]\Iiddlebury  Academy,  from 
which  he  \\as  graduated.  At  the  age  of  fif- 
teen he  began  working  at  the  carpenter's 
trade  at  New  Haven,  Vermont,  where  he 
remained  eighteen  months  and  then  went  to 
Middlebury,  where  he  continued  to  follow 
his  trade  for  a  number  of  years,  in  the  mean- 
time becoming  a  master  mechanic.  Subse- 
cjuently  he  was  similarly  employed  in  Wal- 
worth county,  Wisconsin,  until  1S50,  when 
he  went  to  California  during  the  gold  ex- 
citement in  that  state,  and  engaged  in  min- 
ing for  two  years.  He  returned  to  ^^'ahvo■rth 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  the  spring*  of  1852 
and  resumed  work  at  his  trade.  A  skillful 
workman  and  an  upright,  reliable  business 
man,  he  steadily  prospered  and  gained  in 
his  worldly  possessions.  In  1855  he  re- 
moved to  Old  Newpc)rt,  and  in  the  fall  of 
that  year  came  to  Kilbourn  City,  Colum- 
liia  county,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  un- 
til t86i,  and  then  successfulh-  engaged  in 
dealing  in  farm  produce  and  live  stock  for  a 
time.      In    1873   he  sold   his    warehouse    to 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


549 


vliat  is  now  the  firm  of  Sniitli  &  Corning-, 
of  Killionrn,  and  again  turned  his  attentinn 
tci  the  carpenter's  trade. 

In  ()ctiil>er,  iS4^v  Mr.  Xolile  was  united 
in  marriage  with  ]\liss  Angeline  E.  Cnni- 
wall,  who  was  hurn  in  Rochester,  Xew 
York.  December  17,  181 8,  a  daughter  of 
Richard  Cornwall,  a  soldier  of  the  war  of 
1812.  Her  grandfather  was  one  nf  the 
heroes  of  the  Revohuinnary  war.  'r<.>  <>ur 
subject  and  his  wife  were  horn  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  .Andrew  li..  burn  March  21. 
1846,  has  fir  the  past  tw,;nty-hve  years  been 
engaged  in  the  banking  business  in  Des 
Moines,  Iowa.  Frank  H.,  born  October  17. 
1848,  is  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business 
in  Seattle,  W'ashingtcm.  Cornelia  M.,  born 
October  13,  1844,  was  married  in  Kilbourn, 
July  20,  1870.  to  Capt.  Oliver  H.  Sorrenson, 
and  resided  in  Portage,  where  she  died  De- 
cember 17,  1875,  ^vhile  her  husband  died  in 
La  Crosse,  Wisconsin,  Alarch  7.  1882. 

On  coming-  to  Killiourn  Mr.  Xoble  found 
the  village  only  partially  sur\'eyed.  He 
bought  lots  14,  15  and  1C1,  block  46.  on  Su- 
perior street,  but  has  since  sold  lot  16  and 
a  part  of  Int  15.  He  has  made  very  sul)- 
stantial  impro\'ements  njjon  his  property 
and  has  a  fine  residence  surrounded  In- 
beautiful  grounds.  He  is  a  thorough  busi- 
ness man,  upright  and  hunnrable  in  all  his 
dealings,  and  through  his  own  well-direct- 
ed efforts  has  gained  a  ciim])etence.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternitv  and 
the  Indei>endent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and 
has  always  been  a  stanch  Re|)ublican.  He 
takes  an  active  and  commendable-  interest- 
in  public  affairs,  and  has  held  the  office 
of  town  treasurer  and  assessor,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  served  to  the  entire  sat- 
isfaction of  his  constituents.  He  has  been 
justice  of  the  peace  for  thirty  years,  and  po- 
lice justice  in  Kilbourn  City  for  several 
terms.  His  official  duties  ha\e  been  always 
most  promptly  and  faithfully  discharged. 


HOLVER  ROBERTS,  Dece.vsed. 

Holver  Roberts,  deceased,  was  a  well- 
kncnvn  and  highly  respected  citizen  of  the 
t(,'wn  of  Otsego,  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  lived  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
n-iaking  a  deep  impression  on  the  community 
njDt  less  l:)v  his  industry  and  honor  than  by 
his  kindly  spirit  and  upright  character.  He 
w  as  a  useful  man,  an  honest  and  kind-heart- 
ed man,  and  left  a  vacancy  in  the  neighbor- 
hood difificult  to  fill.  He  was  born  in  Tele- 
markeii.  Norway.  Januar\-  28,  1844.  and  d.ied 
in  \\'est  Baden,  Indiana,  May  7,  i8(;o.  lie 
was  a  son  of  Robert  Thompson  and  Esther 
(  Holverson  )  Ri)l)erts.  and  was  brought  by 
them  to  this  country  about  1850,  and  set- 
tled upon  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Otsego. 
There  the  hnsljand  and  father  died  January 
2,  1890,  at  the  age  of  se\-enty.  His  widow 
still  survives  him,  and  is  now  seventy-seven 
years  of  age. 

Holver  Roberts  left  home  when  a  young 
man  and  spent  some  time  in  the  Michigan 
pineries  and  elsewhere.  He  returned  aliout 
the  year  1872,  and  for  a  tinie  carried  on  the 
paternal  homestead,  and  then  liougbt  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  in  the 
same  township,  which  was  his  home  as  long 
as  he  lived.  He  made  many  improvements  on 
the  place,  putting  up  substantial  and  elegant 
Imildings.  and  con\-erting-  it  into  one  of  the 
uiodel  farms  of  Columbia  county.  He  was 
a  Republican  and  from  time  to  time  filled 
many  of  the  local  oftices,  particularly  that 
of  town  clerk.  He  was  married  to  Carrie 
Esterl)av  Januarv  5,  187^1.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Knute  Severson  and  Lieve  (Knutson) 
Esterbay,  Januarv  5,  1876.  She  was  a  daugh- 
Bergen,  Norwav.  They  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1857,  and  made  their  home  in 
Hampden,  Columbia  county.  He  died  in  the 
town  of  Otsego  in  1865  when  fifty-six  A-ears 
old.  She  is  still  li\ing  in  l^)rown  county, 
South     Dakota,     and    is     o\er     se\-entv-six. 


550 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Mrs.  Roljerts  liad  nine  cliildren :  Henry 
Cliarles,  a  farmer,  who  carries  <in  the  family 
homestead  ;  Clara  Matilda,  a  clerk  in  a  Rio 
store:  Tena  Louisa;  Esther  Rosena  ;  Thomas 
Ingwal ;  Alice  Tonette;  ("hester  Frederick, 
Oscar  Walter  and  Mabel  Elnora.  Mr.  Rob- 
erts and  his  family  were  associated  with 
the  Norwegian  Lutheran  church  of  Otsego. 
In  recent  years,  hiiwexer,  they  were  attend- 
ants also  at  other  churches,  as  he  had  a  broad 
and  sympathetic  spirit.  He  was  an  honor- 
able and  conscientious  man.  and  left  many 
friends  to  mourn  his  demise. 


JOH.V  WILLIAAI  BLAKE. 

John  William  Blake,  one  oi  the  best- 
known  citizens  of  Reedsburg,  Sauk  county, 
and  for  many  years  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent newspaper  men  in  this  section  of  the 
.state,  is  a  native  of  England,  his  birth  hav- 
ing occurred  in  South  Moulton,  Devonshire, 
March  zy.  1834.  His  parents,  Philip  and 
Mary  (May)  Blake,  also  natives  of  Devon- 
shire, emigrated  to  .America  in  1849,  bring- 
irg  with  them  their  family.  For  a  short 
time  they  made  their  home  in  (.Columbus, 
Wisconsin,  and  tlien  remo\ed  to  Baraboo, 
where  the  father  followed  his  trade  of  shoe- 
making.  He  had  been  e.xtensivelv  engaged 
in  business  along  that  line  in  Chumleigh, 
England,  prior  to  coming  to  this  country. 
He  died  in  Lemonweir,  Juneau  county,  Wis- 
consin, in  the  spring  of  1851,  at  the  age  ot 
thirty-eight.  His  wife  long  survived  him, 
dying  at  Baraboo,  October  iS,  i8g6,  at  the 
ripe  old  age  of  eighty-four. 

The  greater  part  Of  the  carl\-  education 
of  our  suliject  was  obtained  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  land.  In  185 1  he  began  learn- 
ing the  printer's  trade  in  the  ofifice  of  the 
"Sauk  County  Standard,"  at  Baraboo,  the 
first  iniblication  of  the  count}',  and  then  but 


recently  estal)lished.  He  afterward  brought 
material  frcjin  Portage  for  equipping  the 
office  of  the  "Baraboo  Republic,"  in  which 
he  was  employed  most  of  the  time  until  1862, 
when  he  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the 
same,  becoming  sole  proprietor  eighteen 
months  later  and  publishing  the  paper  until- 
1865.  Subsequently  he  was  interested  in 
the  "Tndeijendence  Bulletin."  of  Inde- 
pendence, Iowa,  and  was  connected  with'the 
"Baraboo  Independent,"  jiublished  by  Col.  D. 
K.  Noyes.  On  the  1st  of  July.  1878,  in 
company  with  J.  H.  Powers,  he  ])urchased 
the  "Reedsburg  Free  Press,"  but  his  partner 
retired  from  the  business  sixteen  months 
later  and  Mr.  Blake  continued  the  publication 
of  the  paper  alone  until  April.  1893,  when  he 
sold  t._)  W.  F.  Hill. 

On  the  13th  of  November.  1856,  Mr. 
Blake  wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Ambler,  a  native 
of  Hillsdale,  Michigan,  and  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  Ambler.  She  died  at  Baraboo  May  8, 
1889,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years.  Three 
children  were  born  of  thfs  union,  namely: 
Nettie  M.,  now  the  wife  of  Arthur  M.  Wells, 
of  Baraboo ;  Philip  A.,  deceased ;  and  Louis 
C,  a  resident  of  Fullerton,  California.  Mr. 
Blake  was  again  married,  April  28,  1894, 
his  second  union  being  with  Mrs.  Ellen 
Adelia  Reid,  a  daughter  (jf  William  B.  and 
Mary  A.  Jones,  of  Barnstable,  England,  and 
the  children  liorn  of  this  marriage  are  John 
Perkins,  Charles  and   Harold  Lawton. 

Socially  Mr.  Blake  atitiliates  with  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity  and  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  is  the  secretary  of 
Reedsburg  City  Lodge,  No.  108,  I.  O.  O. 
F..  and  a  member  of  N(.)rthwestern  Encamp- 
ment, No.  20,  at  Baraboo.  Politically  he  has 
always  been  identified  with  the  Republican 
party  and  he  has  been  honored  with  several 
important  public  positions,  ha\'ing  served 
as  county  register  two  terms,  town  treas- 
urer of  Baraboo  several  terms,  and  assessor 
of  Reedsburg  for  the  past  three  years.     A 


JOHH  W.  BLAKE. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


558 


public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen,  he  lias 
given  his  support  to  all  measures  for  the 
public  good.  Over  his  life  record  there  falls 
no  shadow  of  wrong;  his  public  service  has 
been  most  exemplary ;  and  his  private  life 
has  been  marked  li)-  the  utmost  fidelity  to 
duty.  An  excellent  portrait  of  Mr.  Blake  is 
shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


JOHN  HENRICH,  Deceased. 

For  more  than  forty-fixe  years  Wiscon- 
sin was  the  home  of  this  gentleman,  and  he 
was  one  of  the  land  owners  and  successful 
agriculturists  of  W'liodland  township,  Sauk 
county,  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  was  possessed  of 
four  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land, 
and  his  homestead  was  equipped  with  the 
finest  buildings  to  be  found  in  the  township. 
In  the  accumulation  of  his  wealth  he  had 
only  his  energetic  efforts,  perseverance  and 
honesty  on  which  to  de]jend,  and  with  those 
characteristics  dominating  his  life  he  gained 
his  estate.  He  was  one  of  the  first  men  of 
his  community,  and  ever  ready  to  support 
the  enterprises  put  forward  for  the  puljlic 
good. 

Mr.  Henrich  was  a  nati\-e  of  Switzer- 
land, and  was  born  July  i6,  1824.  He  came 
tcr  America  in  1848  and  engaged  in  farming 
in  Kenosha  and  Walworth  counties,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  in  1866  mo\'ed  to  Woodland  town- 
ship, Sauk  county,  where  he  made  his  home 
until  his  death.  He  invrchased  eightv  acres  of 
land  from  his  brother,  and  by  hard  work  and 
careful  management  added  to  his  possessions 
from  time  to  time  until  he  owned  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  acres.  His  farm  was 
one  of  the  best  kept  within  the  borders  of  the 
county,  and  in  the  details  which  have  such 
telling  effect  and  ])ring  such  good  results 
he  exercised  the  best  of  judgment. 


Mr.  Henrich  was  married  in  Walworth 
county.  Wisconsin,  to  Mary  Preimer,  whose 
parents  were  natives  of  Prussia.  Mrs.  Hen- 
rich's  father  came  to  the  United  States  and 
located  in  Iowa,  where  his  death  occurred. 
Three  children,  two  of  whoui  are  still  liv- 
ing, were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henrich: 
Peter;  and  Anna,  now  Mrs.  Theodore  Moll. 
After  the  death  of  the  father  the  property 
was  divided,  and  Mrs.  Moll  is  now  living 
on  the  homestead  farm.  Mr.  Henrich  passed 
away  Decemlier  24,  1894,  leaving  a  large 
circle  of  friends  to  mourn  for  him.  His 
death  was  a  loss  to  the  entire  community, 
and  he  was  respected  by  all. 

Peter  Henrich,  the  only  son  of  John 
Plem-ich,  was  born  November  16,  1863,  in 
Walworth  county,  Wisconsin.  He  resided 
at  home  with  his  parents  through  his  boy- 
hood 'and  early  manhood,  and  assisted  his 
father  with  the  farm  work  and  was  interest- 
ed with  him  in  the  accumulation  of  the  es- 
tate which  was  one  of  the  best  in  the  vicin- 
ity. His  father  and  he  planned  t(.)gether,  and 
to  the  judgment  antl  careful  business  meth- 
ods of  the  son  is  due  a  great  share  of  the  ac- 
cumulation of  the  large  estate.  He  is  now 
proprietor  of  a  farm  comprising  three  hun- 
dred acres,  on  which  he  has  the  best  of  farm 
buildings,  and  lias  recently  erected  a  model 
residence,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  township. 

Mr.  Henrich  was  married  November  30, 
1887,  to  Alice  Carpenter,  daughter  of  Silas 
and  Clarissa  (Smith)  Carpenter,  residents 
of  Rock  Bridge,  Richland  county,  Wiscon- 
sin. Mrs.  Henrich"s  father  was  a  native  of 
New  \o\-k  and  her  mother  was  born  in  Ver- 
u'ont.  Three  children  have  been  liorn  to 
bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henrich,  as 
follows:  George,  born  July  25,  1890;  Mary, 
born  October  29,  1892;  and  Clarissa,  born 
September  3.  1895.  Mr.  Henrich  has  filled 
various  township  offices,  and  in  every  in- 
stance has  discharged  his  duties  with  credit 
tt;  himself  and  iox  the  interests  of  his  com- 


554 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


munity.  He  advocates  the  free  coinage  of 
sih'er,  and  is  a  nienilier  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  stands  firmly  for  its  principles. 
He  is  loyal  and  determined  in  the  adherence 
to  the  right  and  to  his  friends,  and  is  one  of 
the  important  factors  in  the  de\-elopment  and 
growth  of  the  social  and  financial  interests  of 
Woodland  township. 


N.  E.  ALLEN. 


N.  E.  Allen,  a  prominent  and  successful 
agriculturist  of  Springville  township,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  is  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  this  state,  and  has  materially 
aided  in  its  development  and  prosperity.  He 
was  born  in  Portage,  Livingston  county. 
New  York,  March  3,  1821,  and  belongs  to 
an  old  and  highly  respected  family  of  the 
east,  his  paternal  great-grandfather  being  a 
cousin  of  Ethan  Allen,  of  Revolutionary 
fame. 

Cyrus  Allen,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  born  in  Sci])io,  L'a_\-uga  county,  New 
York,  December  25,  1794,  and  was  married 
in  November,  181 8,  to  Amanda  Durkee, 
wdio  was  also  born  in  that  place  December 
I5>  1795-  Her  parents  were  Elisha  and 
Hannah  (Gore)  Durkee.  She  had  fi\-e  uncles 
killed  in  the  Wyoming  massacre  during  the 
Revolution.  Soon  after  his  marriage  Cyrus 
Allen  Icjcated  in  the  town  of  Portage,  Liv- 
ingston county.  New  York,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  his  death.  He  was 
killed  by  being  thrown  from  a  buggy  in  a 
runaway  in  August.  1857.  His  children 
were  Nelson  E.,  our  subject:  Edwin  C, 
born  June  9,  1824;  William  D.,  born  June 
5,  1827:  and  Emma,  born  October  25,  1831. 

Our  sul>ject  was  educated  in  the  Nunda 
Academy,  Livingston  county,  New  York, 
and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  commenced  teach- 
ing school,  a  profession  which  he  success- 


fully followed  for  three  successive  winters. 
In  1S42  he  came  to  Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin, 
which  then  consisted  of  but  three  houses, 
and,  together  with  A.  Knfight,  made  the 
first  improvements  in  Trenton  township, 
Dodge  county,  where  he  made  his  home  for 
fifty-fi\e  years.  After  securing  his  land, 
however,  he  returned  to  New  York,  by  way 
of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  on  the  vo3rage  en- 
countered some  severe  storms.  Li  the  spring 
of  1843  he  located  permanently  upon  his  land 
and  at  once  began   its  improveiuent. 

While  breaking  his  land  Messrs.  Allen 
and  Knight  Jived  together  upon  the  for- 
mer's claim,  and  experienced  many  of  the 
hardships  and  difificulties  incident  to  pioneer 
life.  He  can  relate  many  interesting  inci- 
dents of  those  early  days  when  the  country 
was  wild  and  sparsely  settled.  One  of  these 
gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  privations  and  incon- 
veniences of  frontier  life.  Their  breaking 
team,  consisting  of  ten  oxen,  strayed  away 
upon  the  prairie  and  they  were  forced  to  go 
arid  find  them.  After  much  diftrculty  and  a 
long  search  of  three  days  in  different  direc- 
tions, they  were  at  length  found  and  driven 
home,  but  on  entering  their  shack  they  found 
the  fire  out,  and  as  this  was  before  the  in- 
A'ention  of  matches.  Mr.  Nelson  had  to  go 
to  the  nearest  neighljor,  which  was  five  miles, 
to  secure  a  brand  of  fire,  in  the  meantime 
having  nothing  to  eat.  With  his  lirand  of 
fire  he  set  out  upon  the  homeward  journey, 
and  when  he  had  nearly  reached  his  destina- 
tion he  stumbled  and  fell,  the  brand  flying 
many  rods  away  in  the  wet  grass.  He 
scrambled  after  it  and  secured  it  before  it 
was  entirely  extinguished,  and  by  waving  it 
rapidly  in  the  air  succeeded  in  saving  the 
sparks.  At  another  time  he  was  intrusted 
with  c|uite  a  large  sum  of  money  belonging 
to  the  settlers  to  be  taken  to  the  land  office 
in  Green  Bay.  He  made  the  journey  on  foot 
through  the  forests,  wading  or  swimming 
tlie  streams,  and  covered  the  distance  between 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


555 


that  place  and  Bea\'er  Dam  and  return  in 
tour  days  and  a  half. 

On  the  1 8th  of  ^larch,  1846,  Nelson  E. 
Allen  married  Sarah  C.  Botsford,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  the  following  chil- 
dren: Ezra,  born  August  22,  1848,  died 
January  26,  1871 ;  Mary  Effie,  born  De- 
cember 16,  1853,  died  in  infancy;  Mary 
Effre  (2nd),  born  June  19,  1856,  died  at  the 
age  of  two  and  a  half  years;  Etta  Amanda, 
born  Feliruary  11,  i860,  was  married  Octo- 
ber 12,  1 88 1,  to  Franklin  Coon,  and  died 
August  19.  1882;  and  Eddie  G.,  born  May 
2,  1866,  is  in  the  elevator  business  at  Bil- 
lings, Oklahoma.  ;\Ir.  Allen  was  again  mar- 
ried July  25,  1877,  his  second  union  being 
with  Eliza  Sawyer,  who  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire,  in  January,   1841. 

In  1 808  Mr.  Allen  came  into  possession 
of  seven  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in 
Springville  township,  Adams  county,  wdiere 
hehas  since  made  improvements,  and  now  has 
four  hundred  acres  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  and  well  improved.  He  makes  a 
specialty  of  Galloway  cattle  and  Poland 
China  hogs,  and  has  some  registered  stock 
upon  his  place.  He  is  an  enthusiast  on  the 
subject  of  clover  and  has  taken  quite  an  act- 
ive and  prominent  part  in  farmers'  insti- 
tutes. 

During  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Allen  enlist- 
ed in  Cumpanj'  H,  Twenty-ninth  Wiscon- 
sin \'olunteer  Infantry,  but  was  afterward 
tranferred  to  the  Fifth  Regiment.  He  par- 
ticipated in  several  skirmishes  and  the  l)at- 
lle  of  Yazoo  Bayou  and  was  mustered  out 
with  the  rank  of  lieutenant  March  18,  1865. 
Politically  he  was  an  Abolitionist  and  later 
a  Republican  until  the  close  of  President 
Grant's  first  term,  and  since  then  has  affil- 
iated with  the  Populist  party.  At  one  time 
he  was  nominated  for  governor  by  that  party, 
Init  declined  the  honor,  and  subsequently 
was  twice  a  candidate  for  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor.     During  those  campaigns   he   made 


a  strong  canvass  and  delivered  manv 
speeches  throughout  the  state.  He  is  a  man 
of  prominence,  is  widely  and  favorabl)' 
known  as  a  public-spirited  and  enterprising 
citizen,  and  is  highly  esteemed  anfl  greatly 
respected  in  the  community  where  he  re- 
sides. 


CHARLES  S.  TOMPKINS. 

Charles  S.  Tompkins,  a  retired  farmer 
residing  in  the  village  of  Otsego,  Columbia 
count}',  was  born  in  Starkey,  Yates  county, 
New  York,  October  28,  1823,  and  is  a  son 
of  Dan  and  Hannah  (Demming)  Tomp- 
kins. He  comes  of  good  old  Revolutinnary 
stock,  his  grandfather  having  been  a  soldier 
in  that  war,  for  which  he  drew  a  pension 
long  before  his  death.  Governor  Tompkins, 
of  New  York,  was  of  a  branch  of  this  fam- 
ily. The  Tompkins  family  came  to  AN'iscim- 
sin  in  1854  and  bought  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  in  the  town  of  Otsego,  on  whicli 
they  lived  until  their  death.  They  bad  a 
family  of  ten  children,  four  of  whom  are 
dead :  Edwin  D.,  of  VVatkins,  New  York,  is 
a  very  prominent  Mason ;  Charles  S.  is  the 
theme  of  this  historical  sketch ;  George  died 
in  California  in  1853,  having  gone  there  by 
way  of  the  "Cape;"  Hiram  A.  died  in  youth  ; 
James  resides  in  Brooklyn ;  Hannah  Maria 
is  ^Irs.  Joseph  Cody,  of  Madison,  Nebraska ; 
Mary  Jane  is  Mrs.  Thomas  Jones,  of  Co- 
lumbus, \\'isconsin ;  Catherine  married  Will- 
iam AVhitfield,  and  is  now  dead ;  William 
Henry  Harrison  died  in  1863,  and  Lucretia 
and  Samuel  live  in  ^ladison,  Nebraska,  with 
their  sister. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  came  west  in 
1852,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Otsego,  just 
east  of  the  village  of  the  same  name.  In 
1863  he  sold  his  farm.  June  7,  1847,  'le  was 
married  to  Miss  Susan  Rouse,  daughter  of 
William     and     Polly    (Shaw)     Rouse,    of 


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COMF/iNIJlUM    01-    BIOGK/ir'HY. 


557 


have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  as 
follows:  Anna  Alinira,  born  I-'ebriiary  5, 
1869,  rlied  in  a  burning  building  February 
12,  1899;  Charles  J.;  Abbic  I..,  now  Mrs. 
A.  Besaw,  of  Waushara  county ;  Lorenzo  A.; 
J'" rank  E.,  a  teacher  in  Sauk  county;  and 
Nellie  M.  Mr.  White  is  a  member  of  the 
Advent  Christian  church  of  Lavalle,  and 
contributed  of  his  means  for  the  erection  of 
llie  church  building.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
A.  A.  Matthews  I^ost,  No.  44,  fi.  A.  I<.,-at 
Lavalle,  and  is  adjutant  in  the  local  jx>st. 
Jle  has  fillerl  various  ofifices  of  trust  and  wa? 
village  clerk  eight  years.  He  has  been  a  life- 
long Kepublican  in  political  faith  and  cast 
his  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in  i860. 
I  here  is  perhaps  no  man  in  the  village  who 
takes  a  more  active  interest  in  its  welfare 
and  has  done  more  to  promote  its  enterprises 
than  Mr.  White.  He  is  well  known  through- 
out the  county  and  is  a  rhan  whose  opinions 
are  sought  and  advice  heeded. 


EDWARD  SHANAHAN. 

Edward  Shanahan,  a  worthy  represent- 
ative of  the  agricultural  interests  of  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  now  owns  and  operates 
a  fine  farm  in  Dell  Prairie  towr.ship,  and  is 
successfully  engaged  in  his  chosen  occupa- 
tion. He  was  Ixyrn  in  EdwardsVjurg,  Cass 
county,  Michigan,  March  25,  1852,  and  is 
the  ninth  son  of  Hon.  E^lward  Shanahan. 
He  ac(|uired  his  literary  education  in  the 
common,  graded  and  high  schools  near  his 
boyhood  home,  and  until  he  attained  his  ma- 
jority he  worked  on  his  father's  large  farm, 
where  he  seaired  an  excellent  knowledge  of 
agricultural  pursuits.  At  the  age  of  twen- 
t\'-one  he  began  farming  on  his  own  ac- 
count upon  one  of  his  father's  farms,  and 
throughout  his  active  business  life  has  suc- 
cessfully followed  that  vocation.     He  raises 


principally  corn  and  hogs,  making  a  s\yt- 
cialty  of  the  f'oland  China  breed.  ()n  the 
1st  of  April,  1884,  he  removed  to  Dell  I'rairie 
township,  Adams  county,  where  he  now 
owns  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres  of  land 
on  .section  31,  one  hundrerl  of  which  are 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  well 
improved.  Ht  has  a  1>eautiful  home,  sur- 
rounded by  lovely  grounds,  and  everything 
about  the  jilace  testifies  to  the  skill  and  en- 
terprise of  the  owner. 

On  the  15th  of  September,  1880,  Mr. 
Shanahan  werlfled  Miss  Mary  H,  Hanley, 
who  was  also  lx>rn  in  fvlwardsburg,  Michi- 
gan, October  4,  1858,  and  educated  in  the 
common  .schools  of  that  state.  Her  parents, 
Patrick  and  Mary  Hanley,  were  natives  of 
county  Limerick,  Ireland,  and  emigrat&l  to 
A.merica  at  an  early  day,  the  mother  l>eing 
only  a  child  when  she  crossed  the  Atlantic. 
They  located  in  Michigan. 

The  f<epublican  party  finals  in  Mr.  Shan- 
ahan a  stanch  suf^p^jrter  of  its  principles,  h»ut 
he  has  never  cared  for  the  hf^ors  or  emolu- 
ments of  imblic  office,  preferring  Xf)  devote 
his  entire  time  and  attentif^n  to  his  business 
interests.  As  an  honest,  upright  and  indus- 
trious man,  he  is  highly  esteemed  by  his 
neighfxirs  and  friends. 


HL'GH  McMAHOX. 

Hugh  McMahon,  for  many  years  a  resi- 
dent of  the  northwestern  part  of  Fountain 
Prairie  township,  Columbia  county,  an-l  a 
familiar  figure  on  the  streets  of  the  village 
of  Doylestown,  is  a  tiller  of  the  soil  who 
has  won  a  competency  bj'  industry  and  econ- 
omy. He  commands  the  respect  of  the  com- 
munity as  an  honest  and  upright  man,  and 
nc  regrets  over  a  wasted  and  misspent  life 
mar  his  advancing  years. 

Mr,  McMahon  is  a  son  of  Edward  and 


558 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Rose  (Kirley)  McMahon,  and  was  born  in 
the  northern  part  of  Ireland,  April  5,  1H31. 
His  parents  came  to  this  country  about 
1845,  and  remained  a  short  time  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  In  1849  they  came 
\vest  to  Ccilumbia  county,  and  were  so  at- 
tracted by  the  charming  stretclies  of  the 
township  of  Fountain  Prairie,  that  they  ef- 
fected a  settlement  within  its  confines.  Here 
they  lived  and  died,  and  were  honest,  God 
fearing  people.  The  senior  McMahon  w'as 
twice  married,  and  had  a  large  family  by 
each  wife.  Our  subject  has  eight  brothers, 
all  of  whom  have  finally  come  into  the  west, 
though  not  at  the  same  time.  He  settled 
on  the  farm  now  owned  by  him  when  cjuite 
3-oung,  and  at  one  time  owned  over  three 
hundred  acres.  He  has  reduced  this  acre- 
age, howe\'er,  by  turning  part  of  it  over  to 
his  son,  and  selling  a  considerable  tract  to 
the  railroad.  A  Columbus  syndicate  has  also 
purchased  several  acres  of  him  for  the  pur- 
pose of  quarrying  the  excellent  red  sand- 
stone found  there. 

Mr.  McMahon  and  Miss  Mary  Cranion 
were  married  in  1854.  She  is  a  nati\-e  of 
Dublin,  and  has  inherited  manv  of  the  best 
traits  of  the  island  character.  She  is 
the  mother  of  iowr  children :  Barth(jlemew, 
v^ho  is  living  in  \'ancouver,  British  Co- 
hunbia;  Anthony,  who  li\-es  on  part  of  the 
old  farm ;  Annie,  who  married  Daniel  Rior- 
dan;  and  Mary  Theresa,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Patrick  Kirley,  of  Doylestown.  In  their  hos- 
pitable home  three  adopted  children  have 
grown  to  maturity:  Alfred  Anderson,  who 
was  adopted  by  our  subject  as  William  Mc- 
Mahon, when  he  became  a  man  enlisted  in 
the  United  States  regular  army,  and  was 
severely  wounded  at  Santiago;  Rosa,  who 
married  and  lives  in  j\Iilwaukee;  and  Eliza, 
now  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan,  of  Doylestown. 

Mr.  McMahon  has  been  a  lifelong  Dem- 
ocrat, but  does  not  limit  the  e.xercise  of  his 
privilege  as  a  citizen  by  strict  party  lines. 


He  prefers  to  seek  the  fittest  man  for  the 
place,  and  to  largely  consider  the  welfare 
of  the  country  rather  than  mere  party  or- 
ganization. He  is  a  brother  of  John  E.  Mc- 
ivlahon,  whose  sketch  appears  in  these  pages, 
and  the  two  brothers  have  Ijeen  men  of 
strong  character  and  marked  ability  in  this 
community  for  many  years.  Our  subject 
is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church  at 
Doylestown,  and  has  been  an  hiniest,  hard- 
working man  all  his  life.  He  is  modest 
and  unassuming,  but  straightforward  and 
persevering,  and  may  well  congratulate  him- 
self upon  the  success  that  has  attended  his 
labors.  He  has  been  a  Mason  since  1865, 
and  is  a  member  of  Rio  Lodge,  at  Rio, 
^Visconsin. 


ISRAEL  PERRY. 

Israel  Perry,  whose  pleasant  home  is  lo- 
cated near  Reedsburg,  in  Lavalle  township, 
is  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  calling 
in  Sauk  county.  He  has  engaged  in  the  pivr- 
suit  of  agriculture  throughout  his  career, 
and  has  gained  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
his  vocation,  which,  together  with  his  indus- 
trious and  practical  nature,  has  made  him 
a  man  of  means  and  one  whose  influence  is 
felt  wherever  he  is  knowu. 

Mr.  Perry  was  born  in  iMidilletown, 
Rutland  county,  Vermont,  January  ^9,  1837, 
au-d  was  the  son  of  Israel  and  Calista 
(Moshier)  Perry.  His  father  was  born  in 
the  same  town  and  county  as  our  subject, 
and  his  mother  was  a  native  of  Wells,  same 
county.  They  were  of  American  ancestors 
as  far  as  can  be  traced,  and  followed  the 
occupation  of  farming.  The  faiuily  moved 
to  Whitewater,  W'ahvijrth  county,  \\'iscon- 
sin,  in  the  spring  of  1857,  and  rented  a  farm 
for  one  or  two  years,  and  then  moved  to 
Lavalle  township,  Sauk  county,  in  1861, 
where  the  father  died  in  April,  1881,  aged 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


559 


about  eighty-lhree  years,  and  the  niDther 
passed  away  in  August,  1883,  aged  eighty- 
two  years. 

Our  suljject  moved  west  wtli  his  par- 
ents when  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  worked 
on  iiis  father's  farm  until  he  enlisted  Janu- 
ary 4,  1864,  in  Company  F,  Twenty-third 
Wisconsin  Infantry.  He  saw  service  under 
General  Banks  in  the  department  of  the 
Gulf,  and  was  engaged  at  Spanish  Fort, 
FortBlakeley,  and  ntmierous  smaller  engage- 
ments. He  was  confined  in  the  hospital, 
afliicted  with  smallpox,  at  Morganzie  Bend, 
and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  March 
15,  1866,  at  Brownsville,  Texas. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Perry 
returned  to  Reedsburg,  and  engaged  in 
farming  on  the  old  homestead.  He  has  a 
comfortable  residence  and  is  otherwise  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  his  declining  years. 

Our  subject  was  married  November  12, 
1867,  to  Jilartha  Potter,  daughter  of  Elisha 
and  Clemina  (Calkins)  Potter.  Mrs.  Perry 
came  with  her  parents  to  Sauk  county  in 
1853,  and  here  her  parents  died,  the  fa- 
ther June  8,  1883,  aged  eighty-two  years, 
and  the  mother  in  June,  1879,  aged  eighty- 
four  years. 

Mr.  Perry  is  a  prominent  member  of  H. 
A.  Tator  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Reedsburg,  and 
has  held  most  of  the  offices  of  the  post,  in- 
cluding commander.  He  was  a  loyal  and 
brave  soldier,  who  fought  for  the  cause  of 
his  country,  and  can  review  his  career,  while 
a  soldier,  with  justifiable  pride,  as  well  as 
his  private  and  public  life  since  leaving  the 
service.  He  is  popular  with  his  associates 
and  is  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem  by 
them.  He  takes  an  active  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  his  community,  and  is  a  man 
strong  in  his  own  convictions  and  is  always 
found  standing  on  the  side  of  right  and 
justice.  His  calling  is  one  best  suited  to 
his  characteristics,  and  he  has  made  a  suc- 
cess  through   his    own    efforts.       Honesty 


marks  his  e\'ery  deed,  and  he  has  aided  ma- 
tcriall}'  in  the  upl)uil(ling  of  Sauk  county, 
and  especially  in  his  i.wn  tcjwnship. 


LEWIS  H.  BUCKLEY. 

Lewis  H.  Buckley,  a  prominent  and  suc- 
cessful agriculturist  and  stock  raiser,  resid- 
ing" in  Lewiston  township,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut, 
March  16,  1845,  and  is  a  son  of  Matthew 
Buckley,  a  wheelwright,  who  was  born  at 
Mulingar,  county  \\'est  Meath,  Ireland. 

The  father  of  our  subject  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1828,  and  settled  at  Norwich,  Con- 
necticut, where  he  worked  in  the  woolen 
mills  and  at  other  work  until  1849,  when  he 
came  to  New  Haven,  Adams  county, Wiscon- 
sin, and  entered  claim  to  two  hundred  acres 
of  land,  and  began  impro\ing  it.  He  was  in- 
dustrious and  perse\-ering  and  succeeded  in 
clearing  and  breaking  one  luuulred  acres. 
He  was  successful  as  a  farmer  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Oc- 
tober, 1865,  he  was  well-to-do.  He  was  the 
father  of  five  children,  as  follows:  Leonard, 
v/ho  is  a  successful  farmer  in  New  Haven 
township,  Adams  county,  near  the  old  home- 
stead;  Mary,  born  in  1851,  who  married  Ole 
Nelson,  and  is  now  residing  at  Crookston, 
South  Dakota;  Barney,  born  in  1857,  who 
married  Miss  Marietta  Stowell,  and  is  now 
living  at  New  Buffalo,  Cass  county.  North 
Dakota;  Patsey,  born  in  1859,  who  marrieil 
Miss  Florence  Hosford,  ajid  now  resides  in 
New  Buffalo,  North  Dakota;  and  Lewis  H., 
our  subject. 

Lewis  H.  Buckle}-  moved  with  his  jiar- 
ents  to  New  Haven  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, when  he  was  but  five  years  of  age.  He 
received  a  good  common-school  education, 
and  worked  on  the  farm  with  his  father  until 
nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  enlisted  in 


560 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Company  D,  Fourth  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  re- 
maining in  the  service  until  the  close  of  the 
v.ar.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Vicksburg, 
June  20,  1865,  1)y  general  order.  He  served 
under  General  Bailey  and  General  Wilson, 
and  participated  in  the  siege  of  Mobile  and 
the  battle  of  Olive  Branch  Church,  and 
minor  engagements,  and  received  a  gun- 
shot wound  at  the  last  named  battle.  He  en- 
joys the  distinction  of  capturing  the  third 
preserved  relic,  a  double-barrelled  shotgun, 
which  is  now  in  the  historical  room  of  the 
state  capitol  at  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

After  returning  from  the  war  he  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  woods  and  in  running 
lumber  down  the  Wisconsin  river  until 
about  1875,  when  he  settled  on  his  farm  in 
New  Haven  township,  Adams  county,  and 
Vvas  a  successful  farmer.  He  remained  until 
1885,  when  he  purchased  what  is  known  as 
the  Kauffman  farm,  on  section  12,  town- 
ship 13,  range  7,  Columbia  county.  Th.e 
estate  comprises  five  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land,  with  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  acres  under  cultivation.  Mr.  Buckley 
makes  a  specialty  of  stock  raising,  and  Dur- 
ham cattle  and  Poland  China  hogs  are  his 
leaders.  He  gives  his  attention  to  the  rais- 
irig  of  clover  and  wheat,  and  has  one  of  the 
finest  farms  in  northern  Columbia  county. 
He  has  one  of  the  most  beautiful  residences 
in  the  county,  both  as  to  structure  and  lo- 
cation, and  he  has  improved  the  "Kauff- 
man" farm  beyond  recognition,  with  its 
beautiful  grounds,  orchards,  large  barns  and 
outbuildings. 

Mr.  Buckley  was  married  July  4,  1875, 
to  Miss  Abbie  F.  Atcherson,  daughter  of 
W.  T.  Atcherson,  of  Dell  Prairie.  Mrs. 
Buckley  was  born  at  Rockingham,  Windham 
county,  Vermont,  October  17,  1855,  and 
moved  wth  her  parents  at  the  age  of  two 
years  to  Plainville,  Wisconsin.  She  is  a 
lady  of  refinement  and  well  educated,  and 
taught  five  years  in  the  public  schools  of 


.Adams  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buckley  have 
been  the  parents  of  four  children,  two  sons, 
one  of  whom  is  at  home. and  one  residing 
in  Chicago,  and  two  daughters ;  Olive  E., 
born  October  6,  1876,  who  received  a  liberal 
education  and  taught  five  years  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  She  was  married  May  7,  1898, 
to  Albert  Hoefs,  and  is  n(jw  living  at  Lewis- 
ton;  Lizzie  A.,  born  November  20,  1884, 
in  Lewiston,  Columbia  county,  and  is  still 
residing  at  home. 

Mr.  Buckley  is  a  member  of  Ivilbourn 
Lodge,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  the  G.  A.  R.,  in  which  he  has  held  many 
important  offices.  He  has  represented  the 
township  of  Lewiston  on  the  county  board 
two  terms,  and  served  as  clerk  of  his  school 
district  twelve  years.  He  succeeded  in  pro- 
curing an  appropriation  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Lewiston  levee,  which  lifted  a 
burden  from  the  tax  payers  of  the  town- 
ship. He  has  been  an  officer  of  the  Colum- 
bia County  Agricultural  Society  twelve 
years.  He  has  pushed  forward  every  public 
enterprise,  and  his  influence  is  felt  through- 
out the  county. 


RICHARD     CHESTER     ROCK  WOOD, 
M.  D.,  Deceased. 

Richard  Chester  Rockwood,  M.  D.,  de- 
ceased, was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  suc- 
cessful physicians  of  Columbia  county,  and 
also  a  prosperous  business  man  and  exem- 
plary citizen  of  Portage.  He  was  born  in 
Utica,  New  York,  November  24,  1814.  His 
parents  died  many  years  ago,  the  father  in 
Elkhorn,  Wisconsin,  the  mother  in  Viroqua, 
this  state. 

Dr.  Rockwood  was  educated  for  his  pro- 
fession at  the  Philadelphia  Medical  College, 
from  which  he  received  his  diploma  Febru- 
ary 22,  1833,  and  soon  afterward  came  to 
Wisconsin,    being    engaged  in  practice  at 


RICHARD  C,  ROCKWOOD.,  M.  D.    (Deceased.) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


563 


Elkhorn  fur  a  time.  He  then  removed  to 
Wyocena,  Columbia  cimiity,  1)eing  the  first 
Ijhysician  tn  Incate  there,  and  was  not  long- 
in  building  up  a  very  large  practice.  For 
about  tweh-e  years  lie  also  served  as  county 
physician,  lie  built  the  tirst  hotel  in  Wyo- 
cena, which  he  carried  on  for  a  time,  and 
also  invested  to  some  extent  in  real  estate 
there.  On  his  removal  to  Portage,  in  187J, 
he  abandoned  professional  labors,  though  he 
was  occasionally  called  to  the  county  house 
at  Wyocena  in  the  capacity  of  county  physi- 
cian. He  continued  to  deal  in  real  estate 
and  did  quite  an  extensive  loan  business. 
He  was  a  man  of  excellent  business  and  ex- 
ecutive ability,  and  was  very  successful  as  a 
collector,  though  he  often  took  no  security, 
and  never  foreclosetl  a  mortgage.  In  1876 
he  built  a  fine  brick  residence  on  West  Cook 
street,  which  was  his  home  throughout  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

About  1834  Dr.  Rockwood  married  Miss 
Mahala  Packard,  of  Unadilla,  New  York, 
who  died  in  Wyocena,  Wisconsin,  in  i860, 
aged  forty  years.  She  left  two  children : 
Charles,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  who  died 
in  Leavenworth,  Kansas ;  and  Helen,  who 
married  Henry  Britt  and  died  in  Eldorado, 
Kansas.  The  Doctor  was  again  married, 
June  16,  1861,  his  second  union  being  with 
Miss  Rose  Conlon,  a  nati\e  of  county  Louth, 
Ireland,  who  came  to  the  Lhiited  States  in 
1852  with  her  parents,  Lawrence  and  Rose 
Conlon.  The  family  located  in  Lowville, 
Wisconsin,  where  the  father,  a  successful 
farmer,  died  April  i,  1887,  at  the  age  of 
ninety  years,  the  mother,  February  7,  1884, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three.  By  his  second 
marriage  Dr.  Rockwood  had  six  children, 
three  of  whom  are  now  deceased :  Ernest 
Seymour,  nigiit  telegraph  operator  at  Port- 
age, was  accidentally  shot  while  hunting,  and 
died  July  18.  1882,  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  five  months  and  five  days;  Maria  Lu- 
ella  died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  and  May 

30 


Beatrice  died  at  one  and  a  half  years.  The 
(laughters  died  of  scarlet  fever  on  succes- 
sive days.  The  cliildren  li\ing  are  Lewis 
Chester,  now  in  Oregon;  Edward  Albert, 
who  served  in  the  Spanish-American  war,  a 
resident  of  Portage;  and  Abbie  Imeldia.  wife 
of  E.  F.  Volkmann,  of  Fessenden,  Xnrth 
Dakota. 

Dr.  Rockwood  died  in  Portage,  July  6, 
1887,  honored  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him.  In  politics  he  was  a  stanch 
Democrat,  but  favoretl  the  vigorous  prose- 
cution of  the  Civil  war.  He  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  in  \\'yocena  for  sexeral 
years  and  as  an  alderman  in  Portage,  and  he 
was  also  nominated  and  came  very  nearly  be- 
ing elected  mayor  of  the  city.  In  1875  he 
was  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Co- 
lumbia County  Agricultural  Society,  taking 
personal  charge  of  preparing  the  grounds 
and  arranging  for  the  first  fair,  which  was  a 
great  success.  He  always  took  an  acti\e  in- 
terest in  everything  pertaining  to  the  upbuild- 
ing and  advancement  of  his  adopted  county, 
and  in  his  death  the  community  realized  that 
it  had  lost  one  of  its  valued  and  useful  citi- 
zens. For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  wdiile  living  in  Wyo- 
cena served  as  master  of  the  lodge.  A  short 
time  before  his  death  he  united  with  St. 
Mary's  Catholic  church  of  Portage,  of  which 
his  wife  is  also  a  member.  A  portrait  of 
this  estimable  and  widely  known  physician 
graces  a  page  elsewhere  in  this  \'olume.  and 
to  thousands  in  the  county  and  vicinity  will 
prove  a  valuable  memento  of  the  Doctor 
thev  knew  and  loved  so  well. 


HARVEY  B.  COLBURN. 

Harvey  B.  Colburn,  a  thorough  and  skill- 
ful farmer,  wdio  is  now  successfully  oper- 
ating a  farm  for  the  Dells  Resort  Company, 


504 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


in  Dell  Prairie  township,  Adams  county, 
near  Kilbourn  City,  was  born  in  Ouincy 
township,  the  same  county,  October  i8, 
1862,  and  is  a  son  of  Sherman  and  Elvira 
(Brazee)  Colburn,  who  came  to  this  county 
from  Vermont,  in  1861.  (A  sketch  of  their 
lives  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  work. )  Our 
subject  received  a  good  practical  education, 
and  after  leaving  school  worked  for  his  fa- 
tlier  until  twenty-two  3'ears  of  age.  He  next 
successfully  engaged  in  school  teaching  for 
a  time,  and  in  1885,  on  coming  into  posses- 
siiin  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild 
land  on  sections  17  and  18,  Springville 
township,  Adams  county,  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  cleared 
and  broke  his  land,  placed  it  under  a  high 
.•5iate  of  cultivation  and  erected  good  build- 
irgs  thereon,  including  a  comfortable  resi- 
dence. He  finally  sold  the  place,  and  in 
1896  took  charge  of  the  farm  which  he  is 
now  so  successfully  operating. 

On  the  19th  of  July,  1885,  Mr.  Colburn 
married  Miss  Martha  Adele  Reeves,  a 
daughter  of  Anson  and  Julia  (Hakes) 
Reeves,  pioneer  settlers  of  Adams  county. 
The  father  operated  a  mill  at  Cascade,  now 
White  Creek,  Adams  county,  and  later  be- 
came a  prominent  farmer  of  Springville 
township.  He  did  much  toward  the  early- 
development  and  upbuilding  of  this  locality, 
and  was  recognized  as  one  of  its  \'alued 
citzens.  He  died  in  1874,  and  his  wife 
passed  away  two  years  later.  Mrs.  Col- 
burn was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  was  well  qualified  for  the  teacher's 
profession.  By  her  marriage  to  our  subject 
she  has  become  the  mother  of  one  child, 
Elsie  ]\I.,  born  December  2j,   1889. 

In  1893  Mr.  Colburn  united  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of  which  he 
and  I:is  wife  are  now  prominent  members, 
and  take  great  interest  in  Sunday  school  and 
church  work.  They  are  also  active  members 
of  the  Home  Forum,  and  are  people  of  prom- 


inence in  the  community  where  they  reside. 
In  politics  Mr.  Colburn  is  a  Republican,  and 
his  fellow  citizens,  recognizing  his  worth 
and  ability,  have  elected  him  to  a  number 
of  township  offices,  the  duties  of  which  he 
n]ost  capably  and  satisfactorily  discharged. 


JOHN  FOSTER. 

John  Foster,  of  Fall  River,  Columbia 
county,  was  born  at  ClarksAille,  Otsego 
county,  Xew  York,  August  15,  1833.  He 
is  the  s(jn  of  Orrin  Foster  and  Emeline 
Knapp.  John  Foster's  father  was  a  native 
of  Dutchess  county.  New  York,  both  his 
parents  having  belonged  to  pioneer  families 
there,  the  earlier  members  of  which  took 
leading"  parts  in  sui^pressing  the  Indians  on 
the  New  York  frontier.  Flis  father  died 
when  Orrin,  the  only  son,  was  but  two  years 
old,  and  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Lizzie  Boughton,  afterwards  married  a  Mr. 
Smith,  by  whom  she  had  ten  children.  She 
sprang  of  an  English  family,  wdiich  located 
in  America  in  colonial  times,  her  grandfa- 
ther coming  from  England. 

About  1836,  his  wife  having  died,  Orrin 
Foster  went  to  Cuba  in  the  employ  of  a 
corporation  to  operate  a  steam  pile  driver. 
There  he  spent  nine  years,  during  a  part  of 
which  time  he  was  engaged  in  mining. 
W'hile  in  that  country  he  was  married  to  a 
lady  of  Spanish  descent.  Shortly  after  his 
return  to  the  United  States  he  went  to 
Henry  county,  Illinois,  where  for  several 
years  he  operated  a  large  farm,  at  the  same 
time  working  as  a  civil  engineer  in  laying 
out  railroad   lines   through  that   state. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  his  early 
days  in  New  York  until  his  father's  return 
from  Cuba.  He  then  joined  the  latter  in 
coming  west  and  visited  Milwaukee,  Chica- 
go and  other  places  before  settling  in  Henry 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


565 


county,  Illinois,  where  he  assumetl  the  prin- 
cipal charge  of  the  farm  during  his  father's 
absence  on  other  business.  Not  finding  these 
surroundings  congenial  to  his  tastes,  and 
having  already  imbibed  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent ideas,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years, 
with  a  capital  of  six  cents,  he  set  out  to 
make  his  own  way.  He  worked  that  year 
on  a  farm  in  Illinois  and  then  went  East 
that  he  might  again  attend  the  "paring 
bees"  and  other  social  gatherings  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed  in  his  earlier  youth. 
During  his  stay  there,  on  the  26th  day  of 
January,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Catherine  Decker,  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Frinda  Decker.  Mrs.  Foster  was  born  at 
Cherry  Valley,  Otsego  county,  New^  York, 
December  19,  1830,  and  died  at  Fall  River, 
Wisconsin,  July  20,  1886. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Foster 
came  to  Fond  du  Lac  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  for  one  year  he  worked  upon  a 
farm  and  for  five  years  more  rented  the  same 
farm.  He  then  purchased  a  hotel,  the  Calu- 
met House,  at  the  village  of  that  name, 
v.'hich  he  carried  on  very  successfully  for 
two  years,  when  the  spirit  of  adventure 
seized  him  and  he  started  to  drive  to  Iowa 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  a  farm  in  that 
state.  Upon  reaching  Fountain  Prairie 
township,  which  impressed  him  as  being  the 
finest  country  he  had  ever  seen,  he  imme- 
diately bought  a  farm  of  o\-er  two  hun- 
dred acres.  We  may  judge  of  the  success 
of  this  man  in  his  previous  ventures,  since 
we  know  that  he  paid  Cash  for  this  farm 
and  a  few  months  later  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  adjoining  the  same. 
Then  followed  a  period  of  buying,  improv- 
ing and  selling,  until  finally  he  repurchased 
the  original  farm,  upon  which  he  continued 
to  reside  for  twenty  years  more.  Each  of 
these  transactions  resulted  in  financial  bene- 
fit to  Mr.  Foster,  until  he  was  recognized 
as  one  of  the  most  substantial  citizens  of 


Columbia  county.  Since  1S83  he  has  liveil 
in  the  \'illage  of  Fall  River,  where  he  has 
erected  a  number  of  buildings  and  owns 
considerable  real  estate.  He  has  also  in- 
vested to  some  extent  in  South  Dakota  farm 
lands,  and  for  thirty  years  or  more  has  been 
an  extensive  dealer  in  live  stock,  shipping 
from  various  stations  in  this  and  adjacent 
counties.  For  many  years  he  conducted  a 
considerable  loaning  business,  handling  the 
funds  of  other  parties  as  well  as  his  own. 
These  various  transactions  have  given  him 
a  wide  acquaintance  and  inspired  the  con- 
fidence of  his  associates  to  a  noteworthy 
degree.  His  uniform  success  may  be  at- 
tributed to  his  untiring  industry,  business 
integrity  and  intelligent  foresight. 

July  3,  1888,  he  was  married  a  second 
time  to  Elizabeth  Baxendall,  daughter  of 
Pliineas  P.  and  Janet  (Thornber)  Baxen- 
dall. Mrs.  Foster  was  born  at  Sutton  Mills, 
Yorkshire,  England,  August  30,  1850.  With 
her  parents  she  came  to  Columbia  county 
in  i860,  settling  in  the  town  of  Fountain 
Prairie,  where  Mr.  Baxendall  acquired  a 
large  farm.  He  died  there  October  12, 
1890,  at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy  years. 
In  England  he  had  accumulated  considerable 
property  through  his  skill  as  a  weaver  and 
warp  dresser.  /Vfter  his  death  his  wife  lived 
much  of  the  time  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster 
until  departing  this  life,  June  23,  1896,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  The  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foster  is  one  of  the  best  resi- 
dences in  the  village  of  Fall  River,  where 
the  latter  is  connected  with  the  local  organi- 
zation of  Royal  Neighbors  of  America. 

By  his  first  marriage  Mr.  Foster  had 
three  sons  and  two  daughters:  Aclolphus, 
born  June  19,  1854,  is  now  living  at  De 
Smet,  South  Dakota:  Fayette  C.  born  Oc- 
tober 5,  1856.  is  a  leading  farmer  of  Foun- 
tain Prairie;  ]\Iarv.  born  October  5,  1861, 
is  the  wife  of  Richard  Huggett,  of  the  same 
township;  John,  Ixyrn  January  21,   1867,  is 


566 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


a  prominent  citizen  of  Fall  River ;  Kate, 
born  May  2,  1877,  is  the  wife  of  Lewis 
D3-er,  of  Fall  River.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Foster 
has  borne  her  husband  three  children,  whose 
presence  enli\ens  the  present  home.  They 
are  nametl  respectively :  Alice  Janette,  l:)orn 
April  II,  1889;  Bessie  E.,  born  April  29, 
1891 ;  and  Jessie  M.,  born  Julv  11.  1894. 
Mr.  Foster  also  has  fifteen  grandchildren 
and  two  great-grandchildren. 

Mr.  Foster  has  served  several  terms  as 
chairman  of  the  township  board  of  super^ 
visors,  as  assessor  and  in  other  local  offices. 
He  was  at  one  time  nominated  for  county 
sheriff  on  the  Democratic  ticket  and  though 
he  made  no  effort  to  advance  his  candidacy, 
owing  to  his  personal  popularity,  he  barely 
failed  to  overcome  the  usual  large  Republi- 
can majority  in  the  county. 


WILLLVM  HENRY  EVARTS. 

\Villiam  Henry  Evarts.  a  successful  and 
irilluential  farmer,  now  living  in  retirement 
in  the  village  of  Poynette,  represents  one  of 
the  early  pioneer  families  of  Columbia  coun- 
ty, and  has  himself  been  identified  with  much 
of  the  stirring  and  important  history  of  this 
part  of  Wisconsin  for  many  years. 

Mr.  Evarts  was  born  in  Stephentown, 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  May  20, 1842, 
and  is  a  son  of  Claudius  L.  and  Betsey  (Sny- 
der) Evarts,  both  natives  of  the  Empire 
state.  Authentic  records  of  the  Evarts 
family  e.xist  in  London  for  a  period  of  five 
hundred  years  or  more.  Members  of  the 
family  were  prominent  among  the  colonists 
at  Guilford,  Connecticut,  and  were  closely 
associated  with  the  Whites,  Adams  and  other 
noted  families.  The  Evarts  played  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  Revolution  and  other  ]Dub- 
lic  affairs,  and  everywhere  pro\ed  themselves 
men  of  character  and  spirit.     Aaron  Evarts 


was  born  at  Guilford,  Connecticut,  in  1714, 
and  his  descendants  may  now  be  found  all 
over  the  Lhiited  States.  His  grandson,  Isaac 
Evarts,  moved  to  Rensselaer  county.  New 
York,  married  Betsey  Phinney.  and  they 
were  the  jiarents  of  C.  L.  E\'arts. 

C.  L.  Evarts  learned  the  trade  of  brick 
maker  and  layer  in  New  York  and  came 
to  Wisconsin  in  1846,  traveling  by  the  lakes 
from  Buffalo  to  Racine.  He  brought  a  yoke 
of  oxen  with  him,  and  dro\-e  from  the  last 
named  place  to  Columbia  count}-,  and  i.in  his 
arrival  in  the  countr}-  secured  a  patent  of  two 
hundred  acres  of  fine  farming  land  from 
tlie  government.  This  was  wild  land  at  the 
time  it  passed  into  his  possession,  but  he  soon 
brought  it  into  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
He  died  August  29,  1854,  at  the  age  of 
fifty  years.  When  he  located  in  Lowville, 
where  he  had  his  farm,  there  were  only 
some  seven  of  eight  families  in  the  entire 
township.  He  was  an  influential  citizen  and 
had  much  to  do  with  the  early  affairs  of  Co- 
lumbia county. 

Mrs.  Betsey  Evarts  sur\-i\'ed  many  years, 
and  died  in  1886,  when  about  se\'enty-five 
years  old.  She  was  born  in  Columbia  coun- 
ty. New  York,  where,  her  father,  Nicholas 
Snyder,  lived  and  died.  His  father,  An- 
dreas Snyder,  was  born  in  Germany,  and 
when  eleven  years  old  was  kidnapped  at 
Amsterdam  and  brought  to  New  York, 
where  he  was  adopted  by  a  Dutch  f;miily 
named  Vanderpool  at  Kinderhook.  When 
he  became  a  man  he  settled  at  Lebanon,  New 
\'ork,  and  was  a  farmer  all  his  life. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  L.  Evarts  are  the  parents 
of  eight  children",  of  whom  Philo  and  Elbert 
O.  died  in  Lowville.  Emeline  died  in  Ober- 
lin,  Ohio,  and  John  passed  away  while  yet 
a  child.  Sarah  Jane  married  James  Hodg- 
nian  and  died  many  years  ago.  William  H., 
as  noted  above,  is  a  resident  of  Poynette, 
and  his  sister,  Emma  Louise,  wlnj  married 
Ix.    G.    Smith   antl   lives   in   Iowa,    was   the 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


567 


first  white  ciiiicl  liorn  in  tlie  town  of  Low- 
ville. 

William  Henry  Evarts  spent  his  hoy- 
hood  on  the  Ldwville  farm,  and  was  twelve 
years  old  when  his  father  died.  \Vhen  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  took  charge 
of  the  farm  himself,  and  remained  npon  it 
a  numl)er  of  years.  In  1872  Mr.  Evarts 
went  to  Good  Thunder,  Minnesota,  and  spent 
five  years  in  improving  a  tract  of  wild  land. 
When  he  had  converted  the  Minnesota  land 
into  a  desirable  farm,  and  received  a  clear 
title,  he  returned  to  Wisconsin,  and  bought 
the  home  farm,  upon  which  he  was  reared, 
and  this  is  still  in  his  possession.  It  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  choicest  farms  in  Co- 
lumbia count}',  the  region  of  fine  farms.  It 
contains  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  with 
splendid  improvements  and  has  all  the 
modern  appliances  for  rapid  and  effecti\'e 
agriculture. 

Since  1894  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has 
li\ed  in  the  \illage  of  Poynette,  where  in 
1899  he  built  himself  a  fine  residence,  fitted 
up  according  to  the  latest  notions  for  com- 
fortable and  healthy  living. 

December  30,  1868,  was  the  wedding  day 
01  William  Jdenry  Evarts  and  Margaret  A. 
Henr\-,  the  daughter  of  Frederick  L.  and 
Eliza  W.  (Cronkj  lienry.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Martinsburg,  Lewis  county.  New 
York,  and  came  to  Wisconsin,  seeking  a 
home,  in  1846.  He  located  on  government 
land  in  the  town  of  Lowville,  made  a  fair 
beginning  of  a  home,  and  two  years  later 
brought  his  family  from  the  east.  He  lived 
in  Lowville  until  he  died  in  1893,  seventy 
years  of  age.  Ancestors  of  the  Henry 
family  were  among  the  Scotch-Irish  emi- 
grants wIto  settled  Blandford,  Alassachu- 
setts,  and  were  noted  in  those  troul)lesome 
times  for  their  peaceable  relations  with  the 
Indians.  A  relative  of  F.  L.  Henry  was  an 
officer  in  the  Continental  army  and  so  dis- 
tinguished himself  that  Fort  William  Henry 


was  nametl  after  him.  William  Henry,  the 
father  of  F.  L.  lienry,  served  in  the  war 
of  1 81  J,  and  received  a  land  warrant.  He 
married  Anna  Alexander,  of  Chester,  Mas- 
sachusetts. Her  father,  Captain  Nathaniel 
Alexander,  commanded  a  company  at 
Bunker  Hill.  William  and  Anna  Henry 
were  the  first  settlers  of  Martinsburg,  New 
York.  Mrs.  Eliza  W.  Henry  has  reached 
the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  and  is  still 
living  in  Poynette.  She  was  born  in  Romu- 
lus, Seneca  county.  New  York,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Elisha  and  Esther  (Disbrow) 
Cronk,  who  lived  on  a  farm  in  Seneca  coun- 
t^'.  Her  father's  ancestors  came  from  Ger- 
many, and  he  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch 
mother.  He  reached  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  Her  mother  was  born  in  Connecticut. 
Her  half-l)rother,  James  Cronk,  ser\ed  dur- 
ing the  war  in  a  regiment  of  Michigan 
cavalr)'.  He  was  wounded,  taken  prisoner, 
and  died  in  Libby  prison. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Henry  Evarts 
have  reared  one  daughter,  Annie  Louise, 
and  lost  one  child  in  infanc}'.  The}'  are  con- 
nected with  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
are  highly  esteemed  for  their  good  charac- 
ter, kind  spirit  and  genuine  worth.  Mr. 
Evarts  united  with  the  Masonic  lodge  at 
Poynette  a  number  of  years  ago,  and  has 
been  a  faithful  worker  of  the  craft.  He 
has  been  a  life-long  Republican,  and  is  proud 
of  the  fact  that  he  cast  his  first  vote  for 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  1864.  He  has  held 
several  local  offices,  and  though  he  takes 
an  active  interest  in  the  working  of  his  ])arty 
councils,  has  never  desirexl  to  enter  the  lists 
as  an  active  ofiice  seeker. 


WILLIAM   H.   KAPIL. 

William  H.  Ivahl,  a  well-known  anti 
enterprising  farmer  of  Springville  town- 
ship,    Adams     county,      Wisconsin,      who 


568 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


through  his  own  well-directed  efforts  has 
achieved  success  in  life,  was  liorn  in  Boone- 
ville,  Clinton  county.  Pennsylvania.  Ajiril 
24.  1859.  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  K.  and 
Elizaheth  (Sheets)  Kahl.  also  natives  of 
Clinton  county,  and  of  German  descent. 
There  the  father  took  up  four  hundred  and 
six  acres  of  g-overnment  land,  and  succeed- 
ed in  placing  three  hundred  acres  of  this 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He  erect- 
ed thereon  commodious  and  substantial 
Ijuildings  and  also  a  large  saw-mill,  being 
quite  extensively  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  lumber.  Later  the  farm  was  divided 
into  smaller  farms  and  now  a  village  covers 
a  portion  of  it.  The  father  was  a  very  prom- 
inent and  successful  farmer  and  one  of  the 
foremost  citizens  oi  the  community,  taking 
an  acti\e  part  in  organizing  schools, 
churches,  etc.  One  church  was  locatetl  upon 
his  farm.  There  he  died  in  1882,  and  the 
mother  died  in  1834.  She  was  a  daughter 
of  John  Sheets,  who  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, of  German  ancestry,  and  was  a  well- 
to-do  blacksmith. 

William  H.  Kahl,  of  this  review,  is  in- 
debted to  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
state  for  his  educational  advantages,  and 
during  his  youth  he  worked  with  his  fa- 
ther in  a  blacksmith  shop  and  on  the  farm, 
acquiring  an  excellent  knowledge  of  both 
occupations.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  left 
home  for  the  first  time  and  went  to  Free- 
port,  Illinois,  displa}'ing  his  characteristic 
energy  by  borrowing  the  money  with  which 
to  do  so.  He  landed  there  March  3,  1879, 
and  the  following  day  began  work  on  a  farm 
at  fifteen  dollars  per  month.  Two  years 
later  he  went  to  Iowa,  where  he  worked 
for  the  same  length  nf  time  at  his  trade  and 
al  farming.  Being  industrious  and  eco- 
nomical, he  had  managed  to  sa\-e  quite  a 
snug  amount  during  the  four  years  spent  in 
the  west. 

After  liviiig  two  years    in    Iowa.    ]\Ir. 


Kahl  returned  to  Freeport.  Illinois,  where 
he  was  married.  February  2/,  1883,  to  Miss 
Clara  J.,  daughter  of  Thomas  J.  and  Anna 
(Keller)  Kahl,  natives  of  Clinton  county, 
Pennsylvania,  who  removed  to  Freeport  in 
an  early  day.  Near  that  city  the  mother  died 
in  June,  1862,  but  the  father,  a  wagonmaker 
by  trade,  is  still  living.  The  wife  of  our 
subject  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  Illinois.  They  have  two  children,  Fran- 
ces Irene,  born  in  Stephenson  county.  Illi- 
nois, November  17,  1893,  and  Murl  Will- 
iam,   born    Se])temlier   9,    1900. 

After  his  marriao-e  Mr.  Kahl  secured  the 
position  of  foreman  of  a  farm  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  and  most  creditably 
and  satisfactorily  filled  it  for  four  and  a 
half  years.  In  1888  he  bought  twenty-one 
acres  near  Freeport.  and  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  culture  of  toliacco,  in  which  he 
was  very  successful.  Two  years  later  he 
bought  a  larger  farm  and  engagetl  in  dairy- 
ing, farming  and  the  raising  of  hogs  and 
horses  for  five  years.  Believing  that  he 
could  operate  cheaper  land  more  profitably, 
he  sold  his  farm  in  Illinois  in  1894,  and 
came  to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  bought  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  in  Spring\-ille  township.  Although  this 
tract  was  all  wild  and  entirely  unimproved, 
he  has  cleared  away  the  forest  and  placed 
acre  after  acre  under  the  plow,  until  he  now 
has  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  under  ex- 
cellent cultivation  and  improved  with  a 
large  and  beautiful  residence  and  good  barns 
and  outbuildings.  He  is  one  of  the  men 
who  seem  able  to  meet  any  emergency,  and 
l)y  perseverance  and  -industry  has  accumu- 
lated a  good  property.  He  has  ever  made 
the  most  of  his  ad\-antages  and  takes  ad- 
vantage of  every  opportunity  for  promoting 
his  own  interests  with(.)Ut  injuring  others. 
.■\t  national  elections  he  supports  the  Dem- 
ocratic ]iarty.  but  in  local  affairs  is  inde- 
pendent in  ijolitics,  \-oting  for  the  best  man. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


569 


He  has  most  capalily  and  satisfactnrily 
filled  the  uflice  of  su])er\isor  in  his  town- 
sliip. 

LEWIS  JAXSOX  SMITH. 

Lewis  Janson  Smith,  now  living  in  an 
iionoralile  retirement  at  I'ardeeville,  Co- 
lumbia county,  richly  merits  the  ease  and 
comfort  that  crciwii  his  age,  and  which  he 
has  won  liy  honest  toil  and  integrity  beyond 
reproach.  He  was  horn  in  Rochester,  New 
York,  December  12,  1835,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jesse  \\\  and  Sarah  Ann  (  Benjamin) 
Smith,  who  came  to  Rochester  from  Orange 
count}-,  Xew  York.  The  father  was  a 
weaver  by  trade,  and  foUow^ed  that  occupa- 
tion the  greater  part  of  his  life.  He  moved 
from  Monroe  count}-  into  Li\-ingston  county, 
and  afterwartls  li\-etl  in  Tioga  and  Che- 
mung counties.  He  left  Xew  York  state  in 
1856  and  came  to  Wisconsin.  He  died  in 
Wyocena,  April  19,  1858,  at  the  age  of 
forty-nine.  He  was  a  lifelong  Democrat, 
and  a  n-ian  t:)f  more  than  usual  information. 
His  widow  sur\-i\e(l  him  man}-  years,  anil 
died  at  Ouincy,  Olmsted  county,  Minnesota, 
August  9,  1870.  She  w-as  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  where  she  w-as  born  February  28, 
1807.  She  was  a  woman  of  strong  char- 
acter, and  a  devout. member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Her  father,  David  Ben- 
jamin, and  her  brother.  Jacob  Benjamin, 
were  both  killed  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 
She  was  the  mother  of  eight  children  ;  Caro- 
line A.,  w-ho  died  X^oven-iber  jj.  1852,  in 
New  York;  Samuel  B.,  living  at  Little  Val- 
ley, Obnsted  county,  Minnesota;  Lew-is  J., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Sarah  Elizabeth, 
Mrs.  William  Horr,  of  Plainview,  Minne- 
sota; Susan  Jaiie.  who  died  August  i,  1858, 
v.hen  almost  eighteen  years  old ;  Mary 
Catherine,  wdio  was  twice  married,  the  first 
time  to  F.  J.  Cummings,  and  the  second 
to  A.  R.  Fish,  and  died  February  25,  1898; 


Amanda  Lovina  is  Mrs.  Charles  Durkee.  of 
Beloit,  Iowa;  Phiebe  Louisa  is  JNlrs.  R. 
I 'helps,    of    Wyocena. 

L.  J,  Smith  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
boyho<jd  in  Chemung  coui-ity,  Xew-  \  ork, 
and  grew-  to  manhood  under  the  parental 
roof.  Domestic  exigencies  did  not  admit  of 
prolongeil  schooling  for  the  children  of  a 
man  who  was  able  by  se\-ere  toil  and  long 
lu.iurs  to  earn  a  scanty  !i\-ing  for  his  famil}-. 
But  they  were  bright  and  observing,  and  the 
subject  of  this  writing  has  always  been  re- 
garded as  a  w-ell  informed  man.  The  little 
schooling  that  he  was  able  to  secure  w-ent  a 
Ic/Ug  ways  in  detern-iining  his  character  and 
giving  direction  to  his  energies.  He  came 
t  )  Wisconsin  in  1855,  reaching  the  tow-n  oi 
Lowxille  in  tb.e  closing  month  oi  the  \-ear 
with  a  dollar  and  a  half  in  his  pocket.  He 
Worked  during  the  winter  for  fourteen  dol- 
lars a  month  at  Wyocena,  and  liy  spring- 
had  sa\-etl  forty  dollars.  Then  he  rented  a 
farm  of  Capt.  Jacob  Low-,  and  in-imediately 
sent  the  forty  dollars  he  had  saved  to  his  par- 
ents to  come  to  this  country  and  make  their 
home  with  him.  The  folliiwing  vear  he  rented 
a  farm  at  \\'}-ocena  and  occupied  it  two  \ears. 
About  this  time  occurred  his  n-iarriage. 
Martha  J.  Pierce  was  the  Ijride,  and  the 
ceremou}-  that  made  them  one  w-as  ]ier- 
formed  February  2S,  i860.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Washington  S.  and  Mary  L. 
(Brastedj  Pierce,  of  Wyocena.  She  w-as 
born  in  Cattaraugus  county,  Xew-  York. 
October  22,  1843,  ''i"''  ^''"^'^  ^^  Si.x  Oaks, 
Minnesota,  Novemljer  lo,  1873.  ]\Iaora 
Melissa  Bushnell  became  the  second  wife  of 
Mr.  Smith,  and  w-as  married  to  him  Jul}' 
27,  1876.  She  is  a  dau.ghter  of  Daniel  S. 
and  .Ann  (Rogers)  Bushnell,  of  Wyocena. 
of  whon-i  fuller  information  is  found  in  the 
sketch  of  J.  M.  Bushnell,  published  in  this 
work.  She  was  born  in  Antwerp,  Jefferson 
county,  Xew-  A'ork.  and  is  a  most  estimable 
ladv.  ' 


570 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


j\lr.  Smith  went  to  Olmsted  county,  Min- 
nesota, in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  worked 
on  a  farm  upon  shares  for  two  years.  He 
then  hought  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty acres,  and  gix'ing  it  much  thought  and 
care,  con\-erted  it  into  a  farm  that  was 
counted  among  the  \'ery  Ijest  in  that  [lart  of 
the  state.  He  also  owned  a  house  and  lot 
in  Plain\-iew,  Minnesota,  which  he  sold  in 
1893,  and  returned  to  this  state  to  pass  his 
declining  days  amid  the  scenes  of  his  youth. 
When  he  first  returnetl  he  hought  a  forty- 
acre  farm,  hut  this  he  has  since  sold.  He 
built  a  jjleasant  home  in  Pardeeville,  and 
with  his  wife  belongs  to  the  local  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  with  which  he  uiiited 
in  1864.  He  has  always  l)een  a  strong  atl- 
vocate  of  temperance,  and  organized  a  num- 
ber of  Good  Templar  lodges  in  Minnesota. 
He  \'oted  for  Fremont  in  1856,  and  has 
never  given  up  his  party  associations  thus 
early  farmed.  He  has  been  a  superintend- 
ent of  the  Sunday  school,  and  is  now  a  stew- 
ard of  the  church,  and  is  much  belo\ed  by 
those  \\ho  knuw  him  best. 


URI  .MORSE. 


Uri  Morse,  a  ]:)ioneer  settler  of  Adams 
county,  where  he  has  reside<l  in  Xcw  Haxen 
township  for  over  fifty  years,  is  a  well-hnuwn 
figure  in  the  history  of  this  region.  He  came 
t)  the  C'luntry  when  it  was  a  wilderness,  and 
now  is  the  fortunate  possessor  of  one  of  the 
finest  farms  in  Adams  county.  His  labors 
I'lave  not  been  in  \'ain,  and  he  has  gained  a 
competence  sufticient  to  support  him  in  ease 
during  the  remainder  of  his  earthly  career, 
and  has  gained  for  himself  an  envial)le  repu- 
tation. Portraits  of  him  antl  his  wife  are 
shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  Morse  was  born  in  Guilford  town- 
shij).  Chenango  countv.  New  York,  Septem- 


ber 3,  1823,  and  was  the  son  of  Lyman  and 
Rachel  (Hazard)  Morse.  His  father  was  of 
I\ew  England  blood,  and  records  of  his  an- 
cestors have  been  traced  from  the  seven- 
teenth century  in  England.  \\"e  find  that 
Daniel  Morse  was  married,  in  Massachu- 
setts, in  i66g,  to  Elizabeth  Barbour,  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  George  Barbour,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Dedham  and  Medfiekl,  where 
he  was  a  leading  citizen  and  a  member  of  the 
colonial  government.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, Lyman  Morse,  represented  the  sixth 
generation  of  the  descendants'  of  Daniel 
and  Elizabeth  Morse.  .\  memorial  of  the 
family,  published  by  Rev.  Abner  Morse, 
traces  the  record  tn  184C),  and  further  rec- 
ords are  in  prei^aration.  Our  subject's  fa- 
ther, L\'man  Morse,  went  to  New  York 
with  his  parents  when  a  small  boy.  set- 
tling in  Chenango  county.  He  engaged 
in  farming  there  and  in  Tomjjkins  and  Cort- 
land counties,  and  in  i84()  came  to  \\  iscon- 
sin,  and  located  in  Hampden  township,  Co- 
lumbia county,  where  his  death  occurred  Sep- 
tember 18,  1851,  aged  forty-eight  years.  He 
was  an  acti\e  member  of  the  Christian 
church  and  died  in  that  faith.  The  mother 
of  our  suljject  was  a  nati\'e  of  New  York, 
and  was  born  January  jo,  1801.  Ten  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Lyiuan  and  Rachel  Morse, 
eight  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  as  follows: 
Chester  died  in  the  Cnited  States  army  dur- 
ing the  Ci\il  war:  L'ri,  our  subject:  Henry, 
ex-mayor  of  Colorado  City,  Colorado ;  Hor- 
ace, now  residing  in  Colorado  Springs,  Col- 
orado, and  also  has  a  home  in  California; 
Eli,  also  in  Cokjrado  Springs:  Polly:  Rox- 
ana  :  and  Jane,  witlow  (jf  John  Peterson,  of 
Rio,  \\'isconsin. 

L'ri  Morse  spent  his  boyhood  in  New 
"^'ork,  and  in  June,  1846,  came  to  \\'isc(.)nsin, 
which  was  then  a  territor\'.  His  father  (lro\-e 
overland,  but  our  subject  and  his  brother 
went  to  Milwaukee  by  water.  He  worked 
one   season    in    Round     Prairie,     \\'alworth 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


578 


county,  and  came  from  thence  tn  dilumhia 
county,  and  made  a  claim  in  the  present 
township  of  Hampden.  In  the  spring  of 
1849  li^  came  to  Adams  CDUuty  and  took  a 
squatter's  claim  ti'  his  present  farm,  which 
vas  then  unsurveyed,  and  was  a  part  of  the 
Vv'innebago  reservation.  A  few  other  "squat- 
ters"' were  his  only  wliite  neighbors  at  the 
time,  and  deer,  wnlves  and  hear  were  numer- 
ous, but  he  had  little  inclination  for  hunt- 
ing, though  a  number  of  deer  and  wohes  be- 
came his  prey.  For  the  first  year  or  two 
there  was  not  a  horse  in  the  county  and  he 
drew  his  grain  to  market  at  Milwaukee  with 
an  ox  team,  about  ten  days  being  required 
for  the  trip.  He  has  walked  from  Columbia 
county  to  Chicago  in  the  early  days  of  their 
settlement  on  the  farm.  He  now  owns  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  well  wa- 
tered by  a  li\ing  brook,  and  has  [jjenty 
of  timber  and  plow  land.  The  s(jil  is  the  best 
to  be  found  in  the  state,  and  his  farm  is 
valuable.  For  some  years  past  he  has  given 
his  chief  attention  to  dairying  and  stock  rais- 
ing, and  his  herd  consists  of  high-grade 
Durhams.  He  also  rears  some  of  the  best 
beeves  in  the  state,  and  breeds  some  good 
horses.  Aside  from  his  estate  in  New  Haven 
township  he  is  interested  to  some  extent  in 
gold  mining  in  Colorado.  He  was  one  of  the 
incorporators  of  the  Lake  \  iew  Creamery 
Association,  a  successful  enterprise,  in  which 
he  is  still  interested. 

Our  subject  was  marrieil  May  13,  1850, 
to  Miranda  .\.  Morey,  daughter  of  Harry 
M.  and  Bathia  (Hoyt)  Morey,  of  Fountain 
Prairie,  Columb'a  county,  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Morse  was  born  in  the  ti  iw  n  of  Lcicke,  Cayu- 
ga county,  Xew  ^'nrk,  and  came  to  Wis- 
consin with  her  jiarents  in  1848.  Her  fa- 
ther was  a  nati\e  of  Uelavan  county.  New 
York,  and  her  mother  of  Long  Island.  Their 
home  in  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  tornado  about  1851,  and  they 
then   removed   to    Minnesota.      The    father 


died  in  New  Haven  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, in  September,  1893,  aged  eighty-five 
years,  and  the  mother  passed  away  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  as  follows : 
Lyman  N.,  who  married  Georgia  Wells, 
is  engaged  in  farming  at  Big  Springs;  An- 
drew H.,  who  married  Ida  Brooks,  is  a  con- 
tractor at  Chicago ;  Estella  B.,  now  Mrs.  H. 
A.  Atcherson,  of  Tomahawk,  Wisconsin; 
Justina  R.,  now  Mrs.  Rev.  B.  W.  Perry,  of 
San  Leandro,  California.  Mr.  Perry  was  ap- 
pointed chaplain  in  the  army  now  in  the  Phil- 
ippines. The  other  son  is  Chauncey  W., 
who  married  Nellie  Hodge,  and  now  resides 
on  the  homestead  farm.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morse  have  nine  grandchildren.  Our  subject 
has  served  a  number  of  years  as  supervisor 
of  New  Haven  township,  and  for  several 
years  past  has  been  one  of  the  superintend- 
ents of  the  Adams  county  poor  farm.  He 
has  been  a  Wdiig  or  Republican  all  of  his 
life,  and  voted  for  Henry  Clay  for  presi- 
dent in  1844,  and  attended  a  large  mass 
meeting  of  over  thirty  thousand  people  at 
Ithaca,  New  York,  during  that  campaign. 


\\  ILLIAM  O.  CANON. 

William  O.  Canon,  a  public-spirited  and 
leading  citizen  of  Sauk  county,  resides  on 
his  farm  in  Woodland  township,  where  his 
influence  has  Ijcen  exerted  for  the  benefit 
cf  his  community  and  county  and  his  serv- 
ices given  to  its  advancement  in  all  ma- 
terial and  educational  lines  for  the  past  (|uar- 
ter  of  a  century. 

William  O.  Canon  was  born  in  (iuilf.ird, 
Jo  Daviess  county,  Illinois,  July  6,  1849. 
His  parents  were  Samuel  and  Louisa  (  Sut- 
tcri)  Canon,  the  former  born  in  Mercer 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  latter  a  na- 
tive of  Nottinghamshire,    I'.ngland,  coming 


574 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


to  the  United  States  when  four  years  old. 
Samuel  and  Louisa  Canon  came  to  \\^ood- 
land,  Sauk  county,  \^'isc()nsin,  in  1859,  and 
followed  farming  until  the  death  of  the 
fcrmer,  which  occurred  Septemlier  7,  1888, 
and  his  wife  died  May  16,  1807.  Their 
remains  rest  in  the  Blount  Vernon  cemetery, 
at  Hillsboro,  \'ernon  count)',  W'isconsin. 
The}'  were  most  worthy  people  and  won 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  with  whom 
they  mingled,  and  their  deaths  were  deeply 
mourned  by  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

William  O.  Canon,  the  subject  of  this 
review,  was  ])ut  a  lad  of  ten  }ears  when 
his  parents  brought  him  to  Sauk  county,  and 
he  obtained  a  substantial  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  W'oodland  township,  while 
during  the  summer  months  he  helped  his  fa- 
ther on  the  farm.  In  1870  he  went  west- 
ward, part  of  the  time  engaged  in  railroad- 
ing. After  traveling  through  the  west  he 
became  satisfied  that  ^\'isconsin  was  good 
eiiough  for  him,  so  he  returned  in  February, 
1872,  to  Sauk  county,  and  purchased  an 
eighty-acre  farm  in  Woo(llan<l  township. 
Three  }-ears  later,  however,  in  i:)rder  to  be 
near  a  good  school  for  his  children  he  pur- 
chased another  farm,  the  one  ou  which  he 
now  resides.  He  lias  made  a  success  of 
farming,  and  has  also  demonstrated  his 
abilities  in  other  capacities,  being  a  man  of 
original  ideas  and  an  active,  executive  turn 
of  mind. 

Mr.  Canon  was  married  July  22.  1873, 
U)  Eliza  McCarthy,  daughter  of  Cornelius 
and  Ellen  (Gallagher)  McCarthy,  of  Hen- 
rietta township,  Richland  county,  W'iscon- 
sin. Mrs.  Canon's  jiarents  were  natives  of 
Ireland,  coming  to  the  United  States  about 
the  year  1S30.  They  located  in  Wauke- 
sha county,  Wisconsin,  near  Delafield,  where 
they  resided  about  seven  years,  and  then 
moved  to  Richland  county.  Mrs.  Canon's 
father  was  a  man  of  good  education,  and  for 
a  numl)er  of  years  acted  in  the  capacity  of 


land  agent  and  government  sur\-eyor.  He 
was  a  member  of  Company  D,  Eleventh 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  during  our 
Civil  war,  and  saw  much  hard  service,  was 
distinguished  for  his  energy  and  daring,  and 
was  retired  with  the  rank  of  captain.  He 
died  in  September,  1879,  and  his  wife  died 
March  7,  1891.  Their  remains  rest  in  Hen- 
rietta township,  Richland  county,  Wiscon- 
sin. To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Canon  six  children 
ha\e  been  born,  named  in  the  order  of  birth 
as  follows:  Fred  W'.,  born  Octoljer  8,  1874, 
now  a  resident  of  Woodland  township; 
Frank  .\.,  born  March  17,  1876,  living  at 
home;  Ada  L.,  born  September  10,  1878, 
now  teaching  school;  and  Thomas  E.,  born 
Xo\ember  21,  1882;  Aimee  J.,  born  JNIarch 
14,  1 884.  and  \\'illiam  J.,  born  September 
17,  1891,  all  at  home. 

Mr.  Canon  is  acti\e  in  all  public  affairs, 
and  is  a  Republican  in  political  views.  He 
has  at  various  times  held  nearly  all  the  dif- 
ferent town  offices,  and  served  one  term, 
1889-90,  as  sheriff  of  Sauk  county.  He  has 
ne\er  failed  to  discharge  his  jjublic  duties 
with  fidelitv  and  integrit}',  and  his  actions 
in  pulilic  matters  have  met  with  a  hearty  ex- 
])ression  of  approval  from  his  constituents. 
No  man  in  Sauk  county  enjoys  in  a  higher 
degree  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  men 
without  party  distinction. 


HENRY  HUTCHINSON. 

Henry  Hutchinson,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
tln-iving  town  of  Randolph,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, is  a  gentleman  of  the  strictest  integrity 
of  word  and  deed  and  well  merits  his  high 
station.  He  is  interested  in  various  financial 
enterprises,  and  is  one  of  the  potent  factors 
in  the  prosperity  enjoyed  in  that  locality. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Randoli)h,  Ver- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


575 


mont,  October  27,  1827,  and  was  a  son  of 
James  and  Sophia  (Brown)  Hutchinson,  tiie 
former  a  native  of  Braintree,  Vermont,  and 
the  latter  of  Randolph,  Vermont.  His  fa- 
ther represented  the  seventh  generation  of 
the  family  in  America  and  his  first  Amer- 
can  ancestor,  Richard  Hutchinson,  came 
from  Arnold,  England,  and  settled  in  Dan- 
vers,  ^Massachusetts,  in  1637.  Among  his 
posterity  was  the  noted  Hutchinson  family, 
who  were  famous  as  musicians  and  founded 
the  town  of  Hutchinson,  Minnesota.  The 
f;Uher  of  our  subject  spent  most  of  his  life 
on  a  farm  at  Randolph,  Vermont,  reaching 
the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  He  reared 
six  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  our 
Subject  is  the  <_inly  one  in  Wisconsin.  The 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  John  Hutchin- 
son, was  a  prominent  farmer  of  Braintree, 
\'ermont.  He  represented  the  town  of 
Braintree  in  the  X'ermont  legislature  seven- 
teen years.  He  married  Lucy  Kinney,  who 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-seven 
years. 

Henry  Hutchinson  spent  his  early  life 
in  Randolph,  Vermont,  and  attended  school 
three  months  each  winter  until  he  was  twen- 
ty-one years  of  age.  He  came  to  Colum- 
bia county,  ^^'isconsin.  in  18O4,  and  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Randolph  township,  which 
was  formerly  occtipied  b}'  his  uncle,  C. 
B.  Hawes,  who  now  resides  at  Fox  Lake, 
"  Wisconsin,  aged  eighty-eight  years.  Air. 
Hawes  located  on  the  farm  about  1851  and 
kept  a  country  hotel  there  for  some  years 
and  was  well  known  to  travelers  on  their 
way  to  Milwaukee  along  the  Ft.  Winnebago 
military  road.  Our  subject  resided  on  the 
farm  many  years  and  erected  a  commodious 
barn  and  other  substantial  buildings,  and  had 
one  of  the  best  improved  farms  of  that  lo- 
cality. The  farm  includes  three  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  and  is  supplied  with  running 
water  and  is  admirably  adapted  to  diversi- 
fied farming  or  stock  raising,  in  which  lat- 


ter industry  our  subject  was  engaged.  He 
raised  sheep  extensively  and  later  gave  his 
chief  attention  to  the  raising  of  Holstein 
cattle.  He  was  a  stockholder  in  the  Hutch- 
inson Springs  cheese  factory,  erected  on  his 
farm.  Mr.  Hutchinson  has  resided  in  Ran- 
dolph for  the  past  few  years,  and  has  be- 
come largely  interested  in  tlie  various  finan- 
cial enterprises  of  the  village.  He  was  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  Randolph  Can- 
ning Company,  and  he  and  his  son  own  a 
th.ird  interest.  This  company  consumes  the  > 
crop  of  five  hundred  acres  of  peas,  and  large 
quantities  of  corn,  tomatoes  and  other  vege- 
tables. Mr.  Hutchinson  also  assisted  in  in- 
corporating the  Randolph  Wagon  Works, 
established  with  a  capital  of  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  until  1900  he  was  inter- 
ested in  tliis  company.  For  some  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  Wool  Grow- 
ers" Association,  and  took  a  leading  part  in 
the  organization  of  the  Columbia  County 
Wool  Growers'  Association,  of  which  he 
was  president.  The  object  of  this  organi- 
zation was  to  secure  protective  legislation 
for  the  industry,  wdiich  was  threatened  with 
destruction  in  the  state.  In  1888  Mr.  Hutch- 
inson was  a  delegate  to  the  National  \\'ool 
Growers'  Association  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  was  appointed  a  member  of  a  coinmit- 
tee  of  seven  to  prepare  a  wool  schedule  and 
present  the  same  to  the  ways  and  means 
committee  of  the  house  of  representatives. 
The  committee  spent  a  week  in  preparing  the 
schedule,  which  became  a  part  of  the  famous 
McKinley  tarift'  bill. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  was  married  October 
3,  1852,  to  Laura  M.  Parish,  a  datighter  of 
Nathan  D.  and  Abigail  (Bass)  Parish.  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  was  born  in  Braintree,  Ver- 
mont, and  her  parents  passed  their  lives  in 
that  town.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  have 
been  the  parents  of  four  children,  who  are 
as  follows:  Charles  P.,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  three  years;  Mary  L.,  now  Airs.  George 


676 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Morris,  of  Randolnh ;  Carl  E.,  secretary  of 
tlie  Randolpli  Canning  Company ;  and  James 
W'.,  residing  on  the  home  farm.  Mr.  arid 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  have  one  grandchild.  Our 
subject  has  never  sought  public  office,  but 
is  identified  with  the  Republican  partv,  of 
wliich  he  is  an  earnest  worker  for  party 
principles,  and  of  which  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber since  its  organization.  He  is  a  man  of 
excellent  character,  progressive  and  intelli- 
gent, and  enjoys  the  highest  esteem  of  all 
\vith  whom  he  has  to  do. 


MERTON  EUGENE  SEYMOUR. 

Merton  Eugene  Seymour,  a  practical  and 
progressive  farmer  of  Dellona  township, 
Sauk  county,  who  is  meeting  with  marked 
success  in  the  prosecution  of  his  chosen  call- 
ing, is  proud  to  claim  Wisconsin  as  his  native 
state,  hisbirth  having  occurred  upon  his  pres- 
ent farm,  December  i,  1858.  He  is  a  son 
of  Hon.  S.  J.  Seymour,  of  whom  extended 
notice  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

After  leaving  the  district  school,  our 
subject  attended  the  Reedsburg  high  school, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1881,  and  a 
few  years  later  he  took  a  short  agricultural 
ccurse  at  the  Wisconsin  University,  being  a 
member  of  the  first  class  to  pursue  that 
course.  He  afterward  spent  some  months 
in  California,  and  five  years  previous  was 
for  a  time  with  his  IjrotlTer,  Walter  F. 
Seymour,  at  the  Jackson  Sanitarium  in 
Dansville,  New   York. 

In  1887  ^I''-  Seymour  tdok  charge  of 
the  homestead  farm,  which  he  purchased 
five  years  later  and  which  he  has  since  suc- 
cessfully conducted.  By  his  education  and 
previous  training  he  was  well  fitted  for  the 
occupation  he  has  chosen  as  a  life  work  and 
prosperity  has  crowned  his  well-directed  ef- 
forts.    He  devotes  the  greater  part  of  his 


time  and  attention  to  the  live  stock  and  dairy 
business  and  makes  a  specialty  of  the  rais- 
ing of  high-grade  short  horn  cattle  and  Po- 
land China  hogs.  His  farm  consists  of  two 
hundred  and  five  acres  with  first-class  im- 
provements and  conveniences,  and  as  a  pro- 
gressive and  enterprising  agriculturist  he 
takes  an  active  interest  in  promoting  im- 
provements in  the  apricultural  methods  of 
the  county,  and  has  become  a  prominent  and 
influential  member  of  the  farmers'  institutes 
and  similar  societies.  He  is  also  interested 
in  horticulture  and  has  often  been  an  ex- 
hibitor at  the  Sauk  county  fair,  where  he 
has  won  many  premiums. 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1898,  Mr.  Sey- 
mour married  Miss  Blanche  Jeffries,  of 
Baraboo,  who  was  born  in  Kilbnurn  City, 
Wisconsin,  and  is  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Nellie  Jeffries.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  has  been  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
cliuTcli  of  Reedsburg,  of  which  he  is  an  act- 
i\'e  and  prominent  member.  In  politics  he 
lias  been  a  lifelong  Republican,  has  fre- 
quently served  as  delegate  to  the  county 
conventions,  and  took  the  census  of  Dellona 
in  1890. 


RUEL  HOTCHKISS,  Dece.^sed. 

Ruel  Hotchkiss,  deceased,  was  one  of 
the  active,  prominent  and  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  Richfield  township,  Adams  county, 
W^isconsin.  He  formerly  was  successfully 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  on  section 
3,  where  he  owned  a  well-improved  farm. 
He  was  born  in  Hampton,  Washington 
county.  New  York,  Juh'  lo,  1831,  a  son  of 
Chester  and  Betsy  (Gillett)  Hotchkiss,  who 
spent  their  entire  li\'es  as  farming  people 
v.,  that  town.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Rufus  Hotchkiss.  was  a  native  of  Connecti- 
cut and  an  early  settler  of  Hampton,  New 
^'ork,  where  he  located  soon  after  the  Re\'o- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


577 


lutionary  war.  and  where  he  continued  to 
make  his  home  throughout  the  remainder 
of  liis  hfe.  By  occuiiatiun  lie.  too.  was  a 
farmer. 

In  his  native  state  Ruel  Hotchkiss  grew 
tc  manhood,  and  before  coming  west  he 
was  married,  in  Wells.  \'ermont.  January 
0,  1 86 1,  to  Miss  Luiiie  A.  Searles,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Alonzo  and  Elizabeth  (  \'an  Bogart) 
Searles,  nati\es  of  White  Mall  and  Gran- 
viUe,  New  York,  respectively.  Her  father, 
who  was  a  farmer,  enlisted  at  Gran\-ille,  in 
September,  1862.  in  Company  A.  One  Hun- 
dred and  Sixty-ninth  New  York  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  died  of  pneumonia  at  the  hos- 
pital in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  May 
10,  1865.  His  parents  were  William  and 
Polly  (Billings)  Searles,  farming  people  of 
White  Hall,  New  York.  His  mother  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  To  our  subject  and 
his  wife  were  born  two  sons:  (ij  Ernest 
A.,  living  upon  the  home  farm,  was  mar- 
ried, September  3,  1899,  l^'*  Lena  Mahlke,  a 
daughter  of  Rofer  and  Tilda  (Bredchkey) 
Mahlke,  natives  of  Germany,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1869  and  settled  in 
Portage,  Wisconsin.  They  were  also  farm- 
ing people.  (2)  Mortimer  married  May 
Martin  and  is  living  in  Leola,  Adams  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Hotchkiss  has  four 
grandchildren. 

On  coming  to  Wisconsin,  in  1865,  Mr. 
Hotchkiss  located  in  Sharon,  Walworth 
county,  and  after  spending  a  shiirt  time 
there  he  moved  to  Richfonl,  Waushara  coun- 
ty. It  was  in  1869  that  he  came  to  Adams 
county  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land, 
for  which  he  Daid  two  hundred  dollars. 
Thirty  acres  had  previously  been  broken  and 
a  log  house  and  stable  constituted  the  only 
improvements  upon  the  place,  but  it  is  now 
one  of  the  most  desirable  farms  of  its  size 
in  the  locality.  During  the  Civil  war  Mr. 
Hotchkiss  laid  aside  all  personal  interests 
to  enter  the  service  of  his  country,  enlist- 


ing at  Canton.  New  York,  December  21, 
1863,  as  a  private  in  Company  L,  Seventh 
New  York  Heavy  Artillery.  He  was  dis- 
charged for  disability  at  Fort  Reno,  near 
Washington,  D.  C,  March  5.  1864.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  ser\-ed  as 
treasurer  of  his  school  district  for  several 
years.  ^Ir.  Hotchkiss  died  October  5,  1880, 
and  his  wife  makes  her  home  on  the  home- 
stead with  her  son,   Ernest  A. 


BERDUX  MILLER. 

Berdux  Miller,  the  efficient  and  popular 
overseer  of  the  Columbia  county  poor  house 
and  insane  asylum,  located  at  W^yocena,  is 
a  gentleman  of  estimable  character  and  en- 
joys the  confidence  of  those  with  whom  he 
has  tiT  do.  Mrs.  Miller  is  matron  of  these 
institutions,  and  to  her  efforts  as  well  as 
those  of  our  suljject  is  due  the  high  standing 
of  the  institutions  among  the  charitable  in- 
stitutions of  the  state. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Nassau,  Rensse- 
laer county,  New  York,  March  3,  1845,  and 
was  a  son  of  John  I,  and  Martha  (Sher- 
man) Miller,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of 
New  York.  His  father  was  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch  tlescent  and  was  of  Holland 
lineage.  He  was  a  wagonmaker  and  later 
worked  in  a  piano  factory  in  New  York 
City.  He  settled  in  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin, in  1855.  and  fullowed  farming  and 
also  operated  a  wagon  shop  on  his  farm  in 
West  Point  township.  He  was  born  March 
24,  1 819,  in  Columbia  county,  New  York, 
and  died  January  20,  1886.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  was  born  in  Nassau,  New 
York,  September  2Tf,  1817,  and  died  Octo- 
ber II,  1875.  H^'"  father,  Thomas  Sher- 
man, was  born  in  1786,  and  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age,  passing  away  in  1854.  He  was 
a  farmer  in  New  York. 


57S 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Our  suliject  removed  to  Columlaia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  with  iiis  parents  when  lie 
was  about  ten  years  of  age,  and  he  was 
reared  there  and  attended  the  district  school. 
After  attaining-  his  majority  he  began  farm- 
ii:g  in  West  Point  township  and  in  March, 
1882,  became  superintendent  of  the  Colum- 
bia county  insane  asylum  and  overseer  of 
the  poor  farm,  which  position  he  has  since 
filled.  Mr.  Miller  has  faithfully  discharged 
his  duties  and  since  he  assumed  charge  good 
buildings  ha\'e  been  erected  for  the  inmates 
and  many  improvements  made  in  the  man- 
ner of  conducting  the  place.  The  poor  farm 
consists  of  three  hundred  acres  of  land.  An 
average  of  twenty-five  paupers  are  provided 
for,  and  among  the  number  is  a  centenarian 
female.  Ten  female  attendants  and  a  num- 
ber of  male  attendants  and  farm  laborers 
are  employed  in  both  institutions.  Under 
the  present  management  the  institution  has 
become  self-supporting.  Columbia  county 
was  one  of  the  four  counties  in  the  state  to 
inaugurate  the  present  system  of  caring  for 
the  chronic  insane  in  1883.  All  insane  pa- 
tients are  allowed  the  liberty  of  the  farm. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  met  with  strong  oppo- 
sition in  the  way  of  public  sentiment  when 
they  introduced  the  system,  but  all  has 
moved  well  and  no  accidents  ha\'e  resulted. 
One  female  patient  had  the  reputation  of 
being  the  most  incorrigible  in  the  state  un- 
til she  was  admitted  into  the  above  named 
institution,  and  is  now  one  of  the  cpietest 
of  the  inmates.  She  is  a  genius  in  knitting 
and  specimens  of  her  work  have  been  ex- 
hibited in  many  places. 

Mr.  Miller  was  married  July  10,  1867, 
to  Mattie  L.  Oilman,  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Emily  (Brown)  Oilman,  of  Portage, 
\\'isconsin.  Mrs.  Miller  was  born  in  Perry. 
Wyoming  county.  New  York,  and  came  to 
^^'isconsin  with  her  parents  in  1856.  The 
family  settled  in  Delafield,  Waukesha  coun- 
ty, and  the  following  j-ear  removed  to  Co- 


lumbia county.  Mrs.  Miller's  father,  Jo- 
seph Oilman,  was  born  at  Tamworth,  New 
Hampshire,  February  6,  1812  and  died  at 
Portage,  \\'isconsin.  in  Julv,  1881.  He  was 
a  farmer  for  some  years  and  was  also  em- 
ployed in  a  store.  Mrs.  Miller's  mother  sur- 
vives and  makes  her  home  at  Portage.  She 
was  born  March  17,  181 7,  at  Canandaigua, 
New  York.  Her  husband  was  a  lieutenant 
of  militia  in  New  York  while  a  young  man. 
He  organized  a  company  during  the  "Pa- 
triot war"  in  1838,  when  the  British  ves- 
sels sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Buft'alo,  and 
made  a  hard  march  to  reach  that  city.  Pie 
was  a  son  of  Colonel.  Oilman,  who  won  his 
title  in  the  war  of  1812.  The  family  was 
of  English  descent.  Mrs.  ^Miller's  maternal 
grandfather,  Beriah  Brown,  was  of  English 
descent.  Mrs.  ]\Iiller's  mother  was  a  sister 
of  Beriah  Brown,  a  prominent  editor  of  Wis- 
consin in  pioneer  days,  and  was  also  a  sis- 
ter of  John  Brown,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  '"Portage  Register"  and  the  "Milwau- 
kee E\-ening  Wisconsin."  Mrs.  Miller  in 
her  girlhood  and  young  womanhood  taught 
school  for  seven  years,  beginning  when  she 
was  but  fourteen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  the  parents  of 
the  following  children :  Emily  Robey,  now 
Mrs.  L.  N.  Coapman,  of  Wyocena;  William, 
a  medical  student  in  the  Milwaukee  ]\Iedical 
College,  and  United  States  census  enu- 
merator for  Wyocena  in  1900;  Lida  Britt, 
who  became  Mrs.  \Vallace  Murison.  and 
died  at  Portage  March  4,  1900,  aged  nearly 
twenty-three  years;  Walton  B.,  of  Milwau- 
kee, employed  on  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Rail- 
road. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  have  seven 
grandchildren.  The  family  attend  the  Con- 
gregational church  and  contribute  to  the  sup- 
port of  all  religious  organizations.  ]\Irs. 
Miller  was  an  acti\-e  member  of  the  ^^^  C. 
T.  U.  until  the  local  union  was  disbanded. 
Mr.  ]\Iiller  is  a  memljer  of  \Yyocena  Camp, 
No.    1 146,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America, 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


579 


and  his  wife  is  a  member  and  at  present 
oracle  of  tlie  Royal  Neighbors.  Our  sub- 
ject enlisted  in  February,  1865,  in  Com- 
pany A,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  Illi- 
nois Volunteer  Infantry,  under  Lieutenant 
Steele,  of  Lodi,  ^\'iscl.lnsin,  and  ser\^ed  aliout 
seven  months.  He  was  stationed  at  j\lem- 
phis  and  other  places.  He  is  a  member  of 
William  Payne  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Pardee- 
ville,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Miller  is  a  Republi- 
can, but  takes  little  interest  in  political  af- 
fairs, lending  his  influence  for  good  local 
government  and  does  not  seek  pul)!jc  prefer- 
ment. 


\\'1LLL\M  T.  CUDDY. 

William  T.  Cuddy,  a  well-known  farmer 
and  highly-esteemed  citizen  of  Marcellon 
township,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  was 
born  in  a  log  house  on  the  farm  where  he 
now  resides  April  10,  1849,  ^''^d  is  a  son  of 
William  Cuddy,  a  native  of  Ireland.  The 
latter  came  to  America  in  1822,  and  spent 
some  time  in  New  York  City,  where  he  ac- 
cepted a  position  as  clerk  in  the  large  store 
of  John  A.  Stewart,  remaining  there  until 
coming  to  W'isconsin  in  1847.  Here  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  the  place  now  owned  by 
our  subject,  and  continued  to  follow  that  oc- 
cupation until  his  death  in  1864.  He  was 
twice  married,  his  first  wife  being  Catherine 
Grogan,  of  Ireland,  who  died  in  that  country 
prior  to  the  emigration  of  her  husband  to 
the  new  world.  One  child  was  born  of  that 
union,  John,  who  died  in  Nevada,  in  1880. 
In  New  York  City  the  father  married 
Bridget  Senate,  who  is  still  living  and  now 
makes  her  home  with  her  son-in-law,  George 
F.  Payne,  whose  sketch  appears  on  another 
page  of  this  work.  Of  the  seven  children 
born  of  the  second  marriage,  two  died  in 
infancy.  The  others  are :  Luke,  who  died 
January  31,  1873;  Helen,  deceased  wife  of 
J.  Kenney;  William  T.,  our  subject;  Mary, 


wife  of  George  F.  Payne;  and  Catherine, 
wife  of  Albert  Payne.  The  father  was  quite 
a  prominent  man  in  the  community,  and  was 
highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

William  T.  Cuddy  recei\-ed  a  common- 
school  education  and  remained  at  home  \m- 
til  1866,  when  he  went  to  Grand  Rapids, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  worked  in  the  woods 
and  on  the  river  f(jr  three  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Columbia  county,  working  for 
John  Neff  three  months.  Through  harvest 
he  w^as  in  the  emplo}'  of  P.  L.  Peckum,  and 
then  purchased  a  third  interest  in  a  thresh- 
ing machine,  which  he  operated  three  falls. 
The  winter  of  1866-67  was  spent  at  honie, 
but  the  following  spring  he  went  to  I^ort- 
age,  where  he  was  engaged  with  William 
Neff  in  the  manufacture  of  sotla,  and  re- 
mained there  until  fall,  when  he  operated 
his  threshing  machine  in  Minnesota.  In  the 
spring  of  1868  he  bought  a  half  interest  in 
the  soda  business,  in  which  he  was  interested 
until  August,  1872,  when  he  sold  out  and 
went  to  Nevada,  locating  on  Carson  river, 
five  miles  from  Sih'cr  City,  where  he  found 
work  as  a  laborer  in  the  quartz  mill  of  the 
Sharon  Company,  and  remained  with  them 
nine  years,  the  last  year  as  watchman.  Dur- 
ing the  following  year  he  clerked  in  the 
general  store  of  Samuel  Ripley,  at  Silver 
City,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  in  com- 
pany with  George  Phillips,  opened  a  general 
store,  which  they  conducted  nine  months, 
but  owing  to  some  difficulty  which'  his  part- 
ner, who  was  under  age,  had  with  his  father, 
the  business  was  closed  <jut.  Mr.  Cuddy 
then  engaged  in  clerking  for  a  year  and  a 
half  at  Silver  City  and  at  Gold  Hill  four 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Frank  Howard  and  again 
embarked  in  general  merchandising  at  the 
former  place.  A  year  and  a  half  later  his 
partner  sold  his  interest  to  E.  P.  Hamilton, 
and  it  was  not  long  after  this  that  our  sub- 
ject purchased  tlie  latter's  interest  and  took 


580 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


William  Mercer  as  a  partner.  When  Mr. 
Mercer  sold  ont,  a  year  and  a  half  later,  Mr. 
Cuddy  was  alone  in  business  for  three  years. 
Disposing  of  his  store,  he  next  lx)nght  the 
Bonanza  Hotel,  which  he  conducted  six 
years,  and  then  rented  the  same  and  returned 
to  Portage,  Wisconsin,  where  he  remained 
through  the  winter.  The  following  spring 
we  again  find  him  in  Xe\ada,  but  after  run- 
ning his  hotel  for  a  month,  he  sold  out  and 
returned  to  Portage,  where  he  purchased  the 
Columbia  Hotel  of  Skinner  Brothers,  in 
partnership  with  William  Carroll,  but  the 
latter  withdrew  from  the  firm  January  i, 
1897,  and  Albert  Payne  was  admitted  to 
partnership.  On  the  ist  of  January,  1899, 
Mr.  Payne  sold  his  interest  to  Albert  Fore- 
man, the  firm  becoming  Cuddy  &  Foreman, 
and  they  continued  to  conduct  the  hotel  un- 
til the  following  August,  when  our  subject 
sold  his  interest  in  the  business  and  returned 
to  the  farm  where  he  was  born  and  reared, 
and  now  devotes  his  energies  to  agricutural 
pursuits. 

Air.  Cuddy  married  Miss  Katie  Cunning- 
ham, by  whom  he  has  two  children,  Will- 
iam T.,  Jr.,  and  John  M.  Mrs.  Cuddy's  fa- 
ther, John  Cunningham,  came  to  this  coun- 
try from  Ireland  when  a  youth,  in  company 
with  his  mother  and  one  brother,  and  lo- 
cated in  New  York  state,  where  he  worked 
in  a  paper-mill  for  a  time.  In  1872  he  came 
to  Columbia  C(junty,  Wisconsin,  and  took  up 
farming  in  Scott  township,  wdiere  he  at  pres- 
ent resides.  He  married  Catherine  Tobin, 
and  they  have  a  family  of  eight  children : 
John  R.,  a  physician  at  No.  5101  South 
Halstead  street,  Chicago,  Illinois;  Peter  M., 
a  law  student  in  Marion,  Indiana;  Thomas 
F.,  a  druggist  of  Portage;  Katie,  wife  of  our 
subject ;  Ella,  wife  of  James  Eagan,  of  Mar- 
cellon;  Julia,  a  resident  of  Chicago;  Mar- 
garet, wife  of  William  Smith,  of  Marcel- 
Ion;  and  William,  who  is  living  on  the  home 
farm  in  Scott  township. 


Socially  Mr.  Cuddy  is  a  charter  member 
of  Silver  Lake  Lodge,  No.  16,  A.  O.  U. 
W.,  of  Silver  City,  Nevada,  and  also  be- 
longs to  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  of 
Portage.  He  is  quite  widely  and  favorably 
known  and  has  hosts  of  warm  friends  in  his 
nati\"e  county. 


OLE  J.  HARVEY,  Jr. 

Ole  J.  Har\-e}-,  Jr.,  a  rising  young  man  of 
Columbia  cnunt}',  a  portrait  (_>f  whom  may  be 
found  elsewhere  in  tliis  volume,  is  a  resident 
of  the  town  of  Leeds.  August  24,  1859,  he 
was  born  to  Jacob  and  Betsy  (Rorgo)  Har- 
vey, living  at  that  time  in  the  town  of  Hamp- 
den, Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  na- 
tives of  Norway.  They  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
1857  and  settled  in  Hampden.  Two  years  lat- 
er they  moved  to  the  town  of  Leeds  and  there 
spent  the  rest  of  their  lives.  They  did  much 
in  developing  the  agricultural  interests  of  Co- 
lumbia county,  and  were  honest  and  upright 
people.  Jacob  Harvey  died  in  September, 
1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three,  and  his 
wife  January  4,  1897.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children :  Ole  J.,  Sr.,  a  resi- 
dent of  the  town  of  Leeds ;  Julia,  Mrs.  Lars 
N.  Harvey,  of  Benson,  Minnesota;  Rag- 
nelda,  Mrs.  Ole  Harfendahl.  of  the  same 
place;  Ole  J.,  Jr.,  the  subject  of  this  nar- 
rative; Martha,  Mrs.  John  Erickson,  of 
Keiser,  Minnesota;  Betsy,  Mrs.  Knute  En- 
fensen,  of  tlie  same  place;  and  Lewis,  of 
Leeds. 

Mr.  Harvey  had  his  early  schooling  in 
the  town  of  Leeds.  He  then  attended  the 
high  school  at  Columbus  two  terms  and  the 
state  normal  school  at  Whitewater  half  a 
year.  He  took  the  full  business  course  at 
the  Milwaukee  Spencerian  Business  College. 
The  next  two  years  he  was  a  student  in  the 
law  ofifice  of  M,  P.  Jerdee,  of  Madison,  at  the 
same  time  writing  for  Philip  Spooner,  St., 


0.  J.  HARYEY,  JR. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


583 


the  father  of  United  States  Senator  John  C. 
Spooner.  Mr.  Jenlee  tlien  moved  his  oifice 
to  St.  Croix  Falls,  and  our  suhject  went  with 
liim.  He  was  in  that  city  ahout  a  year,  when 
the  sickness  of  his  father  called  him  home  to 
take  charge  of  the  farm.  He  returned  to  the 
old  homestead  and  has  lived  there  ever  since, 
occupyino-  his  time  with  general  farming. 
He  is  a  strong  Republican,  and  is  much  in- 
terested in  both  local  and  general  politics. 
He  came  very  close  to  a  nomination  as  reg- 
ister of  deeds  at  one  time,  and  is  nearly  al- 
ways a  delegate  from  lus  town  at  political 
conventions.  Last  year  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  state  convention  and  was  much  inter- 
ested in  the  outcome.  He  is  the  present 
town  treasurer  of  Leeds,  a  fact  indicating 
his  standing  at  home.  He  belongs  to  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  synod,  and  is  a  highly 
respected  citizen  of  Columbia  county.  He 
has  served  several  years  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace  and  at  present  is  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  Rio  State  Bank  at  Rio. 


JEREML\H  PELLS. 

Jeremiah  Pells  is  the  owner  of  a  fine 
farm  on  section  2,  Richfield  township, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  which  invariably 
attracts  the  eye  of  the  passing  traveler  as  be- 
ing under  the  supervision  of  a  thorough  and 
skillful  agriculturist,  and  a  man  otherwise 
of  good  business  quahfications.  The  farm 
consists  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen  acres,  of 
v.-hich  one  hundred  and  forty  are  under  ex- 
cellent cultivation  and  improved  with  good 
and  substantial  buildings,  including  a  very 
comfortable  residence. 

A  native  of  Wisconsin,  Mr.  Pells  was 
born  in  Albion,  Dane  county,  February  6, 
1845,  and  is  a  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Polly 
(Gardner)  Pells.  The  father  was  born  on 
the  Mohawk  Flats,  New  York,  in  1816,  and 
came  to  Wisconsin  about  1844,  locating  first 


in  Dane  county,  and  in  1854  removing  to 
Adams  courUy,  where  he  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land,  onlv  four  of  which  had  been 
liruken.  Here  he  cmitinued  to  make  his 
li(ime  until  his  death,  with  the  exception  of 
iiliout  two  vears.  Throughout  life  he  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  farming  and  affiliat- 
ed with  the  Democratic  party. 

Amid  pioneer  scenes  our  subject  grew  to 
manhood,  and  early  became  familiar  with  all 
the  duties  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  agri- 
culturist. He  chose  farming  as  his  life  work, 
and  in  his  labors  has  met  with  well-merited 
success.  Air.  Pells  was  married,  August  23, 
1 87 1,  at  Coloma,  \\'aushaTa  county,  to  Miss 
Charlotte  Parks,  wdio  was  born  in  Allegany 
county.  New  York,  January  18,  1852,  and 
when  small  was  brought  to  this  state  by  her 
parents,  William  and  Mary  (Meade)  Parks, 
who  first  located  in  Dane  county,  but  after- 
ward removed  to  Waushara  county,  where 
they  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pells  have  five  children,  name- 
ly :  Edith,  now  the  wife  of  Charles  Burdick, 
of  Hancock,  Waushara  county;  Arthur; 
Clara ;  George ;  and  Tressie. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  1864,  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  years,  Mr.  Pells  enlisted  at 
Albion,  Dane  county,  in  Company  E,  First 
Wisconsin  Heavy  Artillery,  and  was  sta- 
tioned most  of  the  time  at  Alexandria,  Vir- 
ginia, guarding  the  city  of  Washington. 
He  was  on  guard  duty  the  night  President 
Lincoln  was  assassinated,  and  fourteen  min- 
utes after  the  fatal  shot  was  fired  received 
orders  to  let  no  one  pass  under  any  con- 
sideration. He  was  discharged  at  Fort 
0"Rourke,  Virginia,  June  26,  1865.  In  pol- 
itics he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and  takes 
an  active  and  commendable  interest  in  public 
affairs.  He  is  one  of  the  prominent  and  in- 
fluential men  of  his  township,  and  has  been 
called  upon  to  fill  various  local  offices  of 
honor  and  trust,  the  duties  of  which  he  has 
most  capably  discharged. 


584 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


WILLIAM  E.  WILLIAMS,  M.  D. 

W^illiam  E.  Williams,  M.  D.,  a  well- 
known  and  successful  physician  at  Camljria, 
Columbia  county,  was  born  August  2^,  1859, 
in  the  village  of  Cambria,  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin.  He  is  a  sun  of  John  Lloyd  and 
Elizabeth  (Evans)  Williams.  The  paternal 
Williams  was  born  at  Trefriw,  Carnarvon- 
shire, Wales.  He  read  medicine  in  Llanrwst, 
and  also  attended  lectures  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  where  he  received  license  to  prac- 
tice. In  1847  he  came  to  this  country,  and 
taught  the  first  school  in  Springvale,  Co- 
lumbia county,  in  a  "dug-out."  The  same 
)-ear  he  began  to  practice  medicine  at  Cam- 
bria, when  only  three  persons  were  living  in 
the  \illage.  The  county  rapidly  filled  up,  and 
Cambria  soon  became  the  center  of  quite  a 
numerous  and  thrifty  population,  and  here 
the  remaining  years  allotted  to  him  were 
spent.  x\fter  a  time  he  took  a  course  of  lec- 
tures at  Rush  Medical  College,  in  Chicago, 
from  which  he  received  a  diploma  in  1863. 
He  continued  to  practice  at  Cambria  until 
his  death  in  September,  1888,  when  over 
sixty-three  years  of  age.  He  was  a  surgeon 
and  physician  of  high  repute,  and  acquired 
a  wide  acquaintance.  He  was  called  upon 
to  fill  some  local  positions  of  trust  and  honor, 
but  was  never  a  politician.  During  the 
Civil  war  he  tendered  his  services  to  the 
United  States  hospital  department,  and  was 
sent  to  Vicksburg,  where  he  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  various  hospitals  of  the  post, 
and  continued  in  that  important  position  for 
four  months.  His  parents  were  William 
and  Jane  (Owens)  Williams,  who  started  for 
the  United  States  in  1847.  The  voyage 
lasted  ten  weeks,  and  the  elder  Mr.  \\'ill- 
iams  died  of  fever  on  the  way.  Mrs.  Will- 
iams died  in  the  town  of  Springvale  a  few 
ironths  later,  leaving  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Mrs.  Louis  Lloyd  is  her  only 
surviving  child.    She  lives  at  Cambria.    Mrs. 


John  L.  Williams  lived  until  1894,  when 
she  was  in  her  sixty-fourth  year.  She  was 
born  in  Carnarvonshire,  where  her  father, 
Robert  Evans,  was  accidentally  killed  in  a 
slate  quarry.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Mary  Evans, 
came  to  the  United  States  and  died  in  Cam- 
bria, at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 

Dr.  W.  E.  Williams  has  always  lived  in 
Camjjria  and  his  early  days  were  spent  in 
the  public  school.  When  he  was  eighteen 
he  went  into  his  father's  office  to  read  med- 
icine, and  at  once  proved  himself  a  bright 
student.  When  he  was  twenty  he  attended 
lectures  for  a  year  at  the  Missouri  JNIedical 
College,  at  St.  Louis.  He  transferred  him- 
self to  Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago, 
and  was  graduated  from  the  latter  institu- 
tion in  1882.  He  preferred  his  tild  home 
and  friends  to  any  other  spot  where  he 
v  ould  make  his  life  work,  and  came  back 
to  Cambria.  About  fifteen  years  ago  he 
bought  a  drug  store,  and  managed  it  him- 
self for  some  years.  In  1895  he  sold  an  in- 
terest in  it,  and  now  gives  his  personal  at- 
tention entirely  to  his  profession. 

Dr.  Williams  was  married  in  1887  to 
June  B.,  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Smith,  of  Leon,  Wisconsin.  She  was  born 
in  Monroe  county,  Wisconsin,  and  is  a  lady 
of  many  attracti\'e  qualities.  The  Doctor  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  and  stands 
high  in  its  various  organizations.  He  be- 
longs to  the  Wisconsin  State  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  is  widely  known  as  a  gentleman  of 
character  and  a  physician  of  approved 
abilitv. 


CHARLES  SCHRODER. 

Charles  Schroder,  a  well-known  barber 
and  successful  business  man  of  Kilbourn 
City,  Wisconsin,  was  born  in  Neuxey,  Ger- 
many, April  13,  1837,  and  reared  in  Sacha, 
where  he  attended   the  public   schools  and 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


585 


learned  the  locksmith's  trade.  In  1854,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  emigrated  to 
America  and  first  located  in  Chicag'o,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  remained  abont  two  years, 
during  which  time  he  learned  the  barber's 
trade.  He  then  removed  to  "Old  Newport," 
on  the  Wisconsin  river,  in  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  in  1856  came  to  Kilbourn 
City,  where  he  attended  school  in  the  old 
school  building  which  now  serves  as  the 
Episcopal  church,  while  working  for  Elisha 
Stevens,  who  was  then  conducting  a  hotel 
v.-here  Frederick  Raddant's  barn  now  stands. 
He  continued  in  school  until  he  acquired  a 
good  practical  education. 

In  1859  i\Ir.  Schroder  opened  a  barber 
shop  on  Superior  street,  on  the  present  site 
of  M.  O'Neil's  harness  shop,  and  was  in  busi- 
ness there  one  year,  after  which  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  same  business  in  Minnesota 
for  a  short  time.  He  then  went  to  New  Or- 
leans, Louisiana,  and  from  there  visited  his 
old  home  in  Germany.  On  his  return  to 
America  he  conducted  a  barber  shop  in  New 
Orleans  tuitil  after  the  Civil  war  broke  out, 
when  he  again  came  to  Kilbourn  City,  Wis- 
consin. In  1865  he  purchased  property  on 
Alain  street,  which  is  now  a  very  valuable 
site,  and  has  made  many  improvements  in 
the  building,  where  he  still  carries  on  his 
shop.  He  also  owns  a  beautiful  and  com- 
fortable home  on  Main  street. 

In  1865  Mr.  Schroder  marrietl  Miss 
Atilda  Hubbard,  and  they  have  three  chil- 
dren :  Charles,  an  engineer,  who  is  married 
and  resides  in  Kilbourn;  Nettie,  who  grad- 
uated from  a  business  college  of  Milwaukee, 
and  is  now  in  the  employ  of  Gimble  Brothers 
in  that  city;  and  Lillie,  who  was  educated 
in  the  Kilbourn  high  school  and  is  at  home 
with  her  parents. 

Mr.  Schroder  enlisted,  in  1865,  in  the 
Thirteenth  United  States  Infantry,  and 
served  for  three  months.  As  a  Republican 
he  takes  quite  an  active  interest  in  political 


affairs,  and  has  been  honored  with  office  by 
his  fellow  citizens,  having  served  many  years 
as  t(.>wn  treasurer  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned,  and  also  as  a  member  of 
the  village  board  of  Kilbourn.  Socially  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  Although  he  came  to  the  new 
world  empty-handed,  he  has  steadily  over- 
come the  obstacles  in  his  path  to  success,  and 
by  industry  and  perseverance  has  worked 
biis  way  upward  until  he  is  ntnv  one  of  the 
well-to-do  citizens,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
leading  and-  influential  men  of  the  town. 
He  has  made  for  himself  an  honorable  rec- 
ord and  gained  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  those  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
in  contact. 


ANDREW  PATRICK. 

Andrew  Patrick,  an  agriculturist  of  en- 
ergy and  ability  residing  on  section  9,  New 
Chester  township,  Adams  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, was  born  in  Oneida  county.  New  York, 
September  18,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  Ralph 
and  Marilla  (Skinner)  Patrick,  also  natives 
of  that  county,  the  former  born  June  25, 
1 80 1,  the  latter  March  8,  1801.  His  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Ralph  Patrick,  Sr., 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war 
under  the  commands  of  Washington  and  La 
Fayette.  After  the  war  he  settled  in  Oneida 
county.  New  York,  where  he  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life. 

On  leaving  his  native  state  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1845. 
and  made  his  home  in  Walworth  county  for 
five  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  re- 
moved to  Adams  county,  locating  on  the 
lilace  where  he  now  resides.  As  the  coun- 
try had  not  been  surveyed  at  that  time,  he 
took  a  squatter's  claim  and  resided  thereon 
until  the  land  came  into  the  market,  when  he 


586 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


purchased  one  liundred  and  sixty  acres  from 
the  government.  He  has  since  placed  one- 
half  of  the  amount  under  cultivation,  and 
has  erected  thereon  a  fine  residence,  good 
barns  and  outbuildings,  and  made  other  im- 
provements, which  add  greatly  to  the  value 
and  attractive  appearance  of  the  farm. 

On  the  6th  of  October,  1858,  Mr.  Pat- 
rick was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Fi- 
delia Carringer,  who  died  April,  6,  1863,  and 
he  was  again  married,  March  14,  1865,  his 
second  union  being  with  Miss  Olive  Car- 
ringer, by  whom  he  has  one  child,  Louis  P. 
The  son  was  married,  March  16,  1899,  to 
Elsie  Schieber,  and  resides  at  home  with  his 
parents. 

]\Irs.  Patrick's  parents  were  Wihiam  and 
Irene  (Churchill)  Carringer,  the  former 
born  in  Mercer  county,  P'ennsylvania,  April 
3.  1816,  the  latter  in  X'ermont,  May  3,  1813. 
In  1844  they  removed  from  Pennsylvania 
to  Wisconsin  and  first  settled  in  Walworth 
county,  but  in  the  spring  of  1852  came  to 
Adams  county,  locating  in  Lincoln  town- 
ship, on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Eber- 
hard  place.  In  the  fall  of  1855  they  removed 
to  New  Chester  township,  and  lived  there 
until  the  spring  of  1865,  when  they  went  to 
Minnesota.  In  1895  they  returned  to  Wis- 
consin on  a  visit  and  remained  here  a  year, 
but  at  the  end  of  that  time  removed  to  Cali- 
fornia, where  the  father  died  May  19,  1900. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  carpenter  by  occupa- 
tion, and  was  a  member  of  the  Close  Commu- 
nion Baptist  church,  to  which  his  wife  also 
belonged,  her  father,  Samuel  Churchill,  be- 
ing a  minister  of  that  church.  She  died  in 
San  Diego,  California,  April  23,  1899.  Mrs. 
Patrick's  great-grandfather  was  a  soldier  of 
the  Revolutionary  war  and  her  grandfather 
a  soldier  of  the  war  of  181 2. 

Politically  Mr.  Patrick  is  a  stanch  Demo- 
crat, and  has  always  taken  considerable  in- 
terest in  local  affairs,  serving  as  chairman  of 
his  township  for  a  number  of  terms  and  as 


assessor  one  term.  For  a  great  many  years 
he  also  served  as  postmaster  of  Grand 
Marsh,  which  is  the  oldest  postoffice  in  the 
county.  He  has  been  prominently  identified 
with  almost  the  entire  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  county,  and  has  ever  borne  his 
part  in  those  interests  calculated  to  advance 
the  ]Dublic  welfare.  He  is  therefore  mmi- 
bered  among  the  \'alued  and  useful  citizens  of 
the  community,  as  well  as  one  of  its  hon- 
ored pioneers. 


JOHN  LEONARD  STAUDEXMAYER. 

John  Leonard  Staudenmayer,  a  thorough 
and  skillful  farmer  and  a  business  man  of 
n';ore  tlian  (jrdinar)-  ability,  is  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  agricultural  and  stock 
raising  interests  of  Caledonia  township,  Co- 
lumliia  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  is  recog- 
nized as  an  impurtant  factor  in  preserving 
the  reputation  of  his  locality  as  one  of  the 
best  cultivated  in  the  county. 

A  native  of  Columbia  county,  Mr.  Staud- 
enmayer was  born  in  Caledonia  township, 
July  30,  1861,  and  is  a  son  of  J.  G.  Stauden- 
mayer, whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in 
tills  volume.  Our  subject  attended  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  spent  most  of  his  life  on  the 
homestead  farm,  which  he  purchased  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one.  It  consists  of  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  acres,  to  which  he  has 
since  added  a  one-hundred-and-forty-acre 
tract,  all  now  under  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation and  well  improved  with  good  and 
substantial  buildings.  For  the  past  ten  years, 
he  has  been  engaged  in  breeding  Durham 
cattle,  and  now  has  a  fine  herd.  He  also 
buys  and  feeds  cattle  for  the  market,  and  for 
about  twenty  years  has  been  breeding 
Clydesdale  iiorses,  much  of  his  stock  being 
imported,  and  he  has  been  largely  instru- 
mental in  improving  the  grade  of  farm 
horses  throughout  Columbia  and  adjoining 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


587 


counties.  For  nineteen  years  he  operated 
a  threshing  macliine  with  marked  success, 
owning  a  steam  thresher  twelve  years,  and 
lor  some  years  past  he  has  been  agent  for 
the  Page  woven  wire  fence  in  the  west  half 
of  Columbia  county,  \\  here  during  one  sea- 
son he  sold  over  two  carloatls. 

Mr.  Staudenmayer  was  married,  Octo- 
ber 28,  1885,  to  Miss  Mary  McLeish,  a 
daughter  of  Charles  and  IVIargaret  McLeish, 
of  Caledonia  township,  and  by  this  union 
has  been  born  four  children,  namely:  Mabel, 
Adaline,  Cora  and  Gordon.  Socially  Mr. 
Staudenmayer  is  a  member  of  Fort  Winne- 
bago Lodge,  No.  33,  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Port- 
age. He  has  independent  ideas  of  public 
policy,  but  usually  supports  the  Republican 
party  on  national  issues,  though  at  local 
elections  when  personally  acquainted  with 
the  candidates  he  votes  for  those  whom  he 
believes  best  cjualified  to  fill  the  ofiices,  irre- 
spective of  party.  He  is  now  serving  his 
second  year  as  town  treasurer,  and  has 
filled  other  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 


ROBERT  L.  BOHN. 

Robert  L.  Bohn  is  well  known  through- 
out Sauk  county  as  a  man  of  business  enter- 
prise and  capability.  He  is  the  proprietor 
of  one  of  the  largest  general  merchandise 
stores  of  the  vicinity  of  Lime  Ridge,  and 
by  careful  attention  to  the  various  details 
of  his  work  has  built  up  an  extensive  and 
profitable  trade. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Renidendorf, 
Prussia,  February  9,  1849,  and  was  a  son 
of  Henry  H.  and  Henricka  (Kochel)  Bohn, 
farther  notice  of  whom  will  be  fr)und  in  the 
biography  of  C.  E.  Bohn.  The  family  in- 
cluded six  sons  and  six  daughters,  only  two 
of  whom  reside  in  Lime  Ridge. 


Robert  L.  Bohn  was  but  two  years  of  age 
when  the  family  came  to  the  United  States. 
He  spent  his  boyhood  in  Ohio,  and  received 
a  common-school  education.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-two  years  he  went  to  Michigan, 
and  spent  two  years  lumbering,  coming  from 
thence  to  Sauk  county  in  1874.  For  about 
two  years  he  dealt  in  staves,  and  in  1876 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land  and  a  store 
in  the  village  of  Lime  Ridge,  where  he  has 
since  operated  one  of  the  largest  general 
stores  in  the  locality.  He  is  interested  in 
city  real  estate  to  some  extent  in  connection 
with  his  brothers  in  Chicago,  and  is  a  well- 
to-do  citizen  of  Sauk  county.  He  served 
as  postmaster  of  the  village  of  Lime  Ridge 
for  eleven  years,  and  was  well  kmnvn  as 
an   efficient   officer. 

Our  subject  was  married,  Octolier  29, 
1876,  to  Belle  Cushman,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Alniira  (Warner)  Cushman,  of  Iron- 
ton,  Wisconsin.  Her  parents  came  to  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1854,  and  settled  near 
Lime  Ritlge,  where  Mrs.  Bohn  was  born. 
Her  father  was  the  first  postmaster  of  the 
village,  and  was  a  carpenter  by  tratle.  He 
was  born  in  Mt.  Gilead,  Ohio,  and  his  an- 
cestors were  pioneers  of  Connecticut.  He 
died  at  Lime  Ridge,  January  12,  1885,  aged 
sixty-one  years,  and  the  mother  now  resides 
at  C^-owell,  Nebraska,  aged  seventy  years. 
She  was  born  in  Fa1)ius,  New  Wirk,  and 
was  of  Scotch  and  New  England  descent. 
Her  maternal,  grandfather,  John  Robinson, 
was  a  Scotchman  by  birth.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bohn  are  the  parents  of  the  following  chil- 
dren:  Otto  L. ;  Nellie,  a  student  at  Reeds- 
burg  high  school;  Elsie;  Nina,  a  student  of 
the  Yale  School  at  Chicago;  Eva;  Alta; 
Clarence;  Harvey;  Blanche;  and  Carl.  The 
six  last  named  reside  at  home.  Mr.  Bohn 
is  a  man  of  good  education  and  advances 
the  interests  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lives  and  works  for  the  best  systems  of 
schools  and  government.     He  does  not  seek 


588 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


public  office  and  pursues  the  even  tenor  of 
his  wa}',  but  the  affairs  which  are  under  daily 
discussion  are  famiHar  ones  to  liim  and  he 
lends  his  influence  for  the  better  rule  in  his 
opinion.  He  favors  Republicanism,  and  is 
strong"  in  his  con\'ictions.  He  came  to  Wis- 
consin as  a  young  man  in  search  of  an  open- 
ing for  energetic  and  capable  men,  and  he 
has  pushed  his  way  to  the  front  among  the 
prominent  men  of  the  locality,  and  enjoys 
not  only  financial  success,  but  the  highest 
esteem  of  his  associates  among  whom  he 
has  chosen  to  reside  for  many  years.  They 
find  him  ever  ready  to  do  his  duty  by  all, 
and  standing  firmly  for  the  right  in  all  mat- 
ters of  moment. 


HERBERT  LEROY  MASON. 

The  farming  community  of  Jackson 
township,  Adams  county,  has  an  able  repre- 
sentative in  the  g^entleman  above  named. 
He  is  entitled  to  much  credit  for  the  part 
he  has  taken  in  the  development  of  this  re- 
gion into  a  thri\-ing  agricultural  district. 
He  has  fi_>llowed  the  calling  of  a  farmer 
from  his  youth  and  is  thoroughly  conver- 
sant with  the  details  of  the  work  and  has 
built  for  himself  a  comfortable  estate,  and 
is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  men  in 
his  community.  He  is  progressive  and  pub- 
he-spirited,  and  ever)^  enterprise  tending  to- 
ward an  advance  in  civilization  meets  with 
his  hearty  approval. 

Mr.  Mason  was  born  in  Columbia  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin,  ]\Iarch  3,  1859,  the  son  of  H. 
H.  and  Emeline  (Bump)  Mason,  a  sketch 
of  whose  lives  will  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  Our  subject  was  about  ten 
years  of  age  when  the  family  came  tu 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  he  began  work  as  a 
farm  laborer.  Later  he  rented  land  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  himself  at  Jonesville, 


remaining  there  several  years.  He  pur- 
chased his  present  farm  in  Jackson  town- 
ship in  1890,  and  now  owns  two  hundred 
and  forty-fi\'e  acres  of  land.  He  has  im- 
proved the  dwelling  and  Iniilt  a  commodious 
and  convenient  barn,  and  otherwise  im- 
proved the  estate.  He  is  interested  in  stock 
raising  to  some  extent,  and  has  made  a  suc- 
cess of  general  farming  and  dairying. 

Mr.  Mason  was  married,  January  30, 
1883,  to  Mary  Jones,  daughter  of  Nelson 
and  Lucy  Jones,  of  Jackson  township.  Mrs. 
Mason  died  September  22,.  1891,  aged  twen- 
ty-nine years  and  fifteen  days.  She  was  the 
mother  of  three  children  :  Tressie  May,  Flor- 
ence Ethel  and  Mary  J.  Mr.  Mason  married 
Edith  Grace  Houghtaling,  May  13,  1894. 
Mrs.  Mason  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  is  the  daughter  nf  Aaron 
and  Ursula  (Hawes)  Houghtaling.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Albany  county.  New 
York,  and  now  resides  in  Marquette  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  her  mother  was  born  in  Lo- 
rain county,  Ohio,  and  died  at  O.xford,  Wis- 
consin, February  5,  1887,  aged  forty-three 
years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason  are  the  parents 
of  one  daughter,  Irene.  Mr.  Mason  is  a 
member  of  Oxford  Lodge,  No.  91,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  and  Oxford  Camp,  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America.  In  political  views  he  has 
been  a  Republican  from  his  boyhood,  and 
takes  an  active  interest  in  all  matters  of  a 
public  nature.  He  has  been  a  resident  of 
Adams  county,  and  a  land  owner  of  Jacksow 
tiiwnship,  for  o\'er  a  decade  of  years,  and 
has  always  been  found  on  the  side  of  right 
and  justice.  She  is  one  of  the  esteemed 
members  of  his  community,  and  well  merits 
his  success. 


FRANK  OR\TLLE  HUNT,  M.D. 

Frank  Orville  Hunt,  M.  D.,  was  born 
at  Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  June  j8,  1867, 
and  is  a  son  of  Wilham  and  Marian  (How- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


589 


ard)  Hunt,  who  are  still  livin.o-  in  that  city. 
The  father  came  from  Somersetshire.  Kng- 
land,  in  1855,  and  in  company  with  hi.-^ 
Iirother,  Timothy,  bought  a  farm  near 
Whitewater.  He  disposed  of  it  after  a  few 
years  and  leaving  his  brother  in  possession, 
moved  to  LaGrange,  a  rural  center  not  far 
away.  Frank  Orville  was  only  six  years  old 
when  his  father  settled  in  Lima,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  the  family  li\-e(l  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  The  aged  jiarents  have  now 
retired  from  acti\-e  lal)ors,  and  are  leading  a 
(|uiet  life  at  Whitewater,  surrounded  with 
well-earned  comforts.  The  early  education 
of  our  subject  was  continued  in  the  Cravath 
school,  and  later  he  was  a  student  at  the 
AMiitewater  Normal.  While  here  lie  selected 
the  practice  of  medicine  for  his  life  work, 
and  when  his  normal  cnurse  was  ended  he 
entered  Bennett  Eclectic  College  at  Chica- 
go, and  after  a  brilliant  course  in  that  insti- 
tution was  graduated  in  the  spring  of  1890. 
He  opened  an  office  at  Elkhorn,  but  hear- 
ii;g  that  Fall,  River  was  more  desirable  came 
l.ere  March  26,  1891.  His  arrival  seemed 
o]Dportune,  and  he  entered  almost  immedi- 
ately into  a  very  satisfactory  practice.  He 
is  now  one  of  the  fixtures  of  the  place. 

Dr.  Hunt  and  Miss  Minnie  Obrion  were 
married  June  28,  1894.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  Horace  S.  and  Angelia  (  Fiero)  Obrion, 
a  sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  these 
pages.  She  is  the  mother  of  one  child. 
Marion  Angelia,  born  March  31,  1900.  Dr. 
Hunt  is  a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge,  No. 
75,  and  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  at  Co- 
lumbus. He  is  also  a  member  and  examin- 
ing physician  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  and 
the  Equitable  Fraternal  Union  at  Fall  River, 
and,  with  Mrs.  Hunt,  is  in  the  Royal  Neigh- 
bors, she  being  associated  also  with  the 
W'oman's  Relief  Corps.  The  Doctor  is  ex- 
aminer for  the  Northwestern  Life  Associa- 
tion of  Minneapolis,  and  the  Accidental  In- 
surance Company,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.   He 


is  a  prominent  figure  in  the  Wisconsin  and 
the  National  Eclectic  Aledical.  Societies,  and 
takes  a  deep  interest  in  the  development  of 
his  profession.  He  is  a  Republican  and  deeply 
interested  in  the  vital  public  questions,  and 
is  a  gentleman  of  most  excellent  repute. 


AUGUST  SIEFERT. 

It  is  astonishing-  t(.)  witness  the  success 
of  young  men  who  ha\-e  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica without  capital  and  from  a  position  of 
comparative  obscurity  have  worked  their 
way  upward  to  a  position  of  prominence. 
The  readiness  with  which  they  adapt  thein- 
selves  to  circumstances  and  take  advantage 
of  opportunities  offered  brings  to  them  suc- 
cess and  wins  them  a  place  among  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  community  in  which  they  re- 
side. A  prominent  representative  of  this 
class  is  August  Siefert,  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful business  men  and  influential  citizens 
of  Reedsburg,  Wisconsin. 

He  was  born  in  \^elmeden,  Hessen- 
Nassau,  Germany,  August  14,  1855.  a  son  of 
Rev.  Carl  Frederick  and  Antoinette  (  Heller) 
Siefert.  The  father,  a  minister  of  the  Evan- 
gelical church,  was  located  at  \'elmeden  a 
number  of  years,  but  died  at  iMilmes,  Kreis 
Hersfeld,  Hessen-Nassau,  in  March,  1872, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years.  He  toiik  an 
actix'e  and  prominent  part  in  educational 
and  other  public  aft'airs,  and  was  honored  and 
respected  by  all  wdio  knew  him.  The  wife 
and  mother  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  over 
seventy  years,  and  now  makes  her  home  in 
Cassel,  Germany. 

During  his  boyhood  and  y<iuth  .\ugust 
Siefert  attended  private  schools  and  acquired 
a  good  education  in  several  languages.  On 
first  coming  to  the  LInited  States  in  1873,  he 
spent  one  year  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
v.here  he  clerked  in  a  grocer}'  store,  and  in 


590 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


June,  1874,  became  a  resident  uf  Ree^lsl)u^t,^ 
\vhei-e  l:e  has  since  made  iiis  home.  He  be- 
gan business  here  as  a  clerk  in  the  hardware 
store  of  Hansen,  Gale  &  Cimiijany.  and  in 
1880  purchased  an  interest  in  the  business, 
though  the  firm  name  was  not  changed  until 
1884,  wlien  it  became  Gale,  Siefert  &  Com- 
pany, and  later  Siefert,  Blank  &  Company. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Blank  in  i8yi,  the 
firm  became  Siefert  Brothers,  E.  A.  Siefert 
becoming  the  junior  partner.  Besides  a 
general  hardware  trailc,  they  handle  the 
largest  line  of  agricultural  implements,  ve- 
hicles, etc.,  in  Sauk  county,  and  from  the 
public  they  receive  a  liberal  patronage.  Mr. 
Siefert  is  also  vice-president  of  the  Citizens' 
Bank  of  Reed.sburg,  of  which  he  has  been  a 
stockholder  since  1887.  He  is  a  most  ca- 
l-able  and  systematic  business  man,  who  car- 
ries forward  to  successful  completion  what- 
e\er  he  undertakes,  and  has  won  a  prominent 
place  in  the  business  circles  of  bis  ado])ted 
county. 

In  1883  Mr.  Siefert  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Ida  Bartel,  a  native  of  New 
^'ork  (-'ity,  who  came  to  Milwaukee.  Wis- 
consin, with  lier  i)arents  in  childhood.  Her 
father.  Carl  Bartel.  was  a  retail  clothier  of 
the  latter  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Siefert  have 
one  child,  Hugo,  born  .\pril  2.  1888.  The 
]<epubhcan  party  always  finds  in  Mr.  Siefert 
a  stanch  supporter  of  its  principles,  and  in 
1896  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  con- 
vention at  St.  Louis,  w  hich  nominated  Will- 
iam McKinle\-.  fie  was  appointed  post- 
master of  Reedsburg  by  President  Harrison, 
and  most  acceptabl\-  filled  that  office  for  four 
years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  county 
board  of  su]jervisors  one  year,  but  has  re- 
peatedly declined  to  accejjt  other  elective  of- 
fices, preferring  to  give  his  entire  time  and 
attention  to  his  extensive  business  interests. 
He  is,  however,  a  public-spirited  and  pro- 
gressive citizen,  was  one  of  the  promoters 
of  the  Reedsburg  public  library,  and  takes 


a  deep  interest  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  public  welfare  of  the  town,  withholding 
his  support  from  no  enterprise  calculated  to 
prove  Lif  jniblic  gtx.xl. 


CHAiXCY  T.  ROCK.\FELLOW. 

Chancy  T.  Rockafellow,  a  well-known 
resident  of  Fall  River,  \\'isconsin,  and  now 
engaged  in  a  most  successful  commercial 
eriterprise,  was  born  in  Liberty,  Susque- 
hanna county,  Pennsylvania,  June  15.  1841, 
and  is  a  son  of  David  and  Lx'tlia  (Hicks) 
Rockafellow.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
New  Jerse}',  and  his  mother  of  New  York. 
Her  mother  was  born  in  Holland,  and  be- 
longed to  the  \'oorhees  family.  Our  subject 
spent  fifteen  y-ears  in  New  Jersey,  followed 
by  fifteen  in  Pennsylxania.  It  was  while  he 
was  a  resident  of  the  former  state  that  he 
enlisted  in  the  Federal  army,  and  spent  five 
years  battling  for  the  Union.  He  enlisted 
at  Elizabethport,  New  Jersey,  September  3, 
1864,  and  was  sent  directly  to  Harper's  Fer- 
r^■.  From  that  ]ioint  he  ser\-ed  in  the  Shen- 
andoah \alle_\-.  He  was  wounded  in  the  left 
leg  below  the  knee  at  the  battle  of  Winches- 
ter, and  it  was  so  severe  in  its  appearance  that 
the  surgeon  wished  to  amputate  the  leg,  de- 
spairing of  being  al)le  to  do  anything  other- 
wise. Mr.  Rockafellow  steadfastly  refused 
to  ha\'e  the  operation  performed.  He  was 
sent  to  the  hospital  at  Frederick  City,  Mru"y- 
lancl,  and  afterwards  transferred  to  Chest- 
nut Hill,  Philadelphia,  and  by  tlie  follow^ing 
March  he  was  able  to  go  to  the  front.  He 
did  so  and  ser\-ed  throughout  the  balance 
of  the  war,  devoutly  grateful  that  he  had 
courage  enough  to  save  his  leg.  A  severe  ill- 
ness came  upon  him  after  his  return  to  the 
ranks,  which  he  cured  by  a  self-made  dose, 
crude,  but  of  remarkable  curati\e  powers. 
He  managed  to  get  out  of  the  sick  tent  and 


C.  T.  ROCKAFELLOW. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


598 


reacli  some  sugar  barrels.  Scraping  out  a 
quantity  of  it,  he  added  vinegar  and  pepper, 
and  building  a  fire  he  boiled  down  the  mix- 
ture. He  took  it,  bad  as  he  was,  and  was 
presently  able  to  be  on  duty  again. 

j\Ir.  Rockafellow  was  discharged  from 
the  army  July  i,  1865,  and  returned  home  to 
resume  farm  life.  Chronic  diarrhea,  the 
result  of  his  exposures  as  a  soldier,  prevent- 
ed him  from  active  labor.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, health  and  strength  came  back  to  him, 
and  in  1870  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  made 
liis  home  for  a  short  time  in  Dodge  county. 
He  came  over  into  Columbia  county  and 
the  remarkable  beauty  of  the  township  of 
Fountain  Prairie  so  attracted  him  that  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  buy  a  very  handsome  es- 
tate then  in  the  market.  It  was  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  acres,  and  it 
became  the  family  home  for  many  years. 
In  its  cultivation  Mr.  Rockafellow  was  so 
successful  that  in  1888  he  determined  to 
move  into  town,  and  take  life  easy  hence- 
forth. October  26  of  that  year  he  moved 
into  the  village  of  Fall  River,  and  thought 
himself  settled  for  the  balance  of  his  years. 
He  found,  however,  that  it  was  not  so  easy 
for  a  man  of  bis  temperament  to  remain 
quiet  while  the  world  around  him  was  busy, 
aiul  accordingi}-  he  purchased  an  interest  in 
Weber's  store,  which  he  held  until  1896. 
That  year  he  sold  his  interest  in  that  estab- 
lishment and  bought  the  store  of  G.  S.  Lash- 
ier,  which  business  he  and  his  son  still  con- 
duct. 

]\Ir.  Rockafellow  and  Miss  Sarah  J. 
Crips  were  married  January  8,  1862.  She 
was  the  mother  of  one  son,  who  died  in  in- 
fancy; and  she  herself  died  December  31, 
1865.  Our  subject  was  again  married  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1867.  to  Miss  Katharine  Hoag- 
land,  daughter  of  X.  J.  Hoagland.  She  died 
June  10.  1871,  leaving'three  children:  Lilly, 
born  November  14,  186 — ,  and  now  Mrs. 
Charles  Stout,  of  Fall  River;  Kitty,  born 


March  12,  1869,  and  now  Mrs.  V.  H.  Em- 
erson, of  Newark,  New  Jersey;  and  Annie, 
born  June  10,  1870,  and  now  Mrs.  Peter  Vor- 
hees,  of  Hopewell,  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Rock- 
afellow entered  into  matrimonial  relations  a 
third  time,  Octolier  15,  1S75,  Miss  ^lar- 
garet  Stout  becoming  his  wife.  Her  son 
George  is  now  a  partner  with  his  father  in 
the  Fall  River  store.  Our  suljject  is  a  stanch 
Repulilican,  and  has  been  identified  with  the 
party  from  its  inception.  He  is  a  memljer  of 
the  George  H.  Brayton  post  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  and  has  been  active 
in  the  affairs  of  that  organization.  He  is 
universally  recognized  as  a  solid  business 
man  and  a  good  citizen.  Ripe  in  judgment, 
of  sterling  integrity,  and  most  excellent 
business  abilities,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  has 
proved  successful  in  the  Ijattle  of  life  and 
has  acquired  an  easy  competency.  On  an- 
other page  of  this  book  his  many  friends 
will  be  pleased  to  see  bis  portrait,  which,  as 
a  representative  citizen  of  Columbia  county, 
is  entitled  to  a  prominent  place. 


ALONZO  W.  COLBURN,  Dece.\sed. 

Alonzo  W.  Colburn,  deceased,  who  for 
many  years  was  a  leading  representative  of 
the  farming  interests  of  Wisconsin,  was  born 
in  Erie  county,  New  York,  and  died  in  this 
state,  September  26,  1883.  He  was  a  car- 
penter by  trade  and  followed  that  pursuit 
until  his  removal  to  the  west  in  1845.  For 
a  year  he  engaged  in  carpentering  in  Mil- 
waukee, but  in  1846  took  up  his  abode  in 
Waukesha  countv  and  there  turned  his  at- 
tention to  farming  in  connection  with  Iniild- 
ing.  In  1855  he  removed  to  the  town  of 
Newport,  Columbia  county,  and  entered 
eighty  acres  of  land,  to  which  he  added  an 
additional  eighty  acres  by  purchase.  That 
farm  he  cultivated  and  improved  until  1881, 


594 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


when  he  sold  liis  property  and  removed  to  a 
farm  near  White  Creek,  in  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  where  his  last  days  were  passed. 
He  was  a  public-s]5irited  citizen  and  was  an 
active  factor  in  the  management  of  affairs 
of  general  interest  aifecting  the  welfare  of 
the  community.  The  present  highway  be- 
tween Lewiston  and  Kilbourn  was  estab- 
hshed  through  his  efforts,  and  district  No. 
4,  in  the  town  of  Newport,  Columbia  county, 
was  organized  by  him. 

Mr.  Colburn  was  married  in  January, 
1839,  to  Miss  Mary  Parker,  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
six  children,  who  became  highly  respected 
citizens  of  the  communities  in  wliich  they  re- 
side. Jay  P.  whose  sketch  appears  below. 
Helen  P.,  born  January  28,  1841,  is  now 
living  in  Quincy,  Adams  county.  James  H.. 
of  Bryant,  South  Dakota,  was  born  August 
7,  1842,  and  has  been  twice  married,  his 
first  union  being  with  Miss  Anice  Pierce, 
while  Nellie  Harvey  became  his  second  wife. 
Alonzo  F.,  born  November  17,  1843,  mar- 
ried Ella  No3'es,  and  is  now  living  in  Chip- 
pewa Falls,  \\'isconsin.  Eunice  \.,  born 
April  9,  1848,  married  Frank  Vanampwert, 
a  resident  of  Rockland,  Wisconsin.  Julia 
M.,  born  October  29,  1857,  is  a  resident  of 
Waupun,  Wisconsin,  and  is  the  widow  of 
Duncan  Kennedy,  who  died  in  1882. 

Jay  P.  Colburn.  who  is  the  eldest  of  the 
family,  was  born  Octolier  24,  1839,  in  Pem- 
broke, New  York,  and  when  se\-en  years  of 
age  came  with  his  ijarents  to  the  west.  He 
remained  at  home  until  seventeen  years  of 
age,  during  which  time  he  acquired  a  com- 
mon-school education  that  fitted  him  for  the 
practical  duties  of  life.  On  starting  out  in  life 
for  himself  he  became  connected  with  the 
lumber  industry,  floating  lumber  down  the 
Wisconsin  ri\er.  He  afterward  learned  the 
cooper's  tratle,  at  which  he  worked  for  four- 
teen years  in  Prairie  du  Chein,  North  Mc- 
Gregor, Iowa,  and  in  Portage,  ^^'isconsin. 


During  the  Civil  war  he  responded  to  the 
country's  call  for  troops,  enlisting  on  the  ist 
day  of  February,  1864,  in  Company  C, 
Twenty-third  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  on 
the  1st  of  July,  1865,  was  transferred  to 
Company  A,  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Wisccinsin 
Regiment,  and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  cor- 
poral October  14,  1865.  He  continued  a 
member  of  the  army  until  March  15, 
1866,  when  he  was  mustered  out  at  Browns- 
ville, Te.xas,  and  paid  off  at  Madison  on  the 
15th  of  April,  following.  He  took  part  in 
the  Red  River  expedition  under  General 
Banks,  was  in  the  rout  at  Sabine  Cross 
Roads  and  the  engagements  at  Pleasant  Hill, 
Cane  River,  Bayou  Sara,  Spanish  Fort  and 
Fort  Blakeley.  He  was  never  absent  from 
his  regiment  except  on  special  service,  and 
was  always  a  loyal  defender  of  the  starry 
banner  and  the  cause  it  represented. 

After  his  return  from  the  war  Mr.  Col- 
burn, in  1866,  purchased  a  farm  on  section 
2,  in  the  town  of  Lewiston,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, and  after  cultivating  that  place  for  some 
time,  he  sold  out  and  purchased  a  tract  of 
land  on  section  2y,  Newport  tmvnship,  where 
he  lived  until  1877,  when  he  came  to  his 
present  farm,  comprising  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  acres,  of  which  seventy  acres 
are  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  He 
has  engaged  in  general  farming  and  a  credit- 
able and  gratifying  success  has  attended  his 
efforts. 

On  the  26th  uf  August,  1868,  Mr.  Col- 
burn was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lucy 
E.  Jacobs  and  to  them  have  been  born  eight 
children:  Frank  L.,  born  December  15, 
1869,  married  Grace  Stowe,  and  is  living 
in  Endeavor,  Wisconsin;  Eddie  L.,  born  Sep- 
tember 9,  1871,  died  in  infancy;  Eva  M., 
born  November  8,  1872,  is  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Hudson,  of  Moundville,  Wisconsin ; 
Lester  J.,  who  was  born  May  4,  1875,  was 
drowned  at  Kilbourn,  July  13,  1893;  Lucy 
M.,  born  February  8,   1879,  attended  busi- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


505 


iiess  college,  and  for  three  years  has  lieen 
a  teacher  in  the  public  schools;  Royal  O., 
born  February  i8,  1882:  Clarnce  E.,  born 
September  7.  iSS^,  and  Arthur  \\'.,  born 
October  27,  i8gi,  are  at  h.ome.  The  father 
of  this  family  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  tlie  Republic  and  has  held 
every  office  in  the  local  post.  He  has  also 
filled  many  civic  positions,  and  is  ever  true 
to  the  confidence  and  trust  reposed  in  him. 


JOHN  ENGLISH. 

John  English,  one  of  the  oldest  settlers 
of  Wyocena,  Columbia  county,  is  retired 
from  active  pursuits  and  enjoys  a  comforta- 
ble home  and  a  good  name.  He  was  born 
ai  West  Point,  New  York.  April  5,  i8jo, 
and  is  a  son  of  \\'illiam  and  Susan  ( Gar- 
rison)   English. 

1  he  father  of  our  subject  is  a  native  of 
Strand  Keneyear,  county  Galloway,  Scot- 
land, and  was  born  March  3,  1786.  He 
came  to  the  United  States  when  a  young  man 
in  181 1,  and  was  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment many  years  in  making  clothing  for 
the  cadets  at  West  Point  Military  Academy, 
having  learned  the  tailor's  trade  in  Scotland. 
He  died  March  3,  1852.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  was  born  at  Ft.  Montgomery, 
Orange  county,  New  York,  and  died  in 
1 88 1,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six  years  and 
nine  months.  Her  first  husband,  Moses 
Cox,  was  in  the  United  States  army  and  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Lundy's  Lane.  John 
English,  a  cousin  of  our  suliject,  became  a 
famous  shipbuilder  on  the  Hudson  river, 
and  also  built  some  of  the  finest  steamers 
for  lake  traflic.  The  maternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  Oliver  Garrison,  served  in 
the  Continental  army  and  participated  in  the 
defense  of  Ft.  Montgomery.  He  was  a 
farmer  and  trader  and  furnished  provisions 
to  the  West  Point  Academy  for  some  years. 


He  married  Miss  Albert,  who  was  of  Dutch 
descent.  Beverly  Garrison,  a  brother  of 
Mrs.  English,  stood  on  the  docks  of  Ft. 
Montgomery  when  General  Benedict  Ar- 
nold passed  in  a  row  l)oat  in  his  flight  to  the 
British  ship  "Vulture,"  after  the  capture  of 
Major  Andre.  Garrison  was  then  but  sev- 
eriteen  years  of  age.  Another  brother  of 
Mrs.  English,  Oliver  Garrison,  was  the  fa- 
ther of  the  famous  Commodore  C.  K.  Gar- 
rison. Abram  Garrison,  a  nei)hew  of  Mrs. 
English,  was  a  prominent  iron  manufacturer 
of  Pittsburg.  Three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter were  born  to  William  and  Susan  Eng- 
lish, of  whom  our  subject  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor. 

John  English,  the  subject  of  this  review, 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade  and  lived  in 
New  York  until  1849,  when  he  went  to  Cal- 
ifornia, via  Cape  Horn,  and  the  voyage  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco  consumed  one 
lumdred  and  fifty-four  days.  He  spent  two 
years  in  California  prospecting  for  gold  and 
met  with  little  success,  and  then  spent  one 
year  in  Oregon  at  potato  farming.  Portland 
then  had  about  one  thousand  people.  Our 
subject  returned  to  New  York  via  the  Nicar- 
agua route  and  but  twenty-one  days  were 
required  between  the  western  and  eastern 
metropolis.  He  located  in  Wyocena,  Wis- 
consin, in  1853.  and  there  followed  farming 
about  ten  years.  He  then  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad,  and  spent  about  twenty-four  years 
in  the  car  shops  in  Milwaukee.  Owing  to 
an  accident  he  was  seriously  injured  in  the 
car  shops  and  u])on  his  reco\'erv  resigned 
his  position  and  ;Jnce  1893  has  lived  in  re- 
tirement in  Wyocena.  His  original  fanu 
is  in  the  village  of  Wyocena,  and  is  now 
(Avned  bv  our  subject's  son.  The  farm  was 
mortgaged  to  promote  the  construction  of 
the  Milwaukee  &  La  Crosse  Railroad.  He 
avoided  payment  by  letting  the  taxes  lapse 
and  a  friend  obtained  a  tax  title. 


■696 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Our  subject  was  married  October  22, 
1848,  to  Elizabeth  Jevens,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  (Green)  Jevens.  Mrs. 
EngHsh  was  born  near  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land, October  11,  1825,  antl  came  to  the 
United  States  in  infancy.  Her  father  settled 
at  West  Point,  where  he  followed  gardening". 
He  died  at  Highland  Falls,  New  York,  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years.  Mrs.  Jevens  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  Four 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
English,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The 
surviving  children  are  as  follows :  Mary 
Isabel,  widow  of  George  Hammond,  of  Wy- 
ocena;  Arthur  William,  a  well-known  mer- 
chant of  Wyocena;  and  Walter  Cameron, 
principal  of  the  W'yucena  pul^lic  schools.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  English  have  the  following  grand- 
children :  Ray  C.  Hammond,  Marie  Eliza- 
beth English,  Marguerite  English,  Donald 
English  and  William  English.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  English  were  members  of  the  Method- 
ist church  of  Wyocena  until  the  society  dis- 
banded. Mr.  English  is  a  life-long  Republic- 
an, ha\'ing  voted  for  Henry  Clay  for  presi- 
dent in  1844,  and  he  has  voted  for  every 
Republican  candidate  since,  from  Fremont 
to  McKinley.  Our  subject  served  two  years 
as  town  treasurer  and  also  as  a  member  of 
the  township  board  of  supervisors.  He  spent 
nine  months  in  the  Civil  war  and  aided  in 
the  fortification  of  Nashville  under  General 
Thomas. 


FREUERICK  GILES. 

Frederick  Giles,  the  efiicient  and  popular 
postmaster  of  Loganville,  Wisconsin,  has 
Ijeen  a  resident  of  Sauk  county  over  forty 
years,  twenty  or  more  years  of  which  he 
spent  in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  and  met 
with  success.  He  is  an  ex-soldier  who  brave- 
ly entered  the  fray  and  fought  loyally  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.     He  enjoys  the 


highest  esteem  of  his  fellowmen  and  his  ca- 
reer has  been  marked  with  faithful  efforts 
to  advance  the  welfare  of  his  community. 

Mr.  Giles  was  born  in  Hothfield,  Kent, 
Elngland,  July  19,  1835.  His  parents,  Will- 
iam and  Mary  (Ellis)  Ciiles,  were  worthy 
and  industrious  people,  his  father  following 
the  mason's  trade.  He  died  while  our  sub- 
ject was  an  infant.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  Thomas  Ellis,  was  a  farm  laborer 
and  lived  and  died  in  Kent. 

Frederick  Giles  left  home  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  and  came  to  the  United  States, 
locating  in  New  York.  He  spent  eight  years 
in  Herkimer  and  Oneida  counties.  New 
York,  and  in  1857  came  to  Loganville,  Sauk 
count}',  Wisconsin,  where  he  was  employed 
for  a  time  as  a  farm  laborer.  He  purchased 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  1867  near  the  village 
of  Loganville,  and  is  still  in  possession  of 
the  property.  He  engaged  in  farming  until 
1889,  when  he  removed  to  the  village  to  ac- 
cept the  appointment  by  President  Harrison 
as  postmaster  of  Loganville,  which  office  he 
has  since  conducted. 

Mr.  Giles  enlisted  September  7,  1861, 
in  Company  B,  Twelfth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  after  his  term  of  ofiice  expired 
again  enlisted,  January  6,  1864,  as  a  veter- 
an. He  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
until  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  while 
on  the  march  to  Atlanta  was  taken  ill  at 
Huntsville,  Alabama,  but  rejoined  the  army 
three  days  before  the  fall  of  Atlanta.  He 
marched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  and  thence 
to  Richmond  and  Washington,  engaging  in 
the  following  battles  on  the  wa}- :  Golds- 
boro.  North  Carolina ;  Branch\-ille  and  Co- 
lumbia, South  Carolina.  He  participated  in 
the  grand  review  at  \Vashington,  and  was 
discharged  in  July,  1865,  after  a  long  and 
faithful  service  in  which  he  escaped  capture 
or  injury. 

Our  subject  was  married  January  i, 
1868,  to  Mary  E.  Mead,  daughter  of  John 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


597 


and  Mary  (Van  \'ranken)  Mead.  Mrs. 
Giles  was  liorn  in  Adams,  Seneca  county, 
Ohio,  where  her  parents  moved  from  Oneida 
county,  New  York.  They  located  in  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1854,  where  the  moth- 
er died  in  1887,  aged  sixty-nine  years.  Mr. 
Mead  died  in  Minnesota  in  1886,  aged  sev- 
enty-three years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Giles  have 
been  the  parents  of  the  following  children : 
Edwin  R.,  born  August  3,  1876,  died  March 
15,  1877;  Elsie  M.,  born  October  20,  1880, 
died  November  8,  1880;  John  P.,  now  in 
Caledonia,  Illinois ;  George  William,  living 
on  the  homestead  farm;  and  Ruth  Ina  re- 
sides at  home.  Mr.  Giles  is  a  member  of  H. 
A.  Tator  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Reedsburg.  He 
has  held  various  local  offices  of  trust  and  has 
served  as  clerk  of  Westfield  township  since 
1869,  with  the  exception  of  an  interval  of 
two  years,  and  is  widely  and  favorably 
known.  He  advances  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party  and  is  strong  in  his  convic- 
tions. 


HENRY  FOREMAN. 

In  a  volume  of  this  nature  the  pages  de- 
voted to  the  lives  of  the  pioneer  settlers  are 
most  interesting  to  all  readers  alike.  They 
pass  in  rex'iew  the  many  deeds  which  these 
men  have  performed  for  their  community, 
and  recall  to  the  minds  of  the  older  residents 
the  public  spirit  exercised  by  their  fellows, 
and  to  one  of  this  class  this  biography  is  de- 
voted. Mr.  Foreman  settled  on  his  present 
farm  when  but  one  acre  was  tillable,  and  to- 
day he  is  proprietor  of  as  fine  an  estate  as 
graces  that  vicinity,  and  in  the  development 
of  his  estate  has  added  materially  to  the  bet- 
ter interests  of  Adams  county.  His  home 
is  located  in  Jackson  township  and  he  is  one 
of  the  substantial  "farmers  of  that  com- 
munity. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Margate,  coun- 
ty of  Kent,  England,  March  14,  1845,  ^'""^ 


was  the  son  of  John  B.,  Sr.,  and  Margaret 
(Malen)  Foreman,  natives  of  Margate.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  in  his  native  land,  and 
about  1 85 1  came  to  America  and  settled 
near  Waterford,  Racine  county,  Wisconsin. 
He  enlisted  in  1862,  in  Company  F,  Twen- 
ty-second Wisciinsin  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  was  killed  at  Resaca,  Georgia,  in  1863, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  church  and  a  gen- 
tleman of  true  merit.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  died  in  England  about  1849,  leav- 
ing five  children,  as  follows :  Frances,  wid- 
ow of  Jerry  Hoover,  of  Waterford,  Wiscon- 
sin; William,  residing  at  Waterford;  John, 
Jr.,  of  Whitewater,  Wisconsin;  Henry,  our 
subject;  and  Sarah  Ann,  now  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Foat,  of  Jackson  township,  Adams  county. 

Henry  Foreman  has  been  a  resident  of 
Wisconsin  since  his  fifth  year.  He  enlisted 
October  8,  1861,  in  Company  C,  First  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry.  He  served  three 
years  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and 
was  engaged  at  Perryville,  Stone  River, 
Chickamauga,  Resaca  and  Sherman's  Atlanta 
campaign,  and  was  discharged  after  the  fall 
of  Atlanta,  owing  to  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  enlistment.  At  Resaca  he  was 
wounded  in  the  right  breast,  and  was  dis- 
abletl  for  one  week,  but  did  not  go  to  the 
hospital,  and  with  that  one  exception  was 
always  on  duty.  For  nine  months  he  was 
detailed  on  provost  duty  at  headcjuarters  of 
the  Third  Brigade  under  Brigadier-General 
Negley  and  others.  Mr.  Foreman  went  to 
Fond  du  Lac  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1866,  and 
three  years  later  came  to  Adams  county  and 
purchased  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  Jackson  township.  A 
small  log  cabin  had  been  built  on  the  i)lace 
where  one  acre  only  had  been  cleared.  Our 
subject  now  owns  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  and  has  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
under  cultivation,  and  in  1880  erected  a  com- 
fortable   and     commodious    residence,    has 


598 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


added  otlier  buildings,  and  has  a  well  im- 
proved farm. 

Mr.  Foreman  was  married  May  i,  1866, 
to  Eliza  Margaret  Bushell,  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Eliza  (Johncox)  Bushell.  Mrs. 
Foreman  was  born  in  Manston,  England,  Oc- 
tober 27,  1847.  The  family  came  to  America 
about  1853,  and  the  mother  died  about  1855 
near  Waterford,  Wisconsin,  aged  thirty-two 
years.  Her  father  married  later  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Barnes,  who  died  in  Jackson  town- 
ship, March  28,  1890.  The  father's  death 
occurred  in  Jackson  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, March  14,  1895,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foreman  are  the  parents 
of  eight  children  as  follows :  Elmer  Ells- 
worth, of  Jackson  township;  Ida  Idella,  now 
Mrs.  Adelbert  J.  Osborn,  of  Bristol,  Ke- 
nosha county,  Wisconsin ;  Delilah  May,  now 
Mrs.  Gilbert  Osborn,  of  Bristol,  Wisconsin ; 
Arthur  H. ;  Clara  Belle ;  Chester  John ; 
Wealthy  died  at  the  age  of  five  years ;  and 
Flossie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foreman  have  four 
grandchildren.  Their  home  is  one  of  pleas- 
ant surroundings  and  betokens  refinement 
and  culture.  Our  subject  and  family  are  con- 
nected with  the  Congregational  church  at 
Davis  Corners.  Mr.  Foreman  has  been  a 
life-long  Republican  in  political  sentiment, 
and  is  always  interested  in  public  affairs,  but 
has  never  Ijeen  an  aspirant  for  public  office. 


CHARLES  ANDREW  SCOTT. 

Charles  Andrew  Scott,  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive young  business  men  of  Cambria, 
Wisconsin,  has  resided  in  Columbia  coun- 
ty since  his  thildhood,  and  is  a  man  of 
genial  nature  and  counts  a  host  of  friends. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Birmingham, 
England,  March  24,  1862,  and  was  a  son  of 
Andrew  and  Mary  J.  (Powell)  Scott.  His 
father  was  born  May  7,  1827,  in  the  count}- 


of  Brecon,  \\'ales.  and  was  married  August 
-9-  1857,  at  St.  Paul's  church  in  Birming- 
ham, England,  to  Mary  Jones  Powell.  He 
mioved  to  London  when  a  young  man  and 
was  employed  on  the  police  force  there  and 
at  Birmingham  about  fifteen  years,  and  then 
returned  to  Wales  and  conducted  a  hotel  at 
Brecon  sex'eral  years.  He  sailed  to  America 
from  Liverpool  in  the  spring  of  1869  on  the 
"Pennsylvania,"  and  on  landing  came  to 
Columbia  county,  reaching  here  May  15,  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  Otsego  township.  In 
the  fall  of  1885  he  removed  to  Sanborn 
county.  South  Dakota,  where  he  entered  a 
homestead  claim  and  resided  there  until  his 
death,  December  14,  1893,  aged  sixty-six 
years.  Andrew  Scott,  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  lived  in  the  parish  of  Nantneal, 
Radnorshire,  and  came  to  America,  arriv- 
ing at  Milwaukee,  where  he  died  in  1850, 
while  on  his  way  to  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin. The  wife  came  to  Columbia  county, 
where  she  died  about  six  months  later.  The 
grandfather  was  a  farmer  ahvaj-s,  and  was 
a  native  of  Scotland,  but  went  to  Wales 
v.hen  a  young  man.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject, Mary  J.  (Powell)  Scott,  still  resides  on 
the  farm  in  South  Dakota.  Her  ancestors 
lived  at  Rhayder,  Wales,  for  many  genera- 
tions, being  landed  proprietors  of  the  home- 
stead farm  "Ashfield."  Mrs.  Scott  was  the 
mother  of  ten  children,  of  whom  our  sub- 
ject and  one  sister,  Mary  Jane,  are  the  only 
ones  in  Columbia  count}-.  The  maternal 
grandparents  of  our  subject  were  Reese  and 
Jane  (Lewis)  Powell,  of  "Ashfield,"  parish 
of  Nantneal,  Radnorshire,  Wales. 

Charles  Andrew  Scott  at  the  age  of  nine 
years  came  to  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, to  reside  with  his  father's  sister,  Eliza- 
beth (Scott)  Meredith,  and  her  husband, 
John  Meredith.  After  leaving  the  public 
school  he  took  a  course  at  Oshkosh  Busi- 
ness College,  and  at  twenty  years  of  age  be- 
gan teaching  and  devoted  many  winters  to 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


599 


that  profession  and  continuetl  liis  residence 
on  the  farm  until  1887,  when  lie  went  to 
South  Dakota.  He  spent  about  eight  years 
teaching  and  in  a  grocery  store  at  Sioux 
Falls,  and  in  the  spring  of  1895  returned 
to  CanilDria  and  taught  most  of  the  time 
until  January,  1899,  when  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Scott  &  Ernsperger,  and 
the  firm  still  conducts  the  general  merchan- 
dise business. 

Mr.  Scott  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Cambria  Music  Hall  Company,  and 
has  been  secretary  of  the  organization  ever 
since.  While  residing"  at  Sioux  Falls,  Da- 
kota, he  united  with  the  Baptist  church,  and 
is  a  member  and  secretary  of  the  Ecjuitable 
Fraternal  Union  and  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America.  He  is  prominent  in  prohibition 
movements  and  is  a  member  of  Diamond 
Lodge,  Independent  Order  Good  Templars, 
ac  Cambria. 


JOHN  MEREDITH,  Deceased. 

John  iNIeredith,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  an  influential  and  useful,  citizen  of  the 
town  of  Springvale,  Columbia  county.  He 
was  always  active  in  promoting  worthy 
public  enterprises  and  acquired  a  wide  ac- 
quaintance and  many  ardent  friends. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Harmon,  Radnorshire,  Wales,  May  27,  181 7, 
and  died  at  Cambria,  Wisconsin,  February 
22,  1895.  The  parents  of  our  subject,  John 
and  Ann  (George)  Meredith,  were  natives 
of  the  parish  of  St.  Thomas,  Radnorshire._ 
His  father  was  a  tailor  by  trade.  He  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1842  locating  at 
Kenosha,  then  called  Southport,  and  fol- 
Icw-ed  farming  there  and  also  followed  his 
trade  until  his  death,  m  January,  1850,  aged 
sixty-six  years.  Mrs.  Ann  Meredith  died 
November  16,  1881,  aged  eighty-two  years. 
She  was  active  until   1874,  when  she  was 


prostrated  b}'  paralysis.  1  he  children  of  this 
family  are  as  folldws :  Evan  died  in  the 
town  of  Otsego ;  John,  deceased ;  Edward 
died  in  Kenosha;  Ann,  Mrs.  William  Rob- 
erts, now  deceased ;  William,  residing  in 
Springvale  townshij)  ,and  Thomas,  also  a 
resident  of  Springvale. 

John  Meredith  came  to  America  from 
Wales  in  1845,  and  lived  in  what  is  now  Ive- 
nosha,  Wisconsin,  until  1848,  when  he  came 
to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  entered 
claim  to  government  land  in  Springvale 
township,  and  he  resided  thereon  until  1889, 
when  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Cambria. 
His  farm,  comprising  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  is  now  owned  by  C.  A.  Scott. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  29, 
1843,  to  Elizabeth  Scott,  daughter  of  An- 
drew and  Elizabeth  (Davis)  Scott,  for 
whose  lives  see  sketch  of  C.  A.  Scott.  Mrs. 
Meredith  was  born  in  Wales  and  now  lives 
in  Cambria  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
Her  home  is  shared  with  her  nephew,  Charles 
A.  Scott,  and  his  sister,  Mary  Jane,  whom 
she  and  her  husband  adopted  while  children. 

Mr.  Meredith  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  county  commissioners  when  that  body 
comprised  but  three  members  and  filled  the 
principal  offices  in  the  township  of  Spring- 
\'ale.  He  was  a  stanch  Republican  and  firm 
in  his  convictions. 


EDWARD  KREUGER. 

Many  of  the  most  enterprising  and  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin, 
have  come  from  the  land  beyond  the  sea, 
and  especially  is  this  true  of  the  many  from 
the  German  Empire  wlio  have  sought  homes 
in  this  land  of  freedom.  Among  these  quite 
a  prominent  figure  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  introduces  this  sketch,  and  who  is  now 
successfully    carrying     on    operations    as  a 


600 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


general  farmer  and  stock  lireeder  in  Reeds- 
burg  township. 

Mr.  Kreuger  was  born  near  Berlin, 
Prussia,  April  14,  iSj/,  a  son  of  William 
and  Wilhelmina  Kreuger.  The  father  car- 
ried on  a  large  estate  in  the  province  of 
Pomerania.  Prussia,  and  died  there.  The 
mother  afterward  came  to  the  new  world 
and  departed  this  life  in  Reedsburg,  Wiscon- 
sin, December  31,  1894.  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-nine  years. 

In  early  life  Edward  Kreuger  served  for 
four  years  in  the  Prussian  army  during  the 
Revolution  of  1848,  but  was  not  engaged  in 
any  actual  hostilities.  He  became  overseer 
of  a  large  estate  owned  by  a  nobleman  and 
remained  in  his  native  land  until  1854,  when 
he  sailed  for  the  United  States,  and  on  land- 
ing proceeded  at  once  to  Wisconsin.  For 
ten  years  he  made  his  home  in  Milwaukee, 
where  he  owned  some  buildings,  and  in  186S 
came  to  Reedsburg,  where,  in  company  with 
Gustave  Rincke,  he  conducted  a  bakery  for 
four  years,  the  partnership  being  dissolved 
at  the  end  of  that  time.  In  1873  he  erected  the 
first  brick  building  in  Reedsburg  and  kept 
a  billiard  saloon  there  for  about  four  years, 
when  he  traded  it  for  his  present  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Reedsburg 
township.  At  that  time  only  forty  acres  had 
been  cleared,  but  now  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty acres  are  under  excellent  cultivation  and 
supplied  with  first-class  buildings  and  all  the 
accessories  needed  by  the  progressive  farmer 
of  the  present  time.  He  makes  a  specialty  of 
the  raising  of  thoroughbred  Poland-China 
hogs  and  Durham  cattle,  and  in  his  under- 
taking is  meeting  with  marked  success. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1870,  Mr. 
Kreuger  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Minnie  Schroeder,  a  native  of  -Pomerania, 
Prussia,  who  came  to  America  in  1866  with 
her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick  Schroed- 
er, who  settled  on  a  farm  near  Wonewoc, 
Wisconsin.     Of  the  twelve  children  born  of 


this  union,  eleven  are  still  living,  namely : 
Laura,  now  Mrs.  Charles  Krohn,  of  Reeds- 
burg; Edward,  at  home;  Henry,  a  harness- 
maker,  of  Reedsburg;  William,  at  home; 
Herman,  a  tinner  of  Baraboo;  Ida,  a  milli- 
ner ;  Fred  and  Richard,  twins,  and  Bertha, 
who  are  all  three  employed  in  the  large  de- 
partment store  of  Stotte,  Dangel  &  Foss 
Company,  at  Reedsburg;  Gustave  and  Em- 
ma, at  home ;  and  Otto,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  months.  The  family  is  one  of  the 
highest  respectability  and  is  connected  with 
St.  Peter's  Lutheran  church  at  Reedsburg. 
Since  becoming  an  American  citizen  Mr. 
Kreuger  has  been  identified  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  was  a  member  of  the  town- 
ship board  of  supervisors    for    two    years. 


^IILES  H.  KEYSAR. 

The  deserved  reward  of  a  well-spent  life 
is  an  honored  retirement  from  business,  in 
which  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  former  toil. 
To-day,  after  a  useful  and  beneficial  career, 
Mr.  Keysar  is  cjuietly  living  at  his  beauti- 
ful home  in  the  suburbs  of  Prairie  du  Sac, 
Wisconsin,  surrounded  by  the  comfort  that 
earnest  labor  has  brought  him. 

He  was  born  in  Canterbury,  Merrimack 
county,  New  Hampshire,  April  13,  1823,  and 
is  the  only  survivor  in  a  family  of  twelve 
children,  whose  parents  were  Edmund  and 
Betsy  (Young)  Keysar,  life-long  residents 
of  the  old  Granite  state.  There  the  father 
followed  agricultural  pursuits  throughout 
his  business  career,  never  knowing  about  an 
abundance  of  far  better  farming  land  to  be 
had  elsewhere.  Our  subject  grew  to  man- 
hood on  the  old  homestead  and  early  became 
familiar  with  the  work  incident  to  such  a 
life.  He  attended  the  common  schools  and 
received  a  fair  education  which  was  later  sup- 
plemented by  a  course  of  instruction  at  an 


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MILES  H    KEYSAR. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


(i.U3 


academy  in  Colebrook,  Coos  county,  New 
Hampshire.  He  taught  scliool  for  two  terms, 
remaining  on  the  old  home  farm  until  twen- 
ty-five years  of  age. 

Leaving  New  Hampshire,  in  1848,  he 
came  t(.)  Wisconsin,  the  year  this  state  was 
admitted  to  the  Union,  seeking  a  location 
where  iiis  labors  would  be  more  effective 
and  advancement  more  cjuickly  secured.  He 
came  to  Prairie  du  Sac,  and  shortly  after- 
ward became  interested  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness. Later  he  turned  his  attention  to  gen- 
■crcil  nerchandising  and  erected  the  store 
building  now  occupied  by  Conger  Brothers. 
He  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business  for  a 
time  with  his  brother  Joseph,  and  subse- 
(juentlv  dealt  in  stock  and  grain,  owning 
and  c(jnducting  elevators.  A  man  of  intlus- 
trio\is  habits  and  excellent  judgment,  he  built 
up  a  large  trade  and  successfully  carried  it 
on  for  thirty  years,  becoming  one  of  the 
most  substantial  and  prosperous  citizens  of 
the  place.  As  a  public-spirited  and  progres- 
sive citizen  he  also  took  an  active  and  promi- 
nent part  in  the  upbuilding  and  prosperity  of 
liis  town  and  county.  As  there  was  no  rail- 
road here  until  1880  the  best  method  of 
transportation  was  a  serious  question,  but  he 
solved  the  problem  by  going  to  St.  Paul  and 
buying  a  steamboat,  of  which  he  was  the 
principal  owner,  and  which  plied  between 
I'rairie  du  Sac  and  Portage,  making  occa- 
sional trips  to  Green  Bay.  There  had  been 
many  attempts  made  to  secure  a  railroad  to 
this  place,  but  all  failed  until  he  finally  took 
firm  hold  of  the  matter  and  carried  it 
tlirough. 

In  1850,  at  Prairie  du  Sac,  Mr.  Keysar 
married  Miss  Barbara  Stevenson,  who  died 
three  and  a  half  years  later,  and  for  his  sec- 
ond wife  he  wedded  Miss  Stella  Lawrence, 
who  died  eighteen  and  a  half  years  later. 
Two  children,  Lawrence  and  Miles  H.,  born 
of  the  second  union,  are  now  deceased.  In 
1880  Mr.  Keysar  was  united  in  marriage 

32 


w  ith  Mrs.  Jennie  Lay,  a  lady  of  culture  and 
refinement,  and  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Betsey  (Mann)  Lyon.  About  tweh'e  years 
ago  Mr.  Keysar  built  his  present  delight- 
ful home  on  rising  ground  overlooking  the 
Wisconsin  ri\er.  It  is  a  most  attractive 
place,  and  one  of  the  finest  homes  in  the  vi- 
cinity, being  elegantly  furnished  and  sup- 
plied with  all  modern  conveniences.  This 
lovely  home  is  presided  over  with  gracious 
dignity  by  Mrs.  Keysar. 

In  his  political  views  our  subject  is  a 
pronounced  Democrat,  and  in  religious  faith 
k  a  Universalist.  While  he  has  ever  taken 
an  active  interest  in  public  affairs,  he  has  al- 
wavs  refused  office,  preferring  to  give  his  un- 
di\-ided  attention  to  his  business  interestS- 
For  o\er  a  half  century  he  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  I'rairie  du  Sac  and  has  therefore  wit- 
nessed its  entire  growth  and  development. 
In  its  progress  he  has  manifested  a  deep  in- 
terest and  has  ever  taken  his  part  in  support 
of  those  measures  calculated  to  prove  of  pub- 
lic good.  His  strict  integrity  and  honorable 
dealing  in  business  commended  him  to  the 
confidence  of  all,  and  he  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  honored  citizens  of  Prairie  du 
Sac.  A  portrait  of  this  estimable  gentle- 
man appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


HUBBARD  SCHOFF  WILLARD. 

Hubbard  Schoff  Willard,  an  extensive 
land  owner  and  general  farmer,  and  an  in- 
fluential citizen,  residing  in  Springvale 
township,  Adams  county,  is  a  native  of  St. 
Lawrence  county.  New  York,  and  was  born 
April  I,  1846,  the  son  of  Leander  and  Lucy 
Ann  (SchofT)  Willard. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native 
of  Vermont  and  was  born  in  1814,  of  Hol- 
land descent.  While  he  was  yet  a  boy  his 
father  died  and  as  he  was  the  eldest  of  his 


G04 


COMPISXDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


iviotlier's  family,  a  large  share  of  the  care  of 
the  famil}-  devolved  upon  him.  He  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  1864,  locating  in  Springvale 
township,  Adams  county,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  Xew  York, 
01  Holland  descent,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
hft3'-one  years.  They  were  the  parents  of 
nine  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy ; 
Alfred  enlisted  during  the  Civil  war  and 
died  in  the  service;  Hubbard  S.,  our  sub- 
ject; Emma  M.,  now  I\Irs.  Milo  Harris,  of 
Oxford,  \Msconsin;  Ann  Sophia,  now  ]\lrs. 
Robert  INIonteith,  of  Spring\-ille  township; 
Jeremiah  A.,  residing  in  Kilbourn,  \Ms- 
consin;  John  S.,  in  Springville  township; 
Jennie  A.,  now  Mrs.  C.  Palmer,  of  Han- 
cock, \A'aushara  county,  Wisconsin. 

H.  S.  Willard,  when  eighteen  years  of 
age,  came  to  ^V'isconsin  with  his  parents,  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty  engaged  in  farming 
at  White  Creek,  Adams  county.  He  has  re- 
sided on  his  present  farm  in  Springville 
township  since  1871,  and  has  erected  sub- 
srantial  buildings  and  made  many  impro\"e- 
ments,  which  render  the  place  desirable  for 
residence  as  well,  as  to  facilitate  the  work  in- 
cident to  farm  life.  His  land  comprises 
tlrree  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  aside 
from  general  farming  he  has  for  some  years 
past  raised  Percheron  Norman  horses,  and 
has  some  fine  specimens.  He  has  operated  a 
steam  threshing  machine  since  1878,  and 
formerly  ran  the  same  by  horse  power.  He 
owns  tracts  of  land  in  Springville  and  ad- 
jacent townships,  and  has  bought  and  sold 
more  or  less  real  estate  for  some  years  past 
in  different  localities  in  Adams  county. 

j\lr.  Willard  was  married  August  25, 
1866,  to  Margaret  Emmeline  Harris,  daugh- 
ter of  Ananias  and  Phcebe  (Brewer)  Har- 
ris. Mrs.  Willard  was  born  in  Springfield, 
Erie  county,  Pennsylvania.  One  child,  who 
died  in  infancy,  was  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Willard,  and  they  reared  two  adopted  chil- 


dren :  Henry  Wines,  now  in  Easton,  Adams 
county;  and  Ethel  Wines,  now  ^Mrs.  Ludkie, 
of  Xew  Lisbon,  Wisconsin.  ]\Ir.  ^\'illard  is 
a  member  of  Ouincy  Lodge,  Xo.  71,  A.  F. 
&  A.  M.,  at  Friendship,  and  also  the  White 
Creek  Camp,  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica. He  was  elected  sheriff  of  Adams  coun- 
ty in  1S80,  and  served  two  3'ears  in  that  ca- 
pacity. For  a  number  of  years  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  township  board  in  Springville 
township,  and  chairman  of  the  county  com- 
mittee for  some  years  past.  He  is  a  mem- 
Ijcr  of  the  jury  commission  for  Adams 
county,  and  in  all  of  the  offices  which  he  has 
filled  has  discharged  his  duties  faithfully  and 
well,  and  gained  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple. In  political  faith  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  has  stood  stanchly  for  the  principles  of 
his  party  throughout  his  career.  He  is  re- 
spected wherever  he  is  known  and  has  gained 
a  competence  by  the  exercise  of  industry, 
prudence  and  honest  dealings,  and  merits  his 
liard  earned  success. 


JOHX  STEWART   RICHMOXD. 

John  Stewart  Richmond  is  one  of  the 
oldest  residents  of  the  town  of  Caledonia, 
Columbia  county.  Wis.,  and  can  relate  many 
interesting  reminiscences  of  pioneer  days  in 
this  section  of  the  state  when  the  country 
was  all  wild  and  unimproved  and  when  wild 
game  of  all  kinds  was  found  in  abundance. 
He  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Sorn,  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland,  at  five  p.  m.,  June  10,  181 3, 
and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Jeannette  (W^al- 
lace)  Richmond,  natives  of  the  same  parish. 
The  father,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years,  spent  his  entire  life  upon  a  farm  of 
three  hundred  acres,  which  had  been  owned 
by  his  ancestors  for  several  generations,  and 
is  still,  in  possession  of  his  posterity.  The 
mother  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  and 
her  father,    James    \\'allace,    passed    away 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


605 


when  over  ninety  years  of  age.  He  was  a 
lineal  descendant  of  tlie  famous  Sir  William 
Wallace. 

Leaving"  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years,  J-ohn  S.  Richmond  came  to  America, 
crossing  the  Atlantic  from  Glasgow  to  Que- 
bec, Canada.  It  was  a  tempestuous  voyage 
which  lasted  eight  weeks,  during  which  time 
he  narrowly  escaped  being  shipwrecked. 
For  ten  years  he  engaged  in  farming  near 
Buckville,  Canada,  and  served  as  commis- 
sioner of  the  court  of  requests.  During  the 
Canadian  rebellion,  in  1836  and  1837,  he 
took  part  with  the  Revolutionists,  uniting 
with  the  volunteers  untler  the  famous  Gen. 
Alexander  McKenzie,  and  upon  the  disas- 
trous termination  of  the  conflict  his  property, 
amounting  to  $10,000,  was  confiscated,  and 
he  narrowly  escaped,  owing  his  life  to  the 
good  will  of  some  of  his  Royalist  friends. 
Crossing  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  he  spent 
two  years  in  Jefferson  county.  New  York, 
and  while  there  joined  others  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  British  vessel,  "Sir  Robert 
Peele,"  among  the  Thousand  Islands,  and 
for  his  participation  in  this  affair  he  was  ar- 
rested, but  was  released  after  spending  six 
months  in  jail.  During  his  incarceration 
he  studied  phrenology,  and  upon  his  release 
lectured  on  that  subject  for  several  years  in 
Canada,  where  he  was  well  received  and 
where  his  lectures  were  well  attended.  He 
then  made  a  trip  to  Scotland  and  spent  two 
3-ears  in  Ayr,  Sorn,  Paisley  and  other  places. 
In  1854  Mr.  Richmond  again  came  to 
the  new  world,  and  this  time  came  by  way 
of  the  lakes  to  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and 
thence  to  Eagle,  where  he  was  accidentally 
shot  by  a  comrade  while  hunting  prairie 
chickens.  Upon  his  recovering  he  came  to 
Columbia  county,  and  made  a  squatter's 
claim  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  9, 
township  II,  range  8,  and  the  next  year  en- 
tered the  same  at  the  United  States  land 
office  at  Mineral  Point.    To  pay  for  his  land 


he  had  to  borrow  two  hundred  dollars  at 
twehe  per  cent.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  spent  considerable  time  in  hunting,  kill- 
ing many  deer  and  much  other  game,  but  has 
principally  been  engaged  in -agricultural  pur- 
suits. He  helped  organize  and  name  Cale- 
donia township,  which  then  included  the 
present  town  of  Dekorra,  and  the  first  town 
meeting  was  held  in  the  village  of  Dekorra. 
He  has  preserved  the  poll  list  of  this  elec- 
tion, but  only  one  or  two  of  the  voters  be- 
sides himself  are  still  living  in  the  town. 
He  afterward  served  as  town  clerk  and 
chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors.  He 
cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Martin 
Van  Buren,  at  Watertown,  New  York,  in 
1840,  and  his  sympathies  have  always  been 
with  the  Democratic  party.  Fraternally  he 
luis  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  for 
more  than  half  a  century.  Notwithstand- 
ing that  he  is  now  eighty-seven  years  of  age, 
he  is  still  quite  vigorous  both  in  mind  and 
body,  and  he  is  a  man  highly  respected  and 
esteemed  by  all  who  know  him. 

While  on  a  visit  to  Scotland,  Mr.  Rich- 
mond was  married,  in  1830,  to  his  cousin, 
I\Iiss  Jane  Wallace,  also  a  native  of  the  par- 
ish of  Sorn.  She  first  came  to  America 
when  a  small  child  with  her  father,  James 
Wallace,  -who  died  in  Kaintuck,  near  Brock- 
\i\\t,  Canada.  She  died  in  Watertown,  New 
"^'ork,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  place  four  of 
the  six  children  born  to  our  subject  and  his 
wife  are  still  living,  namely:  Henry,  Will- 
iam, Mary  and  Sarah.  The  other  two  are 
deceased.  In  1834  Mr.  Richmond  was  mar- 
ried, in  Paisley,  Scotland,  to  Mary  Young, 
w  ho  died  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years,  leav- 
ing four  children :  Lovina,  deceased ;  Emma, 
a  resident  of  Chetek,  Wisconsin;  Lucy,  a 
resident  of  Missouri ;  and  Mrs.  Mary  Wil- 
son, of  Lodi,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Richmond 
v.'as  again  married,  in  1872,  his  third  wife 
being  Miss  Urilla  Fuller,  and  to  them  were 
born  four  children :    Louisa,  deceased ;  John, 


606 


COMPENDIUM    Of    BIOGRAPHY. 


who  is  living  on  the  home  farm  in  Caledonia 
township;  Jessie,  a  resident  of  Portage;  and 
Mrs.  Nettie  Krug,  also  of  Portage. 


SAMUEL  EMERY. 

Samuel  Emery,  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
\\'estfield  township,  Sauk  county,  was  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Wisconsin,  and 
from  the  wilderness  of  those  pioneer  days 
has  cleared  a  farm  which  ranlvs  among  the 
liest  in  the  locality.  He  experienced  the 
liardships  of  life  in  a  new  country,  and  after 
over  fifty  years  have  passed  can  recount  early 
experiences  which  seem  almost  incredible  to 
the  present  generation,  so  changed  in  every 
way  is  the  country  from  when  he  first  began 
h.is  duties  there.  Pie  now  makes  his  home 
on   section   2Q,    in    Westfield   township. 

Mr.  Emery  was  born  in  Bangor,  Frank- 
lin county,  New  York,  November  26,  1822, 
and  was  a  son  of  Eleazer  and  Philena 
(Wright)  Emery,  natives,  respectively,  of 
Windsor  and  Rockingham,  Vermont.  His 
grandfather,  Samuel  Emery,  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Deacon  Noah  Emery,  who  came  from 
England.  He  was  a  miller  by  trade  and 
owned  a  grist  mill  and  saw  mill  on  the  Will- 
iams river,  in  Vermont,  and  also  carding 
machine,  etc.  The  grandmother  of  our  sub- 
ject on  the  father's  side  was  of  Welsh  lin- 
eage, and  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Gowen. 
The  father  of  our  subject  learned  the  mil- 
ler's trade  and  also  shoemaking  in  "V^ermont, 
and  soon  afterward  went  to  Franklin  county, 
New  York,  and  later  lived  in  St.  Lawrence 
county,  where  he  operated  a  shoe  shop  and 
sawmill.  He  reached  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years,  and  the  mother  of  our  subject 
survived  him  several  years.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Moses  Wright,  a  farmer  in 
Vermont,  who  died  in  St.  Lawrence  county. 


New  York,  aged  over  eighty  years.  The 
maternal  great-grandfather  of  our  subject, 
Moses  Wright,  served  as  a  scout  in  the  Con- 
tinental army,  and  had  a  number  of  exciting 
adventures  and  skirmishes  with  Indians. 
The  Wright  family  was  of  English  origin. 

Our  subject  received  a  common  school 
education  in  his  native  place  and  in  1844 
came  to  Wisconsin  via  the  lakes,  Buffalo 
and  Milwaukee.  He  took  up  government 
land  in  Otsego  and  Fall  River  townships,  in 
Columbia  county,  and  lived  there  about  ten 
\ears.  He  disposed  of  his  interests  in  1850 
andremo\-ed  to  Sauk  county,  purchasing  land 
from  the  government  in  Westfield  township. 
He  walked  to  the  land  otfice  in  Green  Bay, 
one  hundred  miles,  to  enter  his  land  in  Otse- 
go townshii)  and  also  to  Milwaukee  to 
eriter  claim  to  the  land  in  Fall  River  town- 
ship. He  now  owns  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty acres  of  land  with  good  buildings  which 
he  has  erected,  and  his  farm  is  admirably 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  stock,  which  branch 
he  conducts  chiefly.  Li\-ing  springs  on  the 
farm  furnish  an  abundance  of  excellent  water 
fur  the  ilomestic  use  and  for  stock,  and  he 
is  breeding  short  horn  cattle  to  some  extent, 
also  sheep  and  other  stock. 

Mr.  Emery  enlisted  August  15,  1862,  in 
Company  F,  Twenty-third  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  was  discharged  June  29, 
1865.  He  spent  the  first  season  along  the 
Mississippi  river  and  in  Texas,  and  took  part 
in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  He  was  over- 
come by  the  heat  and  sent  to  the  hospital  boat 
on  the  Yazoo  river,  and  from  thence  to  Mem- 
phis. He  rejoined  his  regiment  at  New 
Iberia,  Louisiana,  in  November,  1863,  and 
was  later  in  the  hospital  at  New  Orleans, 
from  whence  he  was  transferred  to  the  in- 
valid corps  and  sent  to  Washington.  Dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  war  he  was  em- 
ployed on  guarding  the  plantations  in  Ver- 
ginia,  near  Washington,  which  the  govern- 
ment confiscated  on  account  of  the  owners 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


607 


having  joined  the  Confetlerate  army.  Tiie 
Confederate  general  Mosby,  \isited  the 
camp  as  a  teamster  while  Air.  Emery  was  on 
dnix,  l>nt  it  was  not  until  afterwartl  when  he 
saw  his  portrait  that  he  knew  who  the  gen- 
tral   was. 

Our  subject  was  married  April  25,  1852, 
to  Margaret  Baird,  daughter  of  William  A. 
and  Maria  (Van  Horn)  Baird,  natives  of 
Charlestown,  Montgomery  county,  New 
York,  the  former  of  Scotch  and  the  latter  of 
Dutch  lineage.  Mrs.  Emery's  father  came 
to  A\'isconsin  in  1852  and  resided  in  Colum- 
bia county  until  1854,  when  he  settled  in 
Westfield  township,  Sauk  county,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  Mr. 
Baird  was  a  cooper  by  trade  and  did  more 
or  less  at  his  trade  in  \Yisconsin.  Mrs. 
Emery's  mother  survived  him  until  1884, 
when  she  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine 
years.  Mrs.  Emery  was  born  in  Volney, 
Oswego  county,  New  York.  The  following 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Emery:  Lina  M.,  now  Mrs.  Benjamin  Sea- 
mans,  of  Dunjap,  Iowa;  Nelson  \\.,  who 
married  Nancy  Brown,  of  Franklin  town- 
ship; Martha  J.,  now  Mrs.  Hiram  Prouty, 
of  Bear  Creek  township;  Angie,  now  Mrs. 
Albert  Hines,  of  Janesville,  Wisconsin ; 
Mary,  now  Mrs.  W.  Tibbitts,  of  Reedsburg 
township;  Ella,  now  Mrs.  James  Taylor, 
of  Dunlap,  Iowa ;  George  M.  married  Sarah 
Schluter,  daughter  of  Henry  Schluter,  and 
resides  on  the  home  farm ;  Ida  May,  the  wife 
of  Charles  Gregory,  of  South  Haven,  Michi- 
gan. Four  of  the  children  have  been  teach- 
ers, and  George  and  Nelson  for  several  years 
have  operated  a  sorghum  mill.  Air.  Emery 
has  filled  many  of  the  offices  of  his  township, 
and  is  a  prominent  worker  for  his  commu- 
nity's interests.  He  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Republican  party  since  its  organization, 
and  voted  for  Zachary  Taylor  in"  1848, 
ai.  the  first  presidential  election  held  in  Wis- 
consin. 


HENRY  SEYMOUR  HOLDEN. 

Henry  Seymour  Ilolden,  an  honored 
\eteran  of  the  Civil  war,  and  for  many  years 
an  influential  citizen  of  Wisconsin,  is  now 
passing  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  Fairfield 
township,  Sauk  county.  He  was  born  in 
Kingville,  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  January 
13,  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  Ambrose  and  Sylvia 
(Dunton)  Hol.den,  both  native  to  the  soil 
of  Vermont.  Ambrose  Holden  came  of  a 
large  family  in  Vermont,  and  soon  after  the 
war  of  1812  removed  to  Ohio,  and  spent 
the  balance  of  his  days  in  Ashtabula  county, 
where  he  died  at  an  advanced  age.  He  was 
a  Whig  and  a  member  of  the  Alethodist 
church.  His  wife  was  left  an  orphan  in 
early  life,  and  was  adopted  by  Elijah  Dun- 
ton,  who  came  from  Vermont  into  Ohio, 
where  he  was  a  popular  hotel  keeper.  To 
Ambrose  Holden  were  born  thirteen  chil- 
dren, of  whom  only  one,  the  subject  of  this 
biographical   sketch,   located   in   Wisconsin. 

Hem-y  Seyinour  Holden  grew  to  inan- 
hood  on  what  was  then  the  frontier  line  of 
civilization  and  recei\'ed  but  a  limited  edu- 
cation. He  had  a  ready  mind  antl  a  quick 
perception,  and  close  study  of  the  great 
world  around  him  has  very  largely  supplied 
the  lack  of  schooling.  When  he  became  old 
enough  to  care  for  himself  he  was  set  to 
learn  the  trade  of  carriage  maker  at  Geneva, 
Ohio.  He  became  a  capable  workman,  and 
in  1850  came  west  to  Dundee,  Illinois,  where 
he  worked  at  his  trade,  and  conducted  a 
wagon  shop  for  some  years.  He  enlisted  in 
the  Federal  army  September  11,  i86i,  and 
became  a  member  of  Company  I,  Fifty- 
second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  He 
spent  three  years  in  active  service,  and  was 
discharged  at  Rome,  Georgia,  October  24, 
1864.  He  had  an  extensive  and  varied  ex- 
perience as  a  soldier,  and  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  Rosecrans,  Grant  and  Sherman 
while  they  had  command  of  the  Army  of 


608 


COMPENDIUM  ^OF    BIOGRAPHY 


Tennessee,  in  which  his  mihtary  service  was 
very  largely  contained.  He  passed  through 
some  of  the  bloodiest  scenes  of  the  war.  At 
Shiloh  o\'er  one-third  of  his  regiment  was 
killed  or  wounded,  and  at  Corinth  he  was 
under  tire  for  two  days.  At  that  point  he  was 
detailed  to  duty  in  the  government  wagon 
shops,  and  was  kept  at  this  work  until  May, 
1864,  when  he  rejoined  his  regiment,  at 
Kingston.  Georgia,  and  continued  on  active 
duty  until  after  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  taking 
part  in  many  serious  engagements,  escaping 
without  a  wound,  though  often  exposed  to 
danger  on  the  firing  line. 

After  ^Ir.  Holden  had  returned  from  the 
war  he  came  to  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  and  fol- 
lowed his  business,  wagon-making,  in  that 
thriving  city.  He  bought  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  the  town  of  Fair- 
field, soon  after  coming  into  the  state,  which 
constitutes  his  present  home.  This  land  he 
has  converted  into  a  very  choice  estate.  It 
is  provided  with  ample  and  commodious 
buildings,  and  has  every  facility  for  farm- 
ing operations  that  the  times  require.  In  re- 
cent years  he  has  rented  the  farm,  though 
still  continuing  to  make  it  his  home.  He 
was  married,  October  10,  1847,  to  Eliza- 
beth Cowles  at  Geneva,  Ohio,  where  she  was 
born  and  reared.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Alpheus  and  Polly  Cowles,  and  died  June 
30,  1 89 1,  when  over  sixty-nine  years  old. 
Her  father  was  a  veteran  of  the  war  of 
1812.  He  came  to  \\'isconsin  and  died  in 
Fairfield  township  wlien  ninety  years  of 
age.  He  was  an  acti\e  and  energetic  man, 
of  rugged  honesty.  He  was  a  strong  Abo- 
litionist, and  an  earnest  and  pushing  char- 
acter. In  early  life  he  studied  for  the  Pres- 
b\'terian  ministry,  but  became  a  Free 
Thinker  and  gave  up  all  thoughts  of  tlie 
pulpit  as  a  place  for  him.  Air.  and  Mrs 
Holden  were  the  jiarents  of  five  children : 
Sylvia  M.  was  born  March  9,  1849,  mar- 
ried Miles  Duston,  and  d'ed  May  iS,   1871  : 


Jane  Annie,  born  January  31,  1852,  married 
T.  H.  W'arne.  antl  died  April  14,  1895  !  Fran- 
ces L.,  born  May  31,  1855,  died  September  4, 
1859;  Ruby  R.,  born  April  25,  1857,  mar- 
ried George  Clark,  and  died  October  2, 
1880;  Harriet  K.,  born  May  21,  i860,  mar- 
ried Fred  Milner,  and  has  her  home  in  the 
town  of  Baraboo.  Mr.  Holden  has  twelve 
living  grandchildren  and  eight  great-grand- 
children. He  has  always  been  a  Republican 
since  the  formation  of  the  party.  He  voted 
for  Taylor  in  1848,  and,  though  not  a  pol- 
itician, has  filled  from  time  to  time  various 
local  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility. 
Throughout  his  entire  life  he  has  held  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  all  wdio  knew  him 
and  well  deserves  the  peace  and  comfort  that 
crown  his  last  davs. 


A.   E.   HECOCKS. 

A.  E.  Hecocks,  wdio  has  spent  his  entire 
life  in  Adams  county,  has  been  actively  iden- 
tified with  its  agricultural  interests.  He  was 
born  at  Davis  Corners,  Adams  county,  De- 
cember 25,  1852,  and  is  the  oldest  son  of 
Ephraim  and  Lucinda  (Campbell)  Hecocks, 
natix'es  of  New  York  State  and  honored  pio- 
neers of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  having 
located  here  in  1847  among  the  first  settlers. 
The  father  took  up  a  squatter's  claim  near 
Davis  Corners,  in  Jackson  township,  and  in 
early  days  worked  on  the  government  sur\-ey 
in  this  locality,  being  connected  with  the 
laying  out  of  all  the  roads  in  his  \-icinity. 
He  also  helped  organize  townships  and 
school  districts,  and  in  many  ways  was  prom- 
inently identified  with  the  development  and 
improvement  of  Adams  county.  Being  a  car- 
penter by  trade,  he  erected  the  first  house  in 
Dell  Prairie  township,  on  the  farm  now 
owned  l)y  Jackson  Bagley.  He  had  an  ex- 
tended    acquaintance     throughout     several 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


009 


counties,  was  high!_\-  esteemed  l)y  all  who 
knew  him,  and  most  creditably  filled  nearly 
every  office  in  his  township.  After  an  honor- 
able and  useful  life  he  died  at  Davis  Corners 
June  19,  1877,  and  was  buried  there. 

Alonzo  E.  Hecocks,  the  subject  of  this 
review,  received  such  an  education  as  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  the  county  afforded  during 
his  boyhood.  He  assisted  his  father  in  clear- 
ing and  impro\-ing  the  home  farm  and  re- 
mained under  the  parental  roof  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  when  he  began  farming 
iiV.  his  own  account.  In  his  labors  he  met 
viith  well-merited  success,  and  at  the  end  of 
three  years  came  into  possession  of  the  old 
homestead,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  under  excellent  cultivation,  and 
here  he  has  since  carried  on  diversified  farm- 
ing with  marked  success. 

On  the  1 8th  of  December.  1874,  2slr. 
Hecocks  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Rozena  \'.  Foat,  who  was  born  in  Racine 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  March,  1853.  Her 
parents,  Stephen  D.  and  Lois  (Clark)  Foat, 
were  also  pioneers  of  Jackson  township, 
Adams  county,  having  located  at  Davis 
Corners  in  18^7.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  England  and  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  when  a  small  boy.  He  became  one 
of  the  leading  and  prosperous  farmers  of 
Adams  county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hecocks 
were  born  fi\'e  chiklren,  namely:  Clarence, 
who  is  married  and  resides  in  Adams  coun- 
ty-; Tressie,  wife  of  Fred  Bowers,  a  promi- 
nent young  farmer  of  Jackson  township; 
Effie,  who  has  prepared  herself  for  teaching 
in  the  high  schools  of  Kilbourn  City  and 
A\'estfield,  Wisconsin;  and  Dorcy  and  Arch- 
ie, both  at  home. 

Since  attaining  his  majority  Mr.  Hecocks 
has  affiliated  with  the  Republican  party,  and 
has  taken  quite  an  active  and  prominent  part 
in  local  ]3olitics,  filling  various  township  of- 
fices with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  the  general  public.     He  was 


one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Farmers'  Alli- 
ance of  Adams  county  and  was  chosen  its 
first  president,  which  position  he  filled  for 
several  years,  managing  its  affairs  with 
wonderful  discrinfination  and  ability.  He 
lias  manifestetl  his  interest  in  educational  af- 
fairs by  efficientl}'  ser\ing  as  a  school  officer 
for  twenty-five  years,  and  is  responsible  for 
nianv  impro\-ements  made  in  the  schools. 
When  the  ci  i-(i])erati\e  cheese  factory  was 
established,  he  became  a  stockhnlder  in  the 
company  and  was  chosen  an  officer.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  he  has  been  prominently 
identified  with  many  worthy  enterprises,  and 
he  is  therefore  justly  numbered  among  the 
most  progressi\-e  and  useful  citizens  of  the 
community.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Home 
Forum,  and  is  lieUl  in  high  regard  by  all 
who  kiiLiw  him  on  account  of  his  sterling 
worth. 


JOHN  CHESTER  JARVIS. 

John  Chester  Jar\-is  is  a  successful  and 
ii'.fluential  farmer  of  Pacific  township,  Co- 
lumbia county,  where  he  is  now  at  the  \-ery 
prime  of  his  powers,  and  commands  the  re- 
spect and  regard  of  all  who  know  him.  He 
was  born  at  Terry,  Lincolnshire,  England, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Hannah  (Ches- 
ter) Jarvis,  both  natives  of  Terry,  They 
came  to  the  L'nited  States  a  few  weeks  after 
the  birth  of  the  subject  of  this  article.  In 
England  William  Jarvis  was  employed  as 
a  groom  on  an  estate  for  a  number  of  years. 
Later  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  Upon 
coming  to  America  he  was  six  weeks  on  the 
ocean.  He  landed  at  New  York  and  came 
by  the  great  lakes  to  Milwaukee.  There  he 
hired  teams  to  take  his  goods  and  family  to 
Fox  Lake,  and  when  he  reached  his  des- 
tination he  had  but  five  English  so\ereigns. 
Four  years  later  he  bought  wild  land  in  the 
town  of  Scott.  Cohunbia  countw      This  he 


610 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


cleared  and  thoroughly  improved,  and  now 
owns  as  handsome  a  quarter  section  as  is  to 
be  found  in  this  part  of  the  state.  He  is  now 
about  seventy-eig'ht,  and  his  wife  seventy- 
six.  His  mother,  Elizabeth  Jarvis,  came 
to  C(jlumbia  count^■,  and  died  Januar}-  24, 
1874,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  The  fa- 
ther of  Mrs.  William  Jarvis,  John  Chester, 
was  the  owner  of  several  vessels  engaged 
in  the  coasting  trade  in  England,  and  was 
a  man  of  more  than  the  usual  ability.  Air. 
and  Mrs.  Jarvis  had  four  daughters  and  two 
sons,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  John  C,  the 
subject  of  this  writing.  Elizabeth  married 
a  Mr.  Flanders,  and  is  now  dead.  George 
lives  in  the  town  of  Scott,  and  Sarah,  who 
is  Mrs.  Hiram  Horner,  of  Cedar  Falls,  \\'is- 
consin.  Emma  married  Alliert  Hewitt  and 
is  now  dead.  Charlotte,  who  is  dead.  There 
have  been  born  ten  grandchildren,  of  whom 
nine  are  now  alive,  and  one  great-grand- 
child. 

Jolm  C.  Jarvis  lias  lived  in  Columbia 
county  from  early  boyhood.  He  attended 
district  school  and  availed  himself  of  such 
educational  advantages  as  the  times  afforded. 
At  twenty-two  he  was  a  farm  hand,  and  the 
ne.\t  year  he  rented  a  jjlace  for  himself.  In 
the  spring  of  1876  he  removed  to  his  present 
farm  in  the  town  of  Pacific.  Here  he  bought 
forty  acres  of  wild  land.  He  cleared  the 
ground  and  built  a  small  house  and  barn. 
From  time  to  time  he  has  added  to,  his  farm- 
ing land  until  he  now  owns  a  fine  place  of 
two  hundred  acres.  It  is  highlv  improved. 
He  follows  mixed  farming,  and  has  some 
fine  grade  li\-e-stock  on  the  place. 

Air.  Jarvis  was  married,  October  30, 
1S73,  to  Alary,  daughter  of  Chauncey  F. 
and  Alma  (Barker)  Roberts.  A  sketch  of 
her  father  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
Mrs.  Jarvis  was  born  in  the  town  of  Scott, 
and  is  the  mother  of  four  daughters :  Su- 
san, who  is  Mrs.  Frank  Whittingham,  of 
Pardeeville,  and  has  one  boy,  Chester;  Isa, 


Mrs.  Chester  Yunker,  who  is  living  at  Oak- 
k.nd,  California;  Mary,  a  teacher  in  the 
public  schools,  and  Alma,  who  is  at  home. 
Both  Isa  and  Mary  have  had  an  extensive 
and  creditable  experience  as  teachers.  Alma 
is  still  attending  school.  The  parents  have 
given  much  attention  and  care  to  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children,  and  an  air  of  culture 
and  refinement  pervades  the  home.  Mr. 
Jarvis  has  been  a  lifelong  Republican.  He 
has  filled  some  of  the  township  offices,  but 
usually  declines  to  serve.  Farming  is  his 
business,  and  he  does  not  propose  to  turn 
aside  from  his  life  work  for  any  slight  con- 
siderations. For  fourteen  years  Mr.  Jarvis 
owned  and  conducted  a  threshing  machine. 
He  is  one  of  the  well-known  men  of  Co- 
lumljia   countv. 


ARTHUR  AAIASA  PORTER. 

A  reputation  for  enterprise  of  the  right 
sort  is  a  mighty  help  towards  success,  and  it 
is  this  kind  of  a  reputation  which  makes 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  among  the  most 
prominent  young  men  of  Columbia  county. 

.Vrthur  Amasa  Porter,  son  of  John  Lor- 
enzo anil  Ann  Eliza  (Boies)  Porter,  was 
born  at  Pacific,  Columbia  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, on  the  north  one-half  of  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  22i,  township  12,  range  9,  July 
15,  1857,  where  his  boyhood  days  were  spent. 
Upon  reaching  his  majority  he  taught  school 
in  different  parts  of  his  native  county  for 
about  twelve  years,  until  1889,  when  he  was 
commissioned  postmaster  at  the  office  at  Pa- 
cific, which  position  he  held  till  he  was 
elected  register  of  deeds  for  Columbia  coun- 
ty in  1894,  and  re-elected  in  1896.  During 
this  time  he  made  a  complete  abstract  of 
titles  of  Columbia  county,  which  are  now 
Ins  personal  property,  and  which,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  real  estate,  furnishes  him  a  \ery 
lucrative  business. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


613 


In  the  fall  1898  the  Republican  party 
of  his  county  showed  their  appreciation  of 
his  ability  and  tact  by  electing  him  chairman 
of  the  county  committee,  and  re-electing  him 
in  1900,  which  position  he  still  fills  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  his  part}-.  In  the 
spring  of  1900  he  was  elected  ;i  delegate  ti.i 
the  Republican  national  convention  lield  at 
Philadelphia  June  19,  1900,  from  the  Second 
congressional  district  of  Wisconsin. 

He  was  married  April  23,  1883  to  Mary 
A.  Rhynesmith,  daughter  of  John  L.  and 
Elmyra  (Harvey)  Rhynesmith,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Charles  Ryhnesmith,  and  great- 
granddaughter  of  John  Rhynesmith,  of  "Bin- 
gen  on  the  Rhine."  She  was  also  grand- 
daughter 'if  Francis  Marzale  on  her  mother's 
side.  Two  chiklren  are  the  result  of  this 
marriage;  Hazel  E.,  born  ]\[ay  13,  1889,  and 
Glad}-s  Marion,  born  May   11,   1894. 

"Sir.  Porter  is  now  living  in  the  city  of 
P'ortage.  and  though  he  began  life  as  a  poor 
boy,  hewing  out  his  own  way,  he  is  now  in 
comfortable  circumstances,  and  still  owns 
his  interest  in  the  farm  which  his  father 
bought  when  he  first  came  to  Wisconsin. 
His  father,  John  Lorenz^i  Porter,  son  of 
Amasa  Porter,  was  born  in  Seneca  county, 
New  York,  September  14,  i8j8,  and  came  to 
Pacific,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  from 
Erie  county.  New  ^'ork,  in  the  year  1856. 
He  married  Artemesia  Bates,  Xo\ember  i, 

1849,  who  died  in  Xuxember,  1850,  leaving 
one  son,  Dewitt  D.,  who  was  born  July  20, 

1850,  and  now  lives  in  Portage,  having  mar- 
ried Sarah  Merwin,  and  has  three  children : 
Yinnie,  Mamie  and  Frank.  I\Ia\'  12,  1854,  he 
married  Ann  Eliza  Boies,  who  was  born 
October  i,  1826,  in  Erie  county.  New  York; 
she  was  the  daughter  of  Warren  Boies,  who 
was  born  October  27,  1728,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 16,  1839,  and  Polly  Patterson, 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Rebecca  (Gibbs) 
Patterson,  who  was  a  direct  descendant  of 
Israel  Gibbs,  of  Lenharn,  Yorkshire,  Eng- 


land. By  this  second  marriage  there  were 
three  children :  Arthur  Amasa,  the  subject 
ci  this  sketch;  Leslie  Lewellyn,  born  June 
20,  1859,  living  at  Oregon  City,  Oregon, 
married  Ora  Spangler  in  September,  1899; 
and  Frank  Flint,  born  October  31,  1862,  liv- 
ing at  Denver,  Colorado,  and  married  to 
Alma  Peterson,  having  one  child,  Doris  E. 

John  Lorenzo  Porter  was  among  the  old 
and  most  prominent  citizens  of  Columbia 
county,  having  settled  on  the  large  farm  in 
the  town  of  Pacific,  section  26,  north  one-half 
north-east  one-quarter  and  part  of  section 
23,  township  12,  range  9,  which  was  his 
home  until  1889,  and  where  his  three  young- 
est children  were  born,  when  he  moved  to 
Portage  to  spenil  his  days  in  well  earned 
ease. 

In  1873  Mr.  Porter  was  elected  to  the 
Wisconsin  legislature;  he  was  an  ardent 
Republican  and  a  forcible  speaker,  and  at 
once  took  a  leading  position  among  the 
members  of  that  body,  being  a  man  of  strong- 
convictions,  of  more  than  ordinary  intelli- 
gence and  breadth  of  information,  an  om- 
niverous  reader,  well  thought  of  by  his 
neighbors  and  a  useful,  upright  citizen.  He 
died  at  Portage,  Wisconsin,  June  16,  1897, 
and  is  "at  rest"  in  Pacific  cemetery,  and  lies 
side  by  side  with  his  father  and  mother  and 
many  other  relatives  who  were  buried  there 
years  ago. 

Amasa  Porter,  grandfather  of  Arthur 
Amasa  Porter,  was  born  March  12,  1804, 
and  died  at  Pacific.  Wisconsin,  April  13, 
1872.  He  married  Eliza  \\'eatherlo  May 
18,  1826.  She  was  born  October  19,  1802, 
and  died  January  2^.  1873.  Their  family 
consisted  of  seven  children,  viz. ;  Samuel 
W.,  born  ]\Iarch  19,  J 827,  died  December 
6,  1889.  He  was  married  to  Eunice  Calk- 
ins, having  two  children  who  died  in  in- 
fancv:  John  Lorenzo,  the  father  of  the  .sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Jacob  \\'ilbur.  born  Sep- 
tember I,  1830,  married  Martha  Calkins  and 


614 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


liad  eiglit  cliildren :  Adora  EUer,  Adilla 
Flower,  Stella  Cumniings,  Anna  Wrighton, 
Eugenia  Fairbanks,  (irace  Lo\ e  and  Mark ; 
Erastus  Alexander,  horn  August  21,  1834, 
married  Maria  Bump,  and  has  four  chil- 
dren, Orlo,  Almon,  William  and  Lida  Jones; 
Sarah,  born  March  29,  1837,  married  Ben- 
amin  F.  Bull,  they  having  five  children,  Guy, 
Milton,  Lorenzo,  Frank  and  Zella ;  Mina, 
born  No\-ember  3.  1838,  married  Peter 
Drake,  and  has  four  children,  Earl,  Carl, 
Mark  and  Kitt)' ;  Lavina  and  Schuyler  died 
immarried. 

Eliza  W'eatherlo's  father.  Samuel  \\'eath- 
erlo,  was  born  January  31,  1776,  and  died 
February  18,  1862.  He  married  Lavina 
Daly  in  1798.  She  was  born  August  16, 
1784,  and  died  July  16,  1855. 

Alexander  Porter,  a  great-grandfather  of 
Arthur  Amasa,  grandfather  of  John  Loren- 
zo, the  father  of  Amasa,  was  born  December 
16  (or  14).  1756,  at  Hebron,  Cortnecticut, 
and  died  at  Freedom.  New  York,  and  he  was 
the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Porter.  He  en- 
listed June  II,  1775,  in  the  Sixth  Company, 
"Champions,"  Eighth  Regiment,  command- 
ed by  Abijah  Rowell.  April  28,  1783,  he 
married  Zurviah  Phelps,  who  was  born  April 
24,  1762,  and  died  December  12.  1841.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Silvanus  and  Zurviah 
(Sweetland)  Phelps,  who  were  married  July 
16,  1755- 

Alexander  Porter  had  eight  children : 
Lucina,  Polly,  Hannah.  Alexander.  Are- 
thusia,  Saphronia,  Emcle  and  .\masa. 
Polly  married  Calvin  \\'.  IMoffett,  who 
had  nine  children,  Edwin,  Lucina,  Ada- 
line,  Louisa  Sager,  Orlando,  Erastus,  Chaun- 
cey,  Calvin  W.  and  Amanda  Sturtevant,  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  Hannah,  born  May  2, 
1790,  died  April  9,  1878.  She  was  mar- 
ried to  Eli  Hyde  and  had  nine  children : 
Abijah.  born  April  15.  1810,  married  Eunice 
Green  and  had  *\\q  children.  J(_)hn  II.  and 
Clark ;  Reuben ;  Eliza,  married  October  28, 


1836,  to  James  Chalker;  Alniina;  Xelson ; 
Silvester,  born  May  i.  1820;  Julius,  b(irn 
March  ly.  1822;  Laura;  Harriet,  born  De- 
cember 21,  1827,  married  to  Francis  C. 
Heath  June  20,  i8=;7;  Alexander,  Jr.,  set- 
tled in  northern  Pennsylvania,  had  a  number 
of  children,  one  being  Dr.  Abel  Porter ;  Are- 
thusa,  born  October  4.  1796,  died  March  18, 
1864,  was  married  in  October,  18 17,  to  Lu- 
ther Battles  and  had  ten  children :  Zurviah, 
born  December  18,  181 8,  married  James 
E.  Keyt ;  Edwin  D.,  born  July  22.  1820; 
Mary;  Sarah,  born  December  25,  1823,  mar- 
ried John  Presby ;  Luthen,  born  September 
29,  1826;  Newton,  born  May  10,  1828; 
Henry  D.,  born  October  i,  1836:  John  T., 
born  November  14,  1839;  Sophronia  mar- 
ried Nathan  Corwin  and  had  five  children : 
Harvey,  Mary  J.  Lingenfelter,  Angeline 
Haws,  Charles  Corwin  and  Juliette;  Emele 
Applebee  (Keokuk,  Iowa)  and  Amasa. 

Arthur  A.  Porter's  ancestors,  as  far  back 
as  we  can  trace  them  at  present,  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

John  Porter,  born  in  England,  went  to 
Dorchester.  Massachusetts,  in  1630,  and  to 
Windsor,  Conneoticut,  about  1639;  married' 

Rose .  He  died  at  W' indsor,  April  22, 

1848,  and  she  died  at  Windsor,  July  — , 
1647. 

John  Porter,  born  in  England,  1620.  first 
child  of  above  (came  to  this  country  in  ship 
"Planter").  Married  Mary  Stanley.  1650. 
She  \\'as  daughter  of  Thomas  Stanley,  from 
England,  1635,  thence  to  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut, 1636,  thence  to  Hadley,  Massachu- 
setts. He  died  at  Windsor,  August  2,  1688, 
and  she  died  at  Windsor  September  13, 
1688. 

John  Porter,  born  January  3,  1651.  first 
child  of  above,  mafried.  December  16,  1669, 
to  Joanna  Gaylord,  daughter  of  Walter 
Gaylord  and  Mary  Stebbins.  Walter  Gay- 
'lord  was  son  of  William  Ga}-l<n'd.  Windsur, 
1 637- 1 673.      Mary  Stebbins  was  daughter 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


615 


of  Edward  Stebbins,  Hartford,  1639-1650. 
jdlin  TorttT  died  January  4.  i')')').  and  his 
wife  died  in  171 6. 

David  Porter,  born  Oetuber  10,  1685, 
i'.rst  ehild  of  above,  married, Januar3'3, 1707, 
Anna  Phelps,  daughter  of  Captain  Tim 
Phelps,  son  of  William  Phelps,  from  Eng- 
land to  Dorchester,  1634,  and  Mary  Gris- 
wold,  daughter  of  Edward  Griswold,  from 
Kenilworth,  England,  to  Windsor,  Connect- 
icut.    David   Porter  died  ,   and  his 

wife  died  at  Hebron,  January  24,  1767. 

John  Porter,  born  September  18,  17 14, 
fourth  child  of  above,  married,  June  2;^. 
1738,  to  Sarah  Mack,  probably  daughter  of 
Elisha  ^lack,  son  of  Josiah  Mack,  from 
Scotland,  originally,  to  Lyme,  Connecticut, 
and  Mary  Ellis,  daughter  of  John  Ellis, 
Sandwich,  Massachusetts.  John  Porter  died 
October  3,   1762. 

Alexander  Porter,  born  in  Hebron,  De- 
cember 14  or  16,  1756,  seventh  child  of 
above,  was  married,  April  28,  1783,  to  Zur- 
viah  Phelps.  He  has  three  brothers  and  four 
sisters:  John,  born  February  10,  1741  or 
1742,  died  October  3,  1762;  Daniel,  born 
June  21,  1744:  Lydia,  born  March  16,  1747; 
I\Iary  (or  Margary),  born  May  31,  1749: 
Joel,  born  January  28,  175 1  i:)r  1752;  and 
Ann,  Lebanon,  Connecticut. 

Arthur  Amasa  Porter's  mother,  being  a 
Boies,  w'as  of  French  descent.  The  name 
Boies  was  originally  Du  Boies  and  their 
progenitors  came  from  France  and  were 
Huguenots.  During  the  persecutions  of  the 
Protestants  from  Charles  IX  (1560)  to 
Louis  Xni  (  1610-1643),  when  the  Jr'rotest- 
ant  power  was  crushed  Ijy  the  influence  of 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  then  the  [wwer  behind 
the  throne,  they  fled  to  Scotland  and  took 
the  name  of  Boies.  During  the  protectorate 
oi  Oliver  Cromwell,  they  went  to  L-eland  and 
afterward  emigrated  to  America.  Deacon 
David  Boies  came  to  America  about   1727, 


settling  at  Plopkinton,  and  removed  to  Blan- 
fiird,  Massachusetts,  and  died  in  1752,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three;  he  was  the  father  of 
William  Boies  and  grandfather  of  Joel  Boies 
(No.  I ).  There  were  four  Boies  brothers — 
Elias,  David,  William  and  Joel ;  Joel  (No.  i ) 
married  Betsey  Blair;  he  died  March  28, 
1809,  aged  fifty-four;  his  wife  died  Febru- 
ary 16,  1854,  aged  ninety-two.  They  had 
nine  children:  Nancy  died  October  8,  1799, 
aged  fifteen;  Charlotte  died  July  29,  181 5, 
aged  thirty-two;  Warren  died  September 
16,  1838,  aged  fifty-three;  Joel  died  Febru- 
ary 16,  1845,  aged  sixty-two;  Wilder  died 
October  4,  1850,  aged  fifty-six;  Jarvis;  Eber 
died  March  8,  1873,  aged  seventy-eight; 
\Villiam  died  March  14,  1885,  aged  eighty- 
four  ;  and  Watson. 

Warren  Boies  had  seven  children :  Char- 
lotte, born  August  4,  1815,  married  M.  C. 
Woodworth,  September  8,  1840,  and  died 
April  5,  1893;  their  children  being,  Albert, 
Frank,  Lida,  Lucy  and  Loving  Winans ; 
Hilton  Warren,  born  December  14,  1817, 
married  Evelyn  Rockwell  April  16.  1851, 
died  December,  1876;  Nancy,  born  Decem- 
ber I,  1 8 19,  married  John  W.  Palmer  Feb- 
ruary I,  1844,  died  in  1897;  her  children 
are,  Alzina  Curtis,  Ralph  L.,  Mary  E.  Teeter, 
Warren  J.,  Laura  and  Estella;  Lorens,  born 
June  17,  1 82 1,  died  February  12,  1846; 
James  J.,  born  September  22,  1824,  mar- 
ried Lucy  Stockwell  November  15,  1853, 
h.ad  two  children,  Mollie  and  Lucy ;  Eliza 
Ann,  born  October  i,  1826,  married  John 
L.  Porter;  Antoinette,  born  April  29,  1832. 
Warren  Boies,  born  October  2~,  1788,  died 
September  16,  1839,  married  Polly  Patter- 
son, I^eljruary  20,  1S12,  wln)  w;is  Ixirn  June 
29,  1789,  and  died  January  3,  1853. 

Mr.  Porter  has  just  reason  to  feel  proutl 
of  his  long  line  of  ancestry.  Socially  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and 
has  attained  the  thirty-second  degree  in  that 


616 


COMPENDIUM   OF  BIOGRAPHY. 


:  aiKl  noWe  r/rrler,    A  pr/rtrait  of  this 
•Jal  dtizen  apfiears  elsewhere  in  this 


ARTHUR  H,  3fASO\,  Deceased, 

Arthur  H-  Mason,  deceaserl,  was  one  of 
the  most  amWtious,  enterprising  ami  indus- 
trious men  of  Gig  Spring,  W'isc^/nsin,  as  well 
as  (^jfle  of  its  highly  respecter!  and  honored 
citizens.  His  influence  was  always  found 
on  the  side  of  right,  and  he  cheerfully  gave 
his  suppr>rt  to  every  enterprise  calculaitefl  to 
a/lvance  the  m</ral  f/r  material  welfare  of  his 
town  and  countv, 

3fr,  Mason  was  born  in  Pacific,  OoJutn- 
bia  county,  Wisconsin,  March  8,  1861,  a  sr/n 
of  Hiram  ff,  ami  Emeline  (Bump;  Mason, 
of  viht/m  further  mtntu/n  is  marie  on  an- 
other page  of  this  volume.  He  was  e^lucated 
in  the  common  schools  of  >\dams  county, 
Wisconsin,  ami  worked  for  his  father  tmtil 
sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  bought  his 
time  and  starter!  out  to  make  his  own  way 
in  the  world,  following  various  occupations 
until  after  his  marriage, 

On  the  19th  of  May,  18S7,  Mr.  Mason 
i  Miss  Mina  L.  Clark,  who  was  tiorn 
-  r  25,  1865,  in  Hammond,  Pennsyl 
vania.  of  which  state  her  parents,  Lewis  C. 
and  Harriet  (iWf^ty)  Clark,  were  also  na- 
tives. Fr/r  generations  her  ancestors  have 
ioMovr&l  the  occupation  of  farming.  Her 
parents  were  married  in  1864,  and  in  1870 
they  remwed,  with  tlieir  family,  to  Wis- 
consin, locating  first  in  Portage  and  later 
making  their  home  in  Black  River  Falls  and 
rvj'arshfield.  In  this  state  the  father  engagcl 
in  lumljering.  Mrs,  Mason  was  e^Iucated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Portage  and  at  the  age 
01  nineteen  commenced  learning  the  dress- 
maker's trade,  in  which  she  became  very 
profident  and  which  she  followed  for  three 
y<-^ri  V-rV-r^  b»rr  marriage.     To  our  sub- 


ject and  his  wife  were  liorn  three  children; 
Elugene  A.,  born  Augtist  2,  1888;  L.ana  E., 
bom  July  7,  1894;  and  Hiram  L.,  bom  July 
22,  1896. 

After  his  marriage,  in  1887,  Mr.  Mason 
located  in  West  Superior,  Wisconsin,  where 
be  marie  claim  of  one  humlre^!  am!  sixty 
acres  of  land  am!  lived  thereon  for  so'eral 
years,  but  finally  lost  it  through  railroad 
litigation,  which  was  a  sad  Mow  to  his  busi- 
ness prospects  for  a  time.  He  then  renKrt-ed 
to  the  Phillips  farm  in  Big  Spring,  Arjams 
county,  where  be  successfully  engaged  in  ag- 
ricultural pursuits  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred July  7,  1898.  In  (894  he  and  his 
wife  had  uniter!  with  the  MetfKxlist  Episco^ 
pal  church,  am!  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  serving  as  trastee  of  the  church  and 
superintendent  of  the  Sunrlay  school-  He 
was  instrtunental  in  organizing  the  Good 
1  etnplars  Irjdge  at  Big  Spring,  took  an  act- 
ive part  in  carrying  forward  the  wrjrk,  and 
was  the  worthy  chief  templar  rjf  the  lodge. 
He  also  held  offices  in  the  Modern  Woodmen 
camp,  of  which  he  was  a  prominent  member, 
ami  was  a  Republican  in  politics.'  He  was 
greatly  attached  to  his  family  and  found 
his  greatest  enjoyment  in  the  home  drcle. 
He  was  public-spirited  and  progressive,  and 
in  his  death  the  aimmamty  rtahztA  that  it 
harl  lost  a  valuer!  dtizen. 

Mrs.  Mason  has  since  purchaser!  a  gorxJ 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  kmjwn  as  the  Braley 
farm,  which  is  improver!  with  grxx!  Imild- 
ings,  ami  which  slie  successfully  operates- 
She  is  a  mrjst  estimaljle  lad}-,  and,  like  Iter 
husband,  makes  many  friends. 


WILLIAM    CHRISTOPHER    MEYER. 

William  Christr^jher  Mej'er,  a  prc»sper- 
ous  and  intelligent  agriculturist  of  Reeds- 
burg,  Sauk  county,  Wiscr^nsin,  who  has  met 


COMPENDIUM    OV   BIOGRAPHY. 


CM 


with  a  well-ilescn-ed  success  i:  'm 

calling,  is  a  native  of  Germany,  his  birth 
having  ^xcurred  in  Sudeliurg,  province  of 
Hanover,  February  27,  1863,  His  j/arenLs, 
Henry  and  Dorothea  (Meyer)  Meyer,  came 
with  their  family  to  the  United  States  in 
1864,  and    se*'  Qenwoo^l,    Gx4c 

ccxmty.  Ilh'nf>i  in^  t/^>  Will  coun- 

ty. •  '  '■  father 

hi'.  *  vr,  Iwt 

in  tftis  iJjuUiij    i»fc  i-VjiOW; 

suits,  and  became  one  01 
tial  and  prf^perf/asi  farmers,  as  weii  as  one 
of  the  nvist  highly  esteemerl  c;'.;/.',-?, -,  vf  his 
ammmnity.    In  October,  189.  v 

Keedstiurg,  Wisconsin,  where  ;.<.  .....  ...  re- 
tirement frf.»m  active  labf^  until  called  from 
this  life  FeJfl-uary  26,  1893,  >.♦  •  - 
se*'enty  years,    Hb  wife  is  st: 
at  the  age  of  .%e\-enty-6e*-en  j-ear-,. 

William  C.  ilej-er,  the  subject  of  this 
review,  grew  u^  mimWjfA  in  GyA  county, 
Illinois,  ami  f'/r  v^r?n^  ye?.r*  h«;  *v<r'»s»fully 
carrie'l  '/n  a  f-,  •  <t  .state, 

Cotning  to  Si  ;r:  *':'; 

fall  of  1894,  lie  i/^A>k  charge  of  a 
eighty  acres  in  Keed*l.»urg  f^wnshi;., 
his  father  ha^l  purchased  a  short  time  be- 
fore his  death.      It  is  now  nearly  all  under 
a  high  state  of  cukivatvjn  and  most  ad- 

mjr<'  -    ■ .red.     He  has   .-      -      ■ 

1/ar  ;  now  1^54  ?' 

re»i'ie:.'-e  ar.'l  ;.ai 
:  the  c^/nveniences 
a;.  //n  a  nvAe\  farm 

of  ..     In  connection 

wjifi  '4t:^!t:rn)  iarum.a^  ht  give*  some  atten- 
ti'/n  t^/  dairying,  lie'-.i'ie*  his  farm  here  he 
still  owns  a  valuable  }Wece  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty  acr^  near  Crete,  Illinois, 

Mr.  Meyer  wa»  married  October  13, 
1891,  to  MiM  Dora  Lorenzesi,  who  was 
bom  in  Uphonfon.  Holstein,  (iertmny,  and 
Clone  to  America  in  J  889.  Her  parent*, 
Skr/izi  P.  and  Bendina  /"YeiMm)  I»renzen, 


are  now  living  near  Crete,  Illinois.  To  our 
.subject  ami  his  wife  have  Ijeen  lx.»rn  the  fol- 
lowing children :  Dora  Bemlina,  Alvina  Au- 
gusta, Alma  Louisa,  and  Esther  Magdalena. 
The  family  hold  meml^ership  in  St,  Peter's 
Lutheran  church  at  Keerlsburg,  an/1  are  quite 
prominent  in  the  l^est  s^jcial  circles  of  their 
community.  Since  casting  his  first  vote  Mr. 
Meyer    '  'the  Republican 

I*arty  iently  served  as 

•    4- 


JAMES  SCOTT. 

James  Scott,  one  of  the  nv.>st  highly-es- 
"iemed  pi'/neers  of  OJumbia  county,  is  now 

ring  in  retirement  in  Pardeeville,  in  a 
af/me  of  m<.<re  than  u.sual  a/tnUjrU,  the  result 
of  a  well-spent  career.  He  was  Ix^rn  in  Liv- 
ingston a  maty,  Sew  \'/tk,  April  jx,  1819, 
and  was  a  son  of  Matthew  ami  Anna  (Gil- 
man)  Scott,  who  were  natives  of  Livingston 
county, 

Our  subject's  grandfather,  James  ;->'/'•, 
^jne  from  ScAlaml  i.n'' !.'':! '/.  ^jr/  H/ivari'jA 
age  in  Livingston  c  ':  town  of 

Scottslmrg  was  namt vnor.    The 

father   of   oor   subject    was   a   successful 
farmer  and  died  in  Livingston   county  at 

)e  age  of  forty-eight  years.    The  mother 
-urvived    him    se^'eral  years.     Her  inlh(:r, 
Henry  fiilman,  was  of  German  lineage  and 
came  fr'ym  Perini»ylvania,  and  the  m;i'' 
grandmother  of  '/ijr  -m^ >]"/:*.,  Arirm  G; 
reache/1  old  age  in  L;  ;nty.    Our 

subject  wass  '.>ne  of   /;  '.-n,  an'l  h"; 

and  hi*  Wother,  .Matthew,  wm.»  nov/  r 
at  Scottsl/urg,  New  V'ork,  are  the  on;^. 
viving  mem^ierh  of  the  family, 

James  5>cott  is  the  only  one  of  his  fa- 
ther's family  who  came  to  Wisconsin,  He 
located  in  Racine  county  in  the  fall  of  184/^, 
and  f'^rtjr  vear*  later  moved    to    OAumhin 


618 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


count}',  where  he  Hved  about  three  years  in 
Marcellon  and  kept  a  tavern  known  as  the 
"Fox  River  Honce,"  in  partnership  with  his 
fatlier-in-law,  Abram  L.  Crippen.  He  then 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild 
land  in  the  t(j\vn  of  Wyocena  and  soon 
afterward  purchased  one  hundred  and  forty- 
three  acres  adjacent  in  the  town  of  Spring- 
vale.  He  afterward  bought  one  hundred  and 
ten  acres  in  Springvale  township  and  ten 
acres  of  marsh  land  in  Wyocena  township. 
He  resided  on  his  farm  and  brought  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation.  He  rented  the  farm  in 
1893  and  removed  to  the  village  of  Pardee- 
ville,  where  he  erected  his  present  com- 
fortable home. 

Our  subject  was  married,  October  21, 
1847,  to  Phcebe  Maria  Crippen,  daugh- 
ter of  Abram  L.  and  Maria  Crippen,  of 
Waterford,  Racine  county,  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Scott  was  born  in  Livingston  county,  New 
York,  May  6,  1831,  and  died  October  12, 
1867.  The  following  children  were  born  to 
this  union :  Ida  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
months;  Frank  died  in  his  eighth  year; 
twins,  who  died  in  infancy;  Ada,  now  Mrs. 
R.  Falconer,  of  Camp  Douglas,  Wisconsin ; 
and  Fred,  residing  in  the  town  of  Wyocena. 
Mr.  Scott  was  married  to  Mrs.  Phoebe  C. 
Williams  October  5,  1870.  Mrs.  Scott  was 
the  widow  of  Morris  S.  Williams,  of  whom 
farther  notice  is  found  in  the  sketch  of  R. 
M.  Williams.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scott  have 
one  daughter,  named  Minnie  May,  now 
Mrs.  Harry  Atkinson,  of  Springvale  town- 
ship. Mr.  Scott  has  seven  grandchildren. 
Mrs.  Scott  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Phcebe  C.  King.  She  was  born  in  Che- 
nango county.  New  York,  and  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jeremiah  H.  and  Mary  (Merrihevv) 
King,  who  were  natives  of  New  York, 
and  pioneers  of  Chenango  county,  that 
state.  Her  father  reached  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-five   years    there,  and    the  King    set- 


tlement near  Norwich  was  founded  by  his 
family.  Mrs.  Scott's  grandfather,  John 
King,  served  in  the  Continental  army.  Mrs. 
Scott's  former  marriage  occurred  October 
25,  1849.  Four  children  were  born  to  this 
union,  who  were  as  follows:  Robert  M.,  re- 
siding in  Pardeeville;  Sarah  Jane,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  F.  A.  Healy  and  is  now  de- 
ceased; Mary,  now  Mrs.  John  Baillies,  of 
Springvale  township;  and  Cliarles  H.,  an 
architect  at  Pardeeville.  i\Irs.  Scott  has 
twenty-one  grandchildren  and  one  great- 
grandchild. While  residing  in  New  York 
Mr.  Scott  was  a  member  of  the  New  York 
militia.  He  is  a  Republican,  but  in  early 
life  was  a  Whig  and  voted  for  Harrison  in 
1840. 


MRS.  A:MELIA  HYATT. 

Mrs.  Amelia  Hyatt,  nee  Seward,  of  New 
Haven  township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin, 
is  a  worthy  representative  of  an  old  and  hon- 
ored family  of  this  state,  and  is  one  of  its 
pioneer  teachers.  She  was  born  in  Almon, 
Allegany  county.  New  York,  November  12, 
1838,  a  daughter  of  Enos  and  Mary  (Hop- 
kins) Seward.  Her  maternal  grandfather 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
was  killed  by  the  Indians.  He  possessed 
long,  curly,  red  hair,  and  his  death  was  ascer- 
tained by  finding  his  scalp  in  possession  of 
the  Indians.  His  father,  then  an  old  man, 
conducted  twenty  women  and  children  on 
foot  through  the  forests  from  Pennsylvania 
to  Connecticut,  as  their  luisbands  and  fathers 
v.-ere  all  in  the  war  and  the  Indians  had  be- 
come very  troublesome.  A  brother  of  Mrs. 
Hyatt's  paternal  grandmother  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Stevens  Point,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  the  town  was  named  in  his  honor. 
He  was  a  trapper  and  fur  dealer.  Her  fa- 
ther, Enos  Seward,  was  a  near  relative  of 
William    H.    Seward,    President  Lincoln's 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


019 


secretary  of  state.  The  record  of  the  Seward 
famil^•  can  be  traced  Ijack  to  1760.  They 
were  pioneer  settlers  of  Allegany  county, 
New  York,  where  they  made  their  first  im- 
provements, and  assisted  in  (organizing  the 
school  districts  and  estaljlishing  churches, 
etc. 

Mrs.  Hyatt  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  New  York  and  Beaver  Dam, 
Wisconsin,  having  come  to  this  state  in 
1852.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  she  com- 
menced teaching  the  first  district  school  in 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Vroman  district 
of  Jackson  township,  Adams  county,  con- 
ducting the  same  in  a  building  twelve  feet 
scjuare,  intended  for  a  smoke  house.  She 
received  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  week 
and  "boarded  round"'  among  the  scholars. 
She  continued  teaching  for  four  years,  and 
among  her  scholars  were  Mrs.  Frazier  Ox- 
ford, Janie  Johnson  and  Bill  Johnson.  Her 
sister,  Amanda,  taught  the  first  school  in  the 
Ward  district  of  New  Haven  township, 
Adams  county. 

On  the  31st  of  August,  1858,  Miss 
Amelia  Seward  gave  her  hand  in  marriage 
to  W.  F.  Hyatt,  of  New  Haven  township, 
who  was  born  September  29,  1832,  in  As- 
cctt,  Ontario,  Canada,  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin in  1856.  His  father,  Abraham  C.  Hy- 
att, was  born  in  Connecticut,  but  at  an  early 
day  went  to  Canada,  traveling  on  horse- 
back. W.  F.  Hyatt  worked  in  the  pineries 
and  at  other  occupations  until  1864,  when  he 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  rich  and  arable 
land  in  New  Haven  township,  Adams  coun- 
ty, to  which  he  afterward  added  a  forty-acre 
tract,  and  upon  which  he  made  many  use- 
ful and  valuable  improvements.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Sev- 
enth Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  re- 
mained in  the  service  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  participating  in  many  hard-fought  en- 
gagements and  in  the  Weldon  railroad  raid. 
He  was  finally  taken  ill  and  sent  to  a  hos- 


pital in  Washington,  D.  C,  from  which  he 
was  discharged  when  hostilities  ceased.  On 
I'ris  return  home  he  resumed  farming,  and 
was  accounted  one  of  the  most  successful  ag- 
riculturists of  his  community.  He  was  a 
man  of  high  moral  worth,  was  reared  in 
the  Universalist  faith,  and  was  greatly  at- 
tached to  his  family.  He  ever  took  a  com- 
mendable interest  in  public  affairs.  He  died 
May  3,  1890,  and  his  death  was  widely  and 
deeply  mourned.  Mrs.  Hyatt  now  success- 
fully carries  on  the  home  farm  and  has  dis- 
played good  business  and  executi\-e  al.)ility 
in  the  management  of  her  affairs  since  her 
liusband's  death. 

In  the  family  were  the  following  chil- 
dren: Nora  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Hartson, 
a  farmer  and  business  man  (jf  New  Rock- 
ford,  North  Dakota.  Orilla,  wife  of  H. 
Tyler,  died  August  24,  1890,  and  was 
buried  in  Plainville,  \Visconsin.  Irvin  L. 
died  in  infancy.  Eda  is  the  wife  of  Dell 
Foot,  a  farmer  of  Jackson  township,  Adams 
county.  Katie  is  the  wife  of  Willis  Turner, 
of  Oxford,  Wisconsin.  A.  Maxie,  born 
February  16,  1874,  was  educated  in  the 
common  and  high  schools  of  Augusta,  and 
now  has  charge  of  his  mother's  farm.  He 
is  an  industrious  and  temperate  young  man, 
and  highly  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 
He  was  married,  May  31,  1899,  to  Lulu 
Koss.  Edna  is  the  wife  of  M.  Holian,  a 
farmer  of  Dell  Prairie  township,  Atlams 
county. 


WILLIAM  CUFF,  Dece.\sed. 

William  Cuff,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  most  successful  farmers 
of  the  town  of  Lowville,  and  is  remembered 
by  many  of  the  older  citizens  of  Columbia 
county  as  a  man  of  exceptionally  fine  char- 
acter and  manly  c|ualities.  He  was  born  in 
Somerby,  England,  February  4,   1830,  and 


620 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


died  ill  tlie  town  of  Lowville,  August  i, 
1 89 1.  He  was  a  son  of  James  and  Mary 
(Chandler)  Cuff.  James  Cuff'  was  a  miller 
by  tratle  and  died  in  England.  His  widow 
afterwards  came  to  this  state,  and  died  at 
the  home  of  our  subject  when  over  seventy- 
five  years  of  age. 

William  Cuff  learned  the  miller's  trade, 
and  in  1855  sought  a  home  in  this  country. 
He  spent  some  two  or  three  years  in  Toron- 
to, Canada,  where  he  worked  as  a  miller, 
and  then  came  to  W'isconsin,  and  made  his 
appearance  in  Columljia  county  in  1857. 
He  was  here  a  short  time  onl}',  returning  to 
Wilson,  Canada,  to  run  a  mill.  In  i860 
he  again  entered  this  state,  and  for  a  time 
was  in  charge  of  a  mill  at  .Apjileton.  On  the 
occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  the  state  he  had 
bought  a  ninety-acre  farm  in  Lowville,  and 
to  this  he  presently  removed,  and  devoted 
the  rest  of  his  life  to  its  cultivation  and 
increase.  At  the  time  of  his  death  it  con- 
sisted of  nearly  six  hundred  acres,  partly 
in  Low\ille,  and  ])artly  in  the  town  of  De- 
korra.  He  had  made  ample  improvements, 
and  was  largely  interested  in  stock  raising. 
Mr.  Cuff  was  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
but  never  sought  or  accepted  public  office 
of  any  kind.  He  was  reared  as  a  member  of 
the  Episcopal  church,  but  after  he  came  to 
this  county  was  a  regular  and  devoted  at- 
tendant upon  the  services  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  He  began  life  with  very  little 
money,  but  by  industry  and  economy  liad 
amassed  a  very  comfortable  fortune  years 
before  his  demise.  He  was  widely  known, 
and  very  highly  regarded  both  for  his  busi- 
ness ability  and  integrity  of  character, 
winning  and  holding  many  sincere  friends. 
He  was  married  May  10,  1857,  to  Ann 
Connells,  a  daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Han- 
nah Connells,  of  Highland  Creek,  a  small 
town  near  Toronto,  Canada.  The  entire 
family  were  natives  of  England,  and  Mrs. 
Cuff  was  brought  to  Canada   when   a  small 


child.  Her  father  died  in  England,  and 
her  mother  in  Canada  when  about  sev- 
enty years  old.  Mrs.  Cuff  was  the  moth- 
er of  the  following  named  children :  Henry 
died  at  the  age  of  four  years;  Martha,  now 
Mrs.  Isaac  Curtis;  William  John  died  at 
Rio,  November  10,  1899,  aged  thirty-nine 
years;  Mary  Margaret  is  a  missionary  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  and  has  her  home 
in  the  city  of  Wausau,  Wisconsin;  David 
Lafayette  lives  on  the  home  farm;  Lillie 
\'ioletta  is  Mrs.  Fred  Henry,  of  the  town 
of  Lowville :  James  Henry  died  April  29, 
1872.  at  the  age  of  four  years;  George  Ed- 
ward Napoleon,  born  October  6,  1874;  Ar- 
thur Horatio  died  January  23,  1895,  aged 
twenty-six  years ;  Charlie  Frank  died 
October  26,  1896,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  years;  Maria  died  in  infancy;  Hen- 
rietta EUzabeth  is  Mrs.  Carl  Drake,  of 
the  town  of  Lowville;  Royal  Augustus 
Chandler  is  at  home.  Mrs.  Cuff  has  elev- 
en grandchildren.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Rocky  Run.  Per- 
sonally she  is  a  lady  of  marked  vigor  and 
industrious  habits,  and  displays  remarkable 
abilit}'  in  handling  the  large  farm  left  in  her 
chars'e. 


JOHN   JACOB    GATTIKER,    Dece.vsed. 

John  Jacob  Gattiker,  deceased,  through 
forty  years  of  his  identification  with  Sauk 
county  enjo\-s  the  highest  respect  of  his 
fellow  citizens  by  reason  of  his  strict  in- 
tegrity, true  manhood  and  intellectual  attain- 
ments. He  was  a  gentleman  of  refinement 
and  culture,  and  his  deportment  was  always 
courteous  and  kind.  His  devotion  to  the 
pubfic  welfare  also  made  him  a  valued  factor 
in  public  life,  and  by  his  death  Baraboo  was 
deprived  of  one  of  her  best  citizens.  A  por- 
trait of  him  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
volume. 


JOHH  JACOB  GATTIKER.    (Deceased.) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


G23 


y 


Mr.  Gattiker  was  born  in  Zurich,  Swit- 
zerland, April  1 8,  1826,  a  son  of  Henry  and 
Maria  M.  Gattiker,  also  natives  of  Zurich, 
and  representatives  of  good  old  Swiss  fam- 
ilies.' The  father  was  a  teacher  and  fol- 
lowed that  profession  in  Zurich  through- 
out life,  dying  there  when  our  subject  was  a 
young  man.  In  1871  his  widow  came  to 
tile  new  world  and  died  in  Baraboo,  Wiscon- 
sin, the  same  year,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
six. 

Our  subject  was  given  excellent  educa- 
tional ad\antages,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
graduated  from  a  college  in  Zurich,  after 
which  he  engaged  in  teaching  for  ten  years 
in  a  gymnasium  there,  where  the  languages 
and  higher  branches  were  taught,  his  special 
studies  being  French,  mathematics  and 
Italian.  Later  he  was  a  i)ri\ate  tutor  in  an 
English  family  at  Chamberi,  Italy. 

In  1855  Mr.  Gattiker  came  to  the  United 
States  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Honey 
Creek  township,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  devoted  his  energies  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits  for  a  time.  It  was  not  long- 
before  his  true  worth  and  ability  became 
known  in  this  county,  and  in  1858  he  was 
elected  county  clerk,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  for  eight  years,  making  his  home  in 
Baraboo.  He  then  embarked  in  the  hard- 
ware business  at  that  place,  in  company  with 
his  brother,  A.  Gattiker.  and  enjoyed  an  ex- 
tensive trade  until  he  retired  from  active  life 
in  1886. 

In  May,  1851,  Mr.  Gattiker  wedded  Miss 
Mary  Magdalene,  daughter  of  Henry  Trun- 
inger.  She  was  born  in  Winterthur,  Swit- 
zerland, October  30,  1828,  and  died  in  Bara- 
boo August  3,  1898.  Of  the  six  children 
born  to  them  only  three  are  now  living.  For 
th.ree  years  Mr.  Gattiker  was  afflicted  with 
slow  paralysis,  and  death  finally  ended  his 
sufferings  April  2,  1895.  He  had  led  a  busy 
and  useful  life  and  was  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  by  the  citizens  of  Sauk  county.     He 


was  not  identified  with  any  social  or  re- 
ligious organization,  but  took  a  commendable 
interest  in  all  worthy  public  enterprises.  In 
political  sentiment  he  was  a  stanch  Repub- 
lican and  represented  Baraboo  in  the  coun- 
ty board  of  supervisors  for  a  number  of 
years,  serving  as  chairman  of  that  body  two 
years  of  this  time.  He  always  took  an  act- 
ive interest  in  educational  affairs  and  was 
chairman  of  the  board  of  education  when  the 
first  and  second  ward  school  houses  were 
built. 


WILLIAM  I.  GALBRAITH. 

\\'illiam  J.  (;all)raith.  a  representati\'e 
and  prominent  farmer  of  New  Haven  town- 
ship. Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  was  born 
in  Logan  county.  Ohio,  October  2,  1849, 
and  is  the  third  son  of  William  and  Eliza 
(  Woods)  Galbraith,  natives  of  the  north  of 
Ireland.  The  father  emigrated  to  America 
in  1830  and  toc4c  up  his  residence  in  Logan 
count}',  Ohio,  where  he  followed  his  trade 
of  shoemaking  for  a  time  and  later  en- 
gaged in  farming  with  marked  success. 
Ir.  1854  he  came  to  Wisconsin  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Dodge  county,  to  the  improvement  and 
cultiwttion  of  \\hich  he  devoted  his  energies 
for  two  years.  He  then  sold  that  place  and 
mo\ed  to  Waupaca  county,  where  he  took 
up  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
government  land,  but  in  1862  he  disposed 
of  that  property  and  bought  another  farm 
in  Lynn  township,  the  same  county,  which 
he  commenced  to  clear  and  imorove.  .\t 
the  end  of  five  years  he  sold  out  and  started 
for  Minnesota  in  a  covered  wagon,  but  on 
reaching  Dividing  Ridge  he  met  his  brother 
an.d  together  they  returned  to  this  state. 
He  next  purchased  what  was  known  as  the 
Old  Man  Searles  farm,  just  across  the  line 
from  Adams  countv.  in  Marquette  count  v. 
but  after  residing  there  for  two  months  he 


624 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


traded  the  jilace  fur  the  Piatt  Staples  farm 
on  sections  i  and  2,  New  Haven  township, 
Adams  county.  He  soon  had  one  hundred 
acres  of  the  one-hundred-and-sixty-acre 
tract  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and 
otherwise  improved  the  farm,  hut  he  finally 
sold  the  ]il.ace  to  his  sons,  and  remi_)\e(l  to 
Portage,  where  he  was  working  at  his  trade 
of  shoemaking  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1878.  Wherever  known 
he  was  highly  esteemed. 

In  early  life  William  J.  Galbraith  at- 
tended the  common  schools  near  his  home, 
and  aided  his  father  m  the  improvement  and 
cultivation  of  the  home  farm.  On  attain- 
ing his  majority  he  and  his  brother,  Charles, 
bought  the  home  place  in  New  Haven  town- 
ship, which  they  subsequently  di\'ided,  and 
t;i  his  share  our  subject  has  added  luitil  he 
now  has  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land,  of  which  all  but  fifty  acres  is  now 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  im- 
proved with  good  buildings.  He  has  been 
prominently  identified  with  the  development 
of  this  locality,  and  has  ever  borne  his  part 
in  its  improvement.  He  now  owns  the 
Stockbridge  place,  upon  which  is  a  log  build- 
ing forty-five  years  old  and  still  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation. 

On  the  loth  of  October,  1S75,  ]\Ir.  Gal- 
braith led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Carrie 
Smith,  who  was  born  in  New  Haven  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  April  5, 
1856,  a  daughter  of  A.  D.  and  Polly  A. 
(Bennett)  Smith,  natives  of  Pennsylvania 
and  pioneers  of  this  state.  They  located  in 
New  Haven  township  when  it  was  almost  an 
unbroken  wilderness  and  their  nearest  neigh- 
bor was  six  miles  away.  In  the  eastern  part 
of  the  township  the  father  took  up  a  large 
tract  of  government  land,  and  the  family 
lived  in  true  pioneer  style.  Their  hospitable 
home  was  ever  open  and  many  an  early  set- 
tler found  accommodations  with  them  until 
they  could  erect  rude  dwellings  for  them- 


selves. Mrs.  Smith  used  to  grind  corn  in 
the  coffee  mill  for  family  use.  .  Fires  had 
to  be  kept  burning  at  night  to  keep  the 
evolves  away  from  the  little  pigs,  and  she 
once  had  an  encounter  with  a  bear,  her 
weapon  lieing  a  butcher  knife.  Mr.  Smith 
was  chosen  judge  of  the  county,  and  all  legal 
questions  for  miles  around  were  brought 
to  him  for  settlement.  He  improved  one  of 
the  best  farms  in  the  county,  took  an  active 
part  in  laying  out  roads  and  organizing 
school  districts,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
useful  and  influential  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity in  those  early  days.  He  owned  four 
liundred  acres  of  valuable  land,  and  as  his 
fellow  citizens  placetl  in  him  the  utmost 
confidence,  he  was  ne\'er  called  upon  to  give 
hiis  note.  He  died  in  New  Ha\en  town- 
ship, in  June,  1889,  and  his  wife  passed  away 
two  years  later.  Of  the  thirteen  children 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Galbraith,  five  are  now 
living,  namely :  Edith  S.,  born  September 
17,  1883;  Helen  V.  G.,  June  29,  1885;  Lee 
1\,  born  August  3,  1889;  Julius  E.,  born 
April  9,  1896;  and  Carrie  J.,  born  June  7, 
1899. 

At  the  last  call  of  the  government  for 
troops  during  the  Civil  war,  Mr.  Galbraith 
enlisted  and  served  for  three  months.  As  a 
Republican  he  takes  quite  an  acti\-e  interest 
in.  the  political  affairs  of  the  county,  and  has 
ably  filled  the  office  of  township  supervisor. 
He  has  held  some  school  offices  in  his  district 
for  twelve  consecutive  years  and  has  done 
much  toward  raising  the  standard  of  schools 
in  the  community.  He  is  a  far-sighted,  ener- 
getic business  man  and  has  met  with  well- 
merited  success  in  his  endeavors. 


REV.  OTTO  HENRICH  KOCH. 

Rev.  Otto  Henrich  Koch,  pastor  of 
Zion's  Evangelical  Lutheran  church,  of  Co- 
lumbus, Wisconsin,  has    for    fifteen    years 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


G25 


ministered  faitlifully  to  the  needs  of  his  peo- 
ple and  given  powerful  and  effective  aid  to 
all  influences  which  work  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  communit}'.  Revered  and  loved 
by  his  own  flock,  he  has  also  won  the  honor 
and  esteem  of  all  others  who  have  seen  his 
devotion  to  his  calling. 

Mr.  Koch  was  born  in  Barmenslow, 
Pomerania,  Prussia,  September  21,  1854,  a 
son  of  Gottlieb  A.  and  Regina  (Darvitz) 
Koch,  also  natives  of  Germany,  where  the 
father  followed  the  miller's  trade  until  1856, 
when  he  brought  his  family  to  the  new  world. 
For  a  time  he  engaged  in  farming  near 
Watertown,  Wisconsin,  and  later  lived  in 
the  towns  of  Arlington  and  Leeds,  Colum- 
bia county,  but  is  now  deceased,  having 
passed  away  September  4,  1885,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-nine  years.  He  took  quite  an  active 
and  prominent  part  in  public  affairs  in  his 
native  land,  and  represented  his  district  in 
the  national  congress  during  the  revolution 
of  1848.  His  estimable  wife  is  still  living, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  and  makes 
her  home  in  Columbus. 

Otto  H.  Koch  passed  his  boyhood  and 
youth  in  this  state,  and  after  attending  the 
Northwestern  University  at  Watertown,  he 
entered  Concordia  Seminary,  at  Springfield, 
rUinois,  where  he  was  graduated  in  June, 
1878.  He  at  once  entered  the  ministry  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  being  ordained  Au- 
gust II,  of  that  year,  at  Lewiston,  Minne- 
sota, where  he  had  charge  of  two  congrega- 
tions for  six  years.  Since  1884  he  has  been 
pastor  of  Zion's  church  at  Columbus,  Wis- 
consin, and  under  his  ministry  the  congre- 
gation has  greatly  increased,  numbering 
about  eighteen  hundred  people  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  but  these  figures,  or  indeed,  any 
estimate  of  the  material  progress  give  no  in- 
dication of  the  great  work  he  has  done  in 
moulding  and  shaping  to  higher  issues  the 
lives  of  those  to  whom  he  gives  his  best 
thoughts.     Li  1887  the  church  was  rebuilt 


and  enlarged  and  is  now  a  fine  modern  brick 
edifice.  A  handsome  and  commodious  brick 
])arsonage  was  also  erected  in  1885,  and  a 
fine  school  huuse  was  built  in  1897.  'Sir. 
Koch  also  has  charge  of  the  parochial  school, 
which  numbers  one  hundred  and  thirt}-  pu- 
pils, and  employs  two  assistant  teachers.  A 
friend  of  the  poor  and  oppressed,  ever  ready 
with  helpful  counsel  for  the  perplexed  or  sor- 
rowful, he  has  a  wide  field  for  labor  and  well 
does  he  discharge  its  arduous  and  sacred 
duties. 

On  the  loth  of  October,  1880,  Mr.  Koch 
married  Miss  Bertha  Sander,  daughter  of 
Frederick  Sander,  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  they  now  have  a  family  of  five  chil- 
dren :  Ada,  a  graduate  of  the  Columbus 
high  school ;  Hugo,  a  student  of  the  North- 
western University  of  Watertown;  Esther, 
a  student  in  Zion's  school,  Columbus;  Otto 
and  Herbert. 


EDWARD  LOUIS  LUCKOW. 

Edward  Louis  Luckow,  publisher  of  the 
''Sauk  County  Democrat,"  at  Baraboo,  and 
one  of  the  most  practical  journalists  of  the 
state,  is  one  of  the  native  sons  of  Wiscon- 
sin, his  birth  having  occurred  at  West  Bend, 
Washington  county,  April  27,  1866.  His 
parents  were  Charles  and  Johanna  (Roen- 
beck)  Luckow. 

Being  a  precocious  lad,  he  completed  the 
course  at  the  West  Bend  high  school  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years,  but  continued  his 
studies  as  opportunity  permitted  for  several 
years  longer,  mastering  the  German  lan- 
guage in  this  way  without  any  regular  in- 
struction. He  was  always  industrious  and 
ambitious  to  improve  his  condition  in  life. 
One  of  his  first  occupations  after  leaving 
school  was  that  of  clerk  in  a  store,  but  as  this 
business  was  not  congenial  to  his  tastes,  he 
soon  abandoned  it. 


626 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


While  still  a  mere  boy  lie  developed  a 
genius  for  literary  work  and  contributed  reg- 
ularly to  the  columns  of  the  "West  Bend 
Democrat,"  one  of  the  oldest  papers  in  the 
state,  at  that  time  under  the  management 
of  the  well-known  "Billy"  Walters.  He 
also  devoted  many  of  his  leisure  hours  be- 
fore lea\-ing  school  to  learning  tlie  printing 
business,  and  when  he  finally  became  a  regu- 
lar employe  of  the  establishment  it  required 
but  a  few  weeks  for  him  to  become  fore- 
man of  the  job  department  and  in  a  short 
tmie  he  took  entire  charge  of  the  office. 
Realizing  the  need  of  a  wider  field  for  the 
development  of  his  talents,  after  a  few  years 
he  left  his  native  village,  and  secured  a  ]io- 
sition  in  Milwaukee,  spending  several  years 
in  that  cit}-  and  elsewhere. 

July  9,  1886,  he  arrived  in  Baraboo  and 
took  charge  of  the  office  of  the  "Sauk  Coun- 
ty Democrat"  as  foreman  and  local  editor. 
He  soon  assumed  the  entire  management 
of  the  paper,  which  was  then  owned  by 
Kunge  &  Grotophorst,  though  the  former 
became  sole  proprietor  soon  after  Mr. 
lAickow's  arri\al.  He  conducted  the  paper 
in  the  interest  of  ]Mr.  Runge  until  February 
I,  1895,  when  he  purchased  the  establish- 
ment. He  at  once  began  to  improve  and  re- 
arrange the  office  and  has  fitted  it  up  as  a 
n:odel  institution  of  the  kind,  demonstrating 
that  a  printing  office  can  be  kept  as  neat  and 
orderly  as  a  dry  goods  store  or  any  other 
place  of  business.  The  "Democrat"  is  the 
only  newspaper  in  Sauk  county  of  that  po- 
litical faith  and  has  constantly  improved  un- 
der his  charge,  enjoying  at  present  an  ex- 
tensi\e  circulation  and  advertising  patron- 
age. 

Personally,  Mr.  Luckow  has  always  been 
distinguished  for  his  courteous  manners  and 
fair  and  impartial  treatment  of  everyone 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact.  Wherever 
employed  he  was  always  noted  for  his  de- 
votion to  the  interests  of  his  employers,  and 


i;pon  Ijecoming  ))roprietor  of  this  paper  he 
received  a  number  of  very  complimentary 
and  congratulatory  letters  from  noted  jour- 
nalists with  whom  he  had  been  associated. 
He  has  always  taken  a  lively  interest  in 
the  Wisconsin  Press  Association,  which  he 
has  served  as  vice-president  and  in  other  offi- 
cial capacities.  He  has  been  several  times  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Press  Association, 
and  in  1897  was  elected  a  member  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  that  organization.  He 
was  recently  appointed  to  prepare  a  history 
of  the  Sauk  County  Press  for  embodiment 
ii!  the  histor)'  of  the  W'isconsin  press.  For 
many  years  he  has  filled  the  position  of  cor- 
respondent for  a  number  of  city  papers  and 
still  officiates  in  that  capacity  for  several  of 
the  leading  j(jurnals  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  spring  of  1900  Mr.  Luckow  was 
elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  Baraboo,  beat- 
ing his  opponent  by  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teen votes,  although  the  city  is  strongly  Re- 
publican. In  the  fall  of  1890  he  was  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  congressman  for 
the  third  district  of  W^isconsin. 


HENRY  N.  OLSON. 

No  foreign  element  has  become  a  more 
important  part  of  our  American  citizenship 
than  that  furnished  by  Sweden.  The  emi- 
grants from  that  land  have  brought  with 
them  to  the  new  world  the  stability,  enter- 
prise and  perseverance  characteristic  of  their 
people  and  have  fused  these  qualities  with 
the  progressiveness  and  indomitable  spirit 
of  the  w^est.  Mr.  Olson,  of  Mars,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin,  is  a  worthy  representa- 
tive of  this  class. 

He  was  born  in  JMalmo,  Sweden,  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1845,  and  was  educated  in  the 
Latin  school  at  that  place.  During  his 
youth  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  which. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


627 


lie  cnutinued  to  follow  until  coming  to 
America  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years. 
He  firs.t  located  at  Rockford,  Illinois,  where 
he  worked  at  his  trade  mitil  1870,  when  he 
entered  the  employ  of  Harrison  &  Green, 
bridge  contractors,  and  continued  with  them 
for  six  years  in  the  capacity  of  timekeeper 
and  foreman,  laying  out  the  work  for  the 
men.  When  he  retired  from  raih'oad  bridge 
buikling,  he  engaged  in  contracting  and 
building  on  his  own  account  in  Milwaukee, 
Avhere  he  erected  over  three  hundred  houses 
which  are  still  standing.  He  possesses  ex- 
cellent ability  in  mechanical  lines  and  has 
had  a  varied  experience.  As  a  skillful 
painter  he  has  worked  in  a  street  car  shop, 
doing  the  finest  work  in  painting  and  letter- 
ing, and  while  there  he  invented  a  wheel 
scraper,  which  is  now  patented  and  in  gen- 
eral use.  On  lea\'ing  the  employ  of  that 
company  he  returned  to  railroad  bridge 
huilding.  He  is  also  a  skilled  iron  worker 
and  in  many  parts  of  Adams  county  ma}-  be 
found  manifestations  of  his  handiwork. 

In  1868  Mr.  Olson  came  to  Adams  coun- 
ty, and  purchased  a  tract  of  lanil  near  Twin 
Valley,  which  he  afterward  sold,  bnt  re- 
purchased again  in  partnership  with  Mason 
Peterson,  and  is  still  actively  identified  with 
i)idustrial  interests.  His  support  is  never 
\'.ithheld  from  any  enterprise  calculated  to 
pro\-e  of  public  benefit,  and  although  he  has 
ne\er  been  an  office  seeker,  he  takes  an  act- 
ive interest  in  political  affairs.  He  merits 
and  receives  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow  citizens. 


ALBERT  WEBSTER  FOSTER. 

Albert  Webster  Foster,  a  successful  lo- 
comoti\e  engineer,  who  has  been  a  resident 
of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  for  more  than  half 
a  century,  and  is  one  of  its  highly-respected 
citizens,  was  born  in  Barre,  Orleans  county. 


New  York.  March  11,  1844,  a  son  of  Ira 
and  Amanda  (Norton)  Foster.  The  father 
was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  when  a  young 
man  went  to  New  York.  In  1S44  he  cam^ 
to  Wisconsin  and  first  located  on  a  farm  at 
Delavan,  and  four  years  later  came  to  Bara- 
boo, where  he  died  in  January,  1850,  at 
the  age  of  forty-one  years.  His  wife,  who 
was  a  native  of  Chautaucjua  county,  New 
York,  died  in  Baraboo,  in  1889,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-seven  years.  Her  father  was  of 
English  lineage  and  a  farmer  by  occupation. 
Three  of  her  brothers  were  soldiers  in  the 
war  of  1812.  Our  subject  is  the  youngest 
in  a  familv  of  six  children,  five  sons  and  one 
daughter,  the  others  being  Elma,  deceased 
wife  of  O.  B.  Hubbard ;  Elvin,  who  died  in 
Baraboo ;  Charles,  who  was  killed  by  light- 
ning at  Pikes  Peak,  Colorado,  in  1867; 
Rollin  A.,  a  resident  of  Winona,  Minnesota; 
and  William,  who  died  in  Baraboo,  in  1864. 

Albert  ^^^  Foster  was  four  years  old 
when  brought  by  his  parents  to  Baraboo,  and 
upon  the  home  farm  near  that  city  he  made 
his  home  until  twenty  years  of  age,  aiding 
iri  its  operation  and  working  in  a  saw-mill 
a  part  of  the  time.  In  1865  he  made  a  trip 
to  Pikes  Peak,  where  he  spent  one  year 
in  freighting  to  the  mines,  and  on  his  re- 
turn to  Baraboo  engaged  in  various  pur- 
suits until  1876,  when  he  became  night 
baggageman  at  that  place  for  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern  Railroad  Company.  Three 
years  later  he  entered  the  train  service  as  a 
fireman  and  since  1882  has  had  charge  of  a 
locomotive,  for  the  past  year  running  a  time 
freight  between  Baraboo  and  Milwaukee. 
He  has  invested  to  some  extent  in  real  es- 
tate in  \\'inona,  Minnesota,  and  is  now  quite 
well-to-do. 

On  the  i_nh  of  September,  1889,  Mr. 
Foster  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mrs. 
Mary  Geeslim,  a  native  of  Mohawk,  Her- 
kimer county,  New  York,  where  her  par- 
ents, Timothy  and  Lucy  Hess,  were  also 


628 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


born.  In  1865  the  Hess  family  moved  to 
Minnesota  and  settled  near  \\^inona,  where 
the  father  died  in  1889,  the  mother  in  1874. 
Mr.  Foster  is  a  prominent  member  of 
Division  No.  76,  B.  of  L.  E.,  at  Baraboo, 
of  which  he  has  been  chaplain  for  the  past 
five  years,  and  is  a  member  of  Baraboo 
Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Baraboo  Valley 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  while  he  and  his  wife 
both  belong  to  the  Order  of  the  Eastern 
Star,  and  she  is  also  a  member  of  the  La- 
dies Auxiliary  to  the  Brotherhood  of  Lo- 
comotix'e  Engineers.  Mr.  Foster  has  always 
affiliated  with  the  Republican  party,  but 
aside  fnun  \oting  he  takes  no  active  part 
in  political  affairs.  He  is  widely  and  fa- 
vorably known,  and  those  who  are  most  in- 
timatel)-  acquainted  with  him  are  numbered 
among  his  warmest  friends. 


CHARLES   AUGUST   COLONIUS. 

Charles  August  Colonius,  ex-treasurer 
of  C(jlumbia  county.  There  is  no  element 
which  has  entered  into  our  composite  na- 
tional fabric,  which  has  been  of  more  prac- 
tical strength,  value  and  utility  than  that 
furnished  by  the  sturdy,  persevering  and 
honorable  sons  of  Germany,  and  in  the  prog- 
ress of  our  Union  this  element  has  played 
an  imi)ortant  part.  Intensely  practical,  and 
ever  having  a  clear  comprehension  of  the 
ethics  of  life,  the  German  contingent  has 
wielded  a  powerful  influence,  and  this  serv- 
ice cannot  lie  held  in  liglit  estimation  by 
those  who  appreciate  true  civilization  and 
true  advancement.  One  of  the  most  influen- 
tial German-American  citizens  of  Columbia 
county  is  C.  A.  Colonius,  of  Portage,  who 
has  lieen  prominently  identified  with  its  busi- 
ness and  political  interests  for  some  years. 

He  was  born  in  \\'.'echters1jach,  province 
of  Hesse-Xassau,  Germany,  April  13,  1836. 


a  son  of  George  Christian  and  Johanna 
(Weber)  Colonius.  The  original  home  of 
the  family  was  at  St.  Goarshausen  on  the 
Rhine,  where  the  ruins  of  Colonius  castle 
are  still  seen,  and  representatives  of  the  fam- 
ily still  reside  there.  The  grandfather  and 
several  other  ancestors  of  our  subject  were 
ministers  of  the  Reformed  church.  The  fa- 
ther was  Ixirn  January  26,  1785,  in  Hohen- 
solms,  province  of  Wetzlar,  Rhenish  Prus- 
sia, and  spent  the  most  of  his  life  as  a  ober 
kammerrath  (chief  oiTicer)  under  the  Prus- 
sian go\-ernment  at  W'aechtersbach,  ha\'ing 
super\'ision  o\-er  a  considerable  tract  of 
country.  He  died  April  9,  i860.  His  wife 
was  a  native  of  the  erand  duchy  of  Hesse 
and  was  a  sister  of  George  Weber,  who  held 
a  government  position,  as  conservator  or 
treasurer  at  Buedingen.  Our  subject  is  one 
of  a  family  of  four  children,  three  sons  and 
one  daughter,  the  others  being  as  follows : 
Henry,  who  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1849,  was  judge  of  Jeft'erson  county,  Wis- 
consin, for  fi\'e  terms,  or  twenty  }'ears,  and 
there  died  in  August,  1896;  George  died 
in  German}- ;  and  Maria  is  now  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Van  Carlshausen,  of  Alten-Hasslau, 
province  of  Hesse-Nassau,  Germany. 

Charles  A.  Colonius,  of  this  review,  re- 
ceived a  good  classical  education  in  a  gym- 
nasium at  Buedingen,  and  remained  in  his 
nati\e  land  until  nineteen  years  of  age.  In 
May,  1854,  he  sailed  for  the  new  wxirld  and 
spent  five  years  in  the  regular  army  under 
General  Sidney  A.  Johnston  and  General 
Harney,  in  this  country,  returning  to  Ger- 
many at  the  end  of  that  time  on  account  of 
the  death  of  his  father.  On  again  coming  to 
America,  in  1862,  he  located  at  Watertown, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  enlisted  the  following 
spring  in  Company  K,  Third  ^^'isconsin 
Cavalry,  which  was  employed  in  scuuting 
and  skirmishing  with  Generals  Price  and 
Marmaduke's  forces  in  .\rkansas  until  the 
close  of  the  war.      Though    in    many  pre- 


COMPBXDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


(329 


carious  positions  he  fortunately  escaped  un- 
Wdundeil. 

Aftei"  the  war  Mr.  L'nlnnius. carried  on  a 
commission  Inisiness  in  W'atertown  for  a 
time,  and  in  tlie  winter  of  1867-68  located 
at  Columl)us,  Wisconsin,  where  lie  was  em- 
])loyed  as  clerk  in  a  general  store  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  June,  1874.  he  became  a  ]iart- 
ner  in  tlie  mercantile  firm  of  George  Linck 
&  Company,  with  which  he  was  connected 
until  December,  1880.  In  the  meantime  he 
liad  served  as  alderman  and  city  treasurer 
of  Columbus,  resioning  the  latter  office  on 
hiis  removal  to  Portage  in  January,  1881,  to 
assume  the  duties  of  county  treasurer,  to 
which  position  he  had  been  elected  the  jjre- 
vious  fall.  Here  he  has  since  made  his 
home,  and  for  four  terms,  or  eight  vears,  he 
served  as  countv  treasurer,  with  credit  to 
himself  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his 
constituents.  Afterward  he  was  agent  for 
the  Northern  Pacific  Express  Company  at 
this  place.  In  1890  he  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators of  the  First  National  Bank,  of 
Portage,  and  served  as  assistant  cashier  until 
January,  1898,  when  he  retired  from  active 
business,  although  he  is  still  a  director  of 
the  bank,  which  is  one  of  the  leading  finan- 
cial institutions  in  the  county. 

In  1866  Mr.  Colonius  married  Miss  Jo- 
sephine Brucher,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Elizabeth  Brucher,  of  Elba,  Dodge  county, 
Wisconsin.  The  father  died  in  that  county 
in  1857,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years,  the 
mother  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  seventy.  Mrs. 
Colonius  was  born  in  St.  Wendel,  Rhenish 
Prussia,  and  came  with  her  family  to  Amer- 
ica in  1847.  By  her  marriage  she  has  be- 
come the  mother  of  five  children,  but  four 
died  in  infancy,  the  other  survivor  being 
Jessamine  May.  The  family  are  connected 
Avitli  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of 
which  j\Ir.  Colonius  is  a  trustee.  In  the 
summer  of  1892,  with  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, he  made  a  trip  to  Germany,  and  spent 


several  months  in  \-isiting  the  birthplace  of 
himself  and  Mrs.  Colonius,  as  well  as  other 
points  of  interest.  He  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised to  note  the  rapid  development  of  the 
mining  and  manufacturing  industries  in  and 
around  his  nati\e  ]>]ace,  by  which  the  same 
had  been  transformed  from  an  agricultural 
region  into  a  field  of  commercial  activity. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  Columbus  Lodge, 
No.  78,  F.  &  A.  M. ;  Fort  \\'innebago  Chap- 
ter, No.  14.  R.  A.  M. :  Fort  \\'innebago 
Commantlery.  Xo.  4.  K.  T. :  and  Bethlehem 
Chapter,  Xo.  100,  O.  E.  S.,  at  Portage, 
which  he  and  his  wife  assisted  in  organiz- 
ing. Since  casting'  his  first  presidential  \'ote 
for  Lincoln,  in  i860,  he  has  been  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  and  lie- 
sides  filling  the  oflices  already  mentioned, 
he  iias  served  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  Portage  since  1894,  and  as  its  presi- 
dent since  1895.  As  a  citizen  he  meets  every 
requirement  and  manifests  a  commendable 
interest  in  everything  that  is  calculated  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  his  adopted  city  and 
county  in  any  line.  Mr.  Colonius  is  a 
member  of  Rousseau  Post,  No.  14.  Ci.  A. 
R.,  of  Portage. 


EZRA  WILSON,  Deceased. 

Ezra  W'ilson,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  a-  highly  esteemed  and  honored  citizen 
ef  Richfield  township,  Adams  county,  \\"is- 
consin,  his  home  being  on  section  2,  where 
his  widow  still  resides.  He  was  born  in 
W^yoming  county.  Pennsyh-ania,  August  8, 
1826,  and  first  came  to  Adams  county,  this 
state,  in  1872,  but  after  living  here  awhile 
he  removed  to  Green  Lake  county,  and  did 
not  return  to  Adams  county  until  1880.  In 
early  life  he  worked  at  the  carpenter's  and 
millwrght's  trades,  but  devoted  his  last  years 
to  farming,  owning  and  operating  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  acres  on  section  2,  Rich- 
field township. 


630 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


]\Ir.  Wilson  was  twice  married,  his  first 
wife  lieing  Aliss  Jemima  Sciiooly,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  died  in  Dartfijrd.  Green  Lake 
county,  ^\'isconsin,  Decemloer  27,  1869.  V>y 
that  union  nine  children  were  horn,  namely: 
William;  Jennie,  Avife  of  J(3hn  Brooks,  of 
Junction  Cit}',  Portage  county,  ^Visconsin ; 
jMark,  who  married  Irene  Allen  and  \\\cs 
ii'  Georgia;  La\-ina,  wife  of  John  Banker,  r,f 
Berlin,  Wisconsin ;  Lois ;  \\'alter,  who  mar- 
ried \'ii_ila  Da\-3',  and  is  also  a  resident  of 
Berlin;  Charlie;  and  Emma,  wife  of  Frank 
Leach,  of  Adams  county. 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1S74,  at  Green 
Bay,  \\  isconsin,  Air.  A\'ilson  married  Miss 
Sarah  Linch.  who  was  born  in  Orange  cijun- 
ty.  Xew  York,  May  17,  1S56.  and  came  to 
Green  Lake  county.  \\'isconsin,  in  1868,  with 
her  parents,  Aaron  and  Sarah  (Baird) 
Linch.  The  father,  who  is  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  is  still  a  resident  of  that  county. 
He  ser\'ed  for  three  months  as  a  soldier  i->f 
the  Civil  war  at  the  l)eginning  (jf  that  con- 
flict. His  children  are  ]\Iary  C,  wife  of 
Joseph  Taylor,  of  Dartford,  Green  Lake 
count}-;  Angeline.  wife  of  John  Hubert,  of 
South  Dakota;  Martha  A.,  wife  of  U'illiam 
Wilson,  (jf  Antigo,  Langlade  county,  Wis- 
consin; Joseph,  who  married  Eva  Collen, 
and  lives  in  Illinois;  Dwight,  who  married 
Sarah  B.  Wilson,  and  makes  his  home  in 
Dartford,  Wisconsin;  Sarah,  widow  of  Ezra 
Wilson,  oiu-  su1)ject;  WiUiam  H. ;  Cassie, 
wife  of  a  ^Ir.  Davis,  of  Columbus,  Wiscon- 
sin ;  Benjamin,  who  wedded  ]\Iary  Otto,  and 
lives  in  Rush  Lake,  Green  Lake  county;  Jo- 
siah,  who  married  Lillie  Bradley  and  re- 
sides in  Dartford;  and  Lizzie,  wife  of  Willis 
Bonnell,  of  Dartford.  By  his  seci.md  mar- 
riage our  subject  had  two  s(.)ns :  Lorenzo; 
and  Orin  O.,  who  married  Lax-ina  Labrence 
and  li\-es  at  home,  where  he  owns  twenty-fi\'e 
acres  of  land. 

^Jr.  Wilson  was  a  soldier  of  the  Cix'il 
war,   enlistiup'  at    Madison,     Wisconsin,    in 


Company  I,  Thirty-first  W^isconsin  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  in  later  years  he  was  an 
honored  member  of  Tom  Eubank  Post,  No. 
150,  G.  A.  R..  at  Plancock,  Wisconsin.  He 
v.as  well  and  favorably  known  and  was  just- 
ly entitled  to  the  high  regard  in  which  he 
v.-as  held  by  his  fellow  citizens  aufl  by  all 
w  ho  knew  him,  for  he  led  an  upright,  honor- 
able life,  and  was  true  to  every  trust  reposed 
in  him.  Mrs.  \Vilson  was  a  member  of  the 
Relief  Corps  at  Llancock. 


JAMES  C.  M.\cKENZIE. 

James  C.  MacKenzie,  Portage,  Wiscon- 
sin, is  a  son  of  old  Columbia  county,  and 
is  the  newly-elected  sheriff  of  the  county. 
He,  although  a  comparatively  young  man, 
has  already  made  his  mark  in  the  world  and 
is  already  known  as  a  very  shrewd  Ijusiness 
man  and  a  very  popular  citizen. 

He  was  born  October  19,  1864,  and  his 
father,  Hon.  John  MacKenzie,  a  nati\-e  of 
Scotland,  came  to  this  country  in  1S48.  He 
lived  for  a  short  time  in  Racine,  and  came 
to  Columbia  county  the  following  year. 
Here  he  was  a  farmer  for  a  time,  and  then 
became  a  miller  at  DeKorra,  where  he 
bought  an  extensive  milling  plant,  which  has 
made  that  name  quite  famous.  It  was  the 
first  in  this  part  of  the  state.  He  carried 
it  on  until  his  death  in  May,  1892,  and  the 
business  has  since  been  continued  hv  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  The  father  was  a  man 
o:  ability,  and  in  politics  was  an  ardent  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party,  being  elected 
by  that  organization  to  the  state  legislature 
in  1883.  His  wife  was  Mary  Wilson  in  her 
maidenhood,  and  her  father,  James  Wilson, 
was  a  pioneer  settler  of  Columbia  county. 
She  is  still  living  on  the  old  homestead. 

James  C.  MacKenzie  is  the  third  in  a 
familv  of  eight  children,  and  was  educated 


JAHES  C.  MACKEHZIE. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


m% 


ill  the  ccmimon  schools,  and  also  at  t1ie 
Povnette  high  school.  His  Inisiiiess  life  be- 
gan as  a  salesman  for  the  DeKorra 
mill.  He  continued  in  this  capacity  un- 
til he  had  reachetl  his  twenty-third 
3ear.  For  the  last  thirteen  years  he  has  lieeu 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business  at  Portage. 
Politically  lie  has  always  been  a  Kepulili 
can,  and  fur  many  years  lie  has  taken  acti\e 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  party  in  this 
county.  His  standing  in  the  party  is  at- 
tested by  the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  on  the 
second  ballot  at  the  county  conyention  of 
August  19,  1900,  for  the  Republican  nom- 
ination as  sheriff,  out  of  a  list  of  ft\e  good 
rnen  Ijefore  that  bod}-,  and  was  elected  No- 
vember, of  the  same  year,  b}'  a  yjlurality  of 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-one, 
the  largest  ever  giyen  ftir  a  county  officer  in 
Columbia  county. 

Mr.  ]\IacKenzie  and  Miss  Anna  J.  Bug- 
lass,  of  IMauston,  Wisconsin,  were  married 
November  23,  1897.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Maccabees,  and  has  been 
commander  of  the  Portage  Tent,  N(3.  122, 
since  its  organization.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  .\ncient  Order  of  United  ^\'ork- 
men,  and  the  ^Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica. He  is  yice-]3resident  of  the  local  as- 
sembly of  the   Equitable   Fraternal   Union. 

Mr.  MacKenzie  has  hati  excellent  Ijusi- 
ness  training  and  from  that  and  the  well- 
kno\yn  sterling  integrity  and  well-directed 
energ}-  of  purpose  that  are  his  leading  char- 
acteristics, it  is  confidently  expectetl  that 
he  will  fill  the  responsible  office  of  sheriff, 
to  which  he  has  just  been  chosen,  in  a 
nianner  tn  his  credit  and  the  satisfacti(Mi  of 
the  electors  of  the  county.  The  majority 
of  the  people  of  Columbia  county  are  con- 
gratulating themselves  that  so  able  and  hon- 
est a  man  has  been  chosen  to  fill  the  office. 
A  portrait  of  Mr.  MacKenzie  adorns  one 
of  the  pages  of  this  volume,  and  will  be  wel- 
comed l)v  a  large  circle  of  friends. 


CHARLES  BAKER. 

Charles  Baker,  of  Portage,  is  now  living 
a  retired  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  rest  which 
he  has  truly  earned  and  richly  deserves  by 
reason  of  his  industrious  efforts  of  former 
years.  Accomplishment  and  progress  ever 
imply  labor,  energy  and  diligence,  and  it 
was  those  qualities  that  enabled  our  subject 
to  rise  from  the  ranks  of  the  many  and  stand 
among  the  successful  few.  He  is  now  one  of 
the  highly  respected  citizens  of  Portage,  and 
his  long  residence  in  Columbia  county  and 
the  active  part  he  has  taken  in  its  develop- 
ment will  entitle  him  to  representation  in  its 
history. 

Mr.  Baker  was  born  in  Polsam,  parish 
of  Wells,  Somersetshire,  England,  June  14, 
1823,  a  son  of  William  and  Joanna  (Emery) 
Baker.  The  father,  who  spent  his  entire  life 
on  a  farm  in  Polsam  and  w-as  extensively 
engaged  in  dairying,  died  in  1827,  aged  for- 
ty-one years,  the  mother  in  1836,  aged  fifty- 
six  years.  1  hev  left  a  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren, six  sons  and  three  daughters,  namely : 
Harriet;  Elizabeth;  George;  William;  Caro- 
line, widow  of  James  Chancellor,  a  resident 
of  Portage  ;  Jose^ih  ;  Charles  ;  R<ibert,  a  resi- 
dent of  Sacket  Harbor,  Xew  York;  and  Hen- 
ry, twin  Ijrother  of  Robert,  who  was  for  a 
numbier  of  years  a  government  contractor  at 
Yiuna,  California,  and  was  robbed  and  mur- 
dered while  making  a  trip  in  Mexico.  Only 
Caroline,  Charles,  Robert  and  Henry  came 
to  the  United  States  and  the  first  three  of 
these  are  the  only  rej  resentatives  of  the  fam- 
ily now  living. 

On  first  comine  to  America  in  1840, 
j  Charles  P.aker  located  at  Northport,  Prince 
Edward's  district.  L'pper  Canada,  where  he 
remained  until  1 846,  and  then  returned  to 
England,  where  he  was  married.  In  August, 
1847,  he  again  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  took 
up  his  residence  in  Canada,  but  the  follow- 
ing spring  came  to  Wisconsin  and  settled  in 


GU 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Fort  W'innebag'o  townsliip,  Columljia  coun- 
ty, where  lie  turned  his  attention  to  agricult- 
ural pursuits.  At  that  time  the  greater  part 
of  this  region  was  still  in  its  jirimitive  condi- 
tion ;  there  was  hut  one  house  on  the  present 
site  of  the  city  of  Portage :  and  he  had  to 
Iiaul  all  his  supplies  from  Kenosha  with  an 
ox  team  and  wagon,  which  he  purchased  on 
credit  as  he  had  but  thirty-five  dollars  in  cash 
on  his  arrival  here.  His  first  house  was  of 
logs  with  a  hay  roof,  and  although  he  ex- 
])erienced  all  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of 
])ioneer  life,  he  prospered  in  his  new  home  as 
the  time  passed  and  cleared  a  large  farm, 
owning  at  one  time  se\-en  hundred  acres  of 
land.  He  gave  considerable  attention  to 
the  breeding  of  cattle,  and  had  a  large  herd 
of  high  grade  Durhams.  Upon  his  farm  he 
built  a  cheese  factory  in  1873  '^"'^l  manufac- 
tured other  dairy  products  besides  cheese, 
keeping  for  this  purpose  fifty  cows.  A  part 
of  the  farm  is  now  owned  by  his  sons,  who 
carry  on  the  whole,  while  he  lives  retired  in 
I'ortage,  having  removed  to  that  place  in 
1887.  There  he  owns  a  block  of  store  build- 
ings and  other  \-aluabIe  [iroperty,  the  rent 
from  which  adds  not  a  little  to  his  income. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  1847,  Mr.  Baker 
married  Miss  Priscilla  Stubbins,  of  Wookey, 
Somersetshire,  England,  who  died  in  1862, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years,  lea-ving  seven 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  childhood. 
Those  still  living  are  Edmund  S.,  an  attor- 
ney of  Portage;  William  Charles:  Priscilla 
Ruth,  wife  of  W.  B.  Cotant,  of  Xew  Hamp- 
ton, Iowa ;  George  Watts,  a  resident  of  Tes- 
cott,  Kansas;  and  Ralph,  who  lives  on  the 
homestead  farm.  Mr.  Baker  was  again  mar- 
r'ed,  January  21,  1863,  his  second  union 
being  with  Miss  Clarissa  Holloway,  a  native 
01  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of  James  Hal- 
loway.  By  her  he  had  three  children,  one 
of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The  son,  Andrew 
Johnson,  is  now  a  farmer  of  Fort  Winne- 
bago township;  and  the  daughter,  Joanna 


Emery,  is  the  wife  of  Chester  Cotant,  of 
Decorah,  Iowa.  On  the  ist  of  March,  1868, 
Mr.  Baker  married  Lura  Howe,  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  and  Hannah  Howe,  of 
Xew  York.  She  died  April  22,  1890,  and 
on  the  22d  of  the  following  October  he  wed- 
ded ]\Irs.  Maria  J.  Berry,  a  daughter  of 
Elisha  and  Juliet  (Bartram)  Bangs,  the 
former  a  native  of  Lenox,  Massachusetts, 
the  latter  of  Reading,  Pennsylvania.  Mrs. 
Baker  was  born  in  Groton,  Tompkins  coun- 
ty, New  York,  and  was  first  married  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1856,  to  De  Witt  C.  Berry.  The 
same  year  they  came  to  Wisconsin  and  set- 
tled in  the  town  of  Fort  Winnebago,  Colum- 
bia county,  where  Mr.  Berry  died  September 
21,  1886,  aged  fifty-eight  years. 

While  a  boy  at  Bristol,  England,  i\Ir. 
Baker  remembers  seeing  in  course  of  con- 
struction the  first  steamboat  that  ever  crossed 
the  Atlantic  ocean.  Three  times  he  has  vis- 
ited his  native  land  since  coming  to  this 
country,  first  in  1846,  and  again  in  1858  and 
1 88 1,  but  prefers  America  as  a  home,  for 
here  he  has  prospered,  being  now  one  of  the 
well-to-do  and  substantial  citizens  of  his 
adopted  county.  He  and  his  wife  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Port- 
age, which  she  joined  soon  after  coming  to 
the  county,  and  lx)th  are  held  in  high  re- 
gard by  all  who  know  them.  He  has  affil- 
iated with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows  since  1844,  has  filled  all  the  chairs 
in  the  local  lodge,  and  was  a  member  of 
Excelsior  Encampment,  No.  30,  until  it  dis- 
banded. For  some  j-ears  he  was  alsn  con- 
nected with  Patriarchal  Circle,  No.  4,  and 
a  member  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Wiscon- 
sin. Politically  he  has  been  a  life-long  Dem- 
ocrat, and  is  at  present  an  advocate  of  free 
silver.  In  Fort  Winnebago  township  he 
filled  nearly  all  of  the  local  offices,  including 
that  of  justice  of  the  peace,  which  he  held 
there  for  thirtv  years,  and  for  three  years 
in  Portage. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


C35 


JOHN  SMITH. 

John  Smith,  a  prosperous  and  inteUigent 
farmer  residing  on  section  ii,  Richfield 
township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  was 
l)orn  in  Allegany  county,  New  York,  Sep- 
tember 26,  1849,  'iiid  on  the  paternal  side  is 
of  German  descent,  his  great-grandfather, 
]\Iichael  Smith,  being  a  native  of  Germany. 
His  grandfather.  Michael  S.  Smith,  was 
born  near  Bunker  Hill  on  the  day  of  the  fa- 
wous  battle  at  that  place  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

William  A.  Smith,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  in  the  town  of  Galway,  Scho- 
harie county,  New  York,  October  9,  18 19, 
and  was  married  in  Allegany  county,  that 
state,  March  25,  1847,  to  Mary  M.  Beeby, 
a  native  of  the  town  of  Brookfield,  Madison 
county,  New  York.  Her  father,  Seth  Bee- 
by, a  farmer  by  occupation,  was  born  in  Wil- 
braham,  Massachusetts,  July  21,  1782,  and 
married  Elsie  Potter,  who  was  born  in 
Brookfield,  New  York,  July  29,  1803.  Her 
paternal  grandparents  were  Zadock  and  Sar- 
ah (Leach)  Beeby,  the  former  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1744,  the  latter  in  New  London, 
Massachu-setts,  in  1742.  Her  father  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Re\'olutionary  war,  and  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians,  together  with 
his  brother,  who  was  massacred,  but  he 
managed  to  escape  the  night  after  his  cap- 
ture and  wandered  about  through  the  woods 
for  thirteen  days  without  anything  to  eat. 
He  finally  found  a  dead  horse,  on  which  he 
lived  until  he  gained  strength  to  crawl  on 
his  hands  and  knees,  and  in  that  way  re- 
turned home.  In  1863  the  parents  of  our 
subject  came  to  Wisconsin  and  first  located 
in  \\'aushara  county,  where  they  made  their 
home  for  six  years.  Coming  to  Adams 
county  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  father 
I)urchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  in  Richfield  township,  upon  which  our 
subject  now  lives.     On  settling  there  only 


about  forty  acres  had  been  cleared,  and  the 
other  improvements  consisted  of  a  log  house 
and  a  good  barn  costing  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars. Throughout  his  active  business  life 
the  father  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farm- 
er, and  supported  the  Democratic  party  by 
his  ballot. 

Our  subject  also  devotes  his  time  and 
attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  is  now 
the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of  two  hundred 
and  thirty  acres,  of  which  seventy-five  acres 
are  under  cultivation.  On  the  8th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1870,  at  Richford,  Waushara  county, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ad- 
die  Mott.  Her  father,  Almeron  A.  Mott, 
was  born  in  Montpelier,  Vermont,  July  11, 
1825,  a  son  of  Abraham  Mott,  a  farmer  of 
that  state.  In  1849  ''•e  was  married  to  Har- 
riet Dow,  also  a  native  of  Montpelier,  borii 
January  20.  1823.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  are 
the  parents  of  four  children,  namely :  Fran- 
cis, deceased ;  Bertha,  wife  of  Edward  Car- 
penter, of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin ;  Myr- 
tle, wife  of  William  Carpenter,  of  the 
same  county ;  and  Archie  J.  In  politics 
Mr.  Smith  is  a  Republican,  and  ne\"er  with- 
holds his  support  from  an}-  enterprise  which 
he  believes  will  •  ro\'e  of  pul)lic  benefit.  He 
is  progressi\-e  and  public-spirited  and  kee]:)s 
well  informed  on  the  leading  cjuestions  and 
issues  of  the  dav. 


ROBERT  BELL. 

Robert  Bell,  a  prominent  farmer  of  Co- 
lumbia county,  and  a  resident  oi  Hampden 
township,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Brook- 
field, Waukesha  county,  April  14,  1845.  He 
is  a  son  of  Francis  and  Margaret  (Stewart) 
Bell,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  They  came 
to  Milwaukee  in  1839,  and  a  year  later 
moved  to  the  to\\-n  of  Wauwatosa,  and  very 
shortly  after  that  took  up  a  farm  in  the  town 


636 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


of  Brookfiekl.  Francis  Bell  is  still  livino-. 
iiud  is  eighty-four  years  of  age.  His  wife 
died  in  1851.  'I  liey  were  the  parents  of 
fourteen  children,  of  whcmi  ten  are  still  liv- 
ing. The}'  may  be  briefly  mentioned : 
James  C.  is  in  Arizona;  Francis  B.  died  in 
Brookfiekl ;  Jane  is  Mrs.  Harrison  and  lives 
in  Nevada ;  Robert  is  a  resident  of  the  town 
of  Hampden,  this  county:  Alary  Ann  died  in 
1863:  Stewart  C.  is  in  the  town  of  Hamp- 
den; ]\Iartha  was  Mrs.  Tubin  and  died  in 
1897;  William  and  Samuel  are  in  Nevada; 
Elizabeth  is  Airs.  Doherty.  and  lives  in 
Washington ;  George  is  an  artist  of  note  in 
Boston  ;  two  others  died  in  youth. 

Our  subject  was  born  and  receiNxd  his 
early  education  in  Brookfiekl.  In  1861  he 
enlisted  in  Company  B,  Fifth  AVisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service  at  Madison.  The 
regiment  was  sent  on  to  Washington,  and 
formed  part  of  the  immediate  command  of 
General  Hancock,  and  was  constituted  an 
integral  ])art  of  the  Ami)-  of  the  Potomac. 
He  was  present  at  ^\'illiamsburg,  Freder- 
icksburg. Cold  Harbor  and  Gettysburg,  at 
■which  ])oint  he  recei\-ed  a  se\'ere  wound  in 
the  shin,  the  scar  of  which  still  remains. 
He  came  out  of  the  army  in  1864  in  good 
shape,  and  silent  the  balance  of  that  year  in 
this  state.  In  1865  he  went  to  Austin,  Ne- 
vada, to  work  in  the  mines  and  in  the  quartz 
mills.  He  put  in  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  days  in  one  year,  an  indication  of  his 
steady  and  industrious  habits.  He  spent 
three  years  in  the  mountains,  when  he  came 
back  to  Wisconsin  to  make  his  home  here 
the  rest  of  his  life.  In  1869,  with  his  broth- 
€-•  as  a  partner,  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  acres,  the  title  of  which  has  passed 
wholly  into  the  hands  of  our  subject. 

To  this  he  has  since  added  eighty  acres 
and  is  the  proprietor  of  an  agricultural  es- 
tablishment of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
acres  of  exceedingly  choice  land. 


Mr.  Bel!  was  married  February  14,  1874, 
to  Flora  M.  Nelson,  daughter  of  Le\'i  and 
Hannah  Nelson,  both  natives-  of  New 
A'ork.  Two  children  are  the  result  of  this 
union :  Kate,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Adelbert 
Clark,  and  Jeanette,  who  lives  at  home.  Our 
subject  takes  an  independent  attitude  in  poli- 
tics, and  wishes  always  to  vote  for  the  best 
men  regardless  of  part}'  considerations.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  school  board,  and  has 
been  chairman  of  the  town  board,  and,  by 
virtue  of  this  position,  of  the  count\'  board. 
He  has  a  fine  home,  a  good  farm,  and  bears 
the  reputation  throughout  the  cmmty  of  a 
straightforward  and  honest  man. 


ROBERT  GREENWOOD. 

Robert  Greenwood,  a  substantial  farmer 
and  influential  citizen  of  Winfield  township, 
Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  was  born  on  the 
14th  of  August,  1839,  in  the  town  of  Dent, 
Yorkshire,  England,  and  is  a  son  of  Rob- 
ert and  Eleanor  (Jackson)  Greenwood,  the 
farmer  also  a  nati\e  of  Dent,  the  latter  of 
Lancashire.  The  paternal  grandparents 
were  Joseph  and  Betsy  Greenwood,  farming 
people,  who  reared  a  famil}?  of  seven  sons. 
Besides  the  father  of  our  subject  only  one 
of  this  number.  Miles  Greenwood,  came  to 
America,  and  he  died  in  Canada  soon  after 
his  arrival. 

Robert  Greenwood,  Sr.,  was  a  stone- 
mason by  trade  and  was  employed  on  public 
works  much  of  the  time  in  England.  t)n  the 
9th  of  May,  1848,  with  his  family,  he  em- 
barked on  a  saibng  vessel  bound  for  the 
United  States.  They  were  thirty-eight  days 
in  making  the  voyage  from  Liverpool  to 
New  York,  being  delayed  by  fogs  and 
storms,  but  finally  arrived  at  their  destina- 
tion in  safety.  After  a  week  spent  at  Pough- 
keepsie,  New  York,  they  proceeded  to  Ra- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


637 


cine,  Wisconsin,  wliere  they  spent  three 
years,  and  in  June,  1852,  came  to  Sauk  coun- 
ty, locating  in  Wlnfield  township.  The  fa- 
ther brought  with  him  all  of  his  family  and 
etTects  in  one  wagon,  and  on  his  arrival  here 
his  possessions  consisted  principally  .of  two 
yoke  of  o.xen,  one  cow  and  ten  dollars  in 
cash,  with  which  to  begin  life  on  a  new  and 
undeveloped  farm.  He  purchased  a  soldier's 
land  warrant  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
for  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  and  so 
busy  was  he  in  clearing  and  improving  his 
farm  that  the  family  had  only  slight  shelter 
until  fall,  when  a  log  house  was  built,  though 
there  was  no  floor  to  the  same  for  several 
years.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  indus- 
trious habits  and  conscientious  actions,  and 
died  December  3,  1894,  at  the  age  of  nearly 
ninety  years,  honored  and  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him.  In  England  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Episcopal  church,  but  never  unit- 
ed with  any  congregation  in  this  country. 
Politically  he  was  a  Republican.  His  worthy 
wife,  who  was  reared  as  a  Quaker,  died  in 
1872,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  To 
them  were  born  nine  children,  namely: 
Elizabeth,  now  the  widow  of  I.  Gregory,  re- 
siding" near  Reedsburg;  Robert,  otvr  subject; 
John,  a  resident  of  W'infield  township,  Sauk 
county;  James,  of  Nebraska;  Miles,  of  Win- 
field  ;  Joseph,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years;  Isabel,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  ;  Mrs.  Margaret  Dawson,  deceased ; 
and  Jane,  who  died  in  Nebraska. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  in  his 
ninth  year  on  the  emigration  of  the  family 
to  the  new  world,  and  during  their  three 
years'  residence  in  Racine  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, he  worked  for  his  board  and  clothes  on 
a  farm  near  the  city  of  Racine.  At  twenty- 
two  he  rented  a  farm,  at  the  same  time  going 
in  debt  seventy  tlollars  for  a  yoke  of  oxen, 
which  he  paid  for  out  of  his  farm  crop. 
Feeling  the  great  need  of  an  education  he  at- 
tended school  after  this  time  and  by  stu- 


dious habits  has  become  a  well-informed 
man.  In  October,  1863,  he  offered  his  ser- 
vices to  his  adopted  country  and  aided  in  her 
successful  efforts  to  preserve  the  Union,  en- 
listing in  Company  F,  Third  W'isconsin 
Cavalry,  which  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of 
the  Southwest,  and  was  on  duty  under  Gen- 
eral Blunt  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  fight- 
ing bushwhackers  under  the  command  of  the 
Confederate  General  Price.  Fortunately  he 
escaped  capture  and  was  never  wounded, 
and  after  the  close  of  the  war  was  honora- 
bly discharged  in  November,  1865.  In  the 
fall  of  1867  Mr.  Greenwood  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  his  father's  farm,  to  which 
he  has  since  added  a  forty-acre  tract,  and 
upon  the  place  he  has  made  many  \aluable 
improvements  which  add  to  its  attractive 
appearance,  including  the  erection  of  a  large 
and  comfortable  residence,  commodious 
barns  and  other  outbuildings.  He  now  has 
about  one  hundred  acres  of  land  under  ex- 
cellent cultivation ;  for  several  years  has  been 
extensively  interested  in  hop  culture;  gives 
considerable  attention  to  stock  raising  and 
dairying;  and  for  about  four  years  also 
bought  and  shipped  live  stock  at  Reedsburg. 
On  the  nth  of  February,  1874,  Mr. 
Greenwood  married  Miss  Dora  Cabstick,  a 
daughter  of  George  Cabstick,  of  New  Lis- 
bon, AMsconsin,  who  came  to  this  country 
from  Dent,  England.  She  died  in  ^larch, 
1870,  in  little  less  than  a  month  after  their 
marriage,  and  on  the  22d  of  April,  1879, 
Mr.  Greenwood  wedded  Miss  Eveline  L. 
Miller,  who  was  born  in  Wal.worth  county, 
Wisconsin,  in  i8si.  Her  parents,  Harmon 
and  Elizabeth  (Darrow)  Miller,  were  na- 
tives of  Ohio,  and  are  now  living  at  Val- 
ley Junction,  Wisconsin.  The  children  born 
to  our  subject  and  his  wife  are  James  Gar- 
field, Joseph  Henry.  \'esta  Belle,  Eveline 
Elizabeth,  Carrie  Maud,  Robert  O.,  Benja- 
min Harrison,  and  George  Lewis,  all  liv- 
ing; and  Frank,  who  died  in  infancy.    Mrs. 


638 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Greenwood  is  a  faithful  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist churcli  at  Reedsbiirg,  whicli  tlie  family 
attend,  and  our  subject  belongs  to  H.  A. 
Tator  Tost,  G.  A.  R.,  at  that  place.  Politi- 
cally he  has  always  lieen  identified  with  the 
Republican  party,  has  most  creditalMy  and  ac- 
ceptably filled  the  principal  offices  of  Win- 
field  township,  and  for  the  past  nineteen 
years  has  been  clerk  of  his  school  district. 


JOHN  GEORGE  ST AUDEN MAYER. 

John  George  Staudenmayer  is  a  progres- 
sive German-American  farmer  now  living  in 
retirement  in  the  town  of  Caledonia,  Colum- 
bia county.  He  was  born  at  Salach,  Goep- 
pingen,  W'urtemburg,  Germany,  April  21, 
1826,  and  though  he  has  passed  the  age  of 
three  score  years  and  ten  he  is  still  quite 
vigorous  in  both  mind  and  body.  His  par- 
ents were  John  Leonard  and  W^alburga 
(Riecker)  Staudenmayer. 

The  father  combined  the  pursuits  of 
weaver  and  farmer,  also  doing  duty  for  six 
years  in  the  German  army,  though  peace  pre- 
vailed during  the  whole  of  that  period.  In 
1855,  having  been  left  a  widower,  he  came 
to  join  his  children  in  this  country,  but  find- 
ing many  of  the  customs  which  prevailed 
here  uncongenial  to  his. taste,  he  returned  to 
Germany  after  two  years.  In  1871  he  once 
more  came  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  was 
heartily  welcomed  by  many  relatives  and 
friends,  but  only  enjoyed  their  hospitality 
for  a  short  time,  his  death  occurring  the  same 
year  at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy-two  years. 
His  wife  had  departed  this  life  in  April, 
1852,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years.  Of  their 
ten  children  only  four  survive,  all  of  whom 
are  now  residents  of  Wisconsin.  John  G.  i^ 
the  eldest  of  this  number;  Mary,  the  widow 
of  Peter  Labuvi,  lives  at  Woodland,  Dodge 
county ;  John,  a  well-known  farmer  of  Cale- 


donia township;  and  Theressa,  the  widow  of 
Fred  Labux'i,  also  resides  at  Woodland. 

John  G.  Staudenmayer  received  a  liberal 
education    in    an    institution    at    Emuend, 
\\'urtemburg.    He  had  intended  to  become  a 
teacher,    but    after    completing   the   course 
he  spent  one  year  as  clerk  in  the  office  of  a 
large  estate.     He  then  entered  the  army  of 
Wurtemburg  and  served  seven  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  war  of  1848,  between 
Gemany  and  Denmark,  occurred.     During 
the  first  three  years  he  held    the    rank  of 
tourier  or  orderly  of  the  company,  and  for 
the  balance  of  the  time  he  filled  a  similar 
position  (stabs-tourier)   for  the  whole  regi- 
ment.   After  his  discharge,  in  1853,  he  came 
to  the  United  States,  reaching  Portage  by 
stage  from  Janesville.     He  spent  the  next 
year  or  two  as  a  farm  laborer  and  then  en- 
tered sixty  acres  of  government  land  in  the 
town  of  Caledonia.     As  he  had  but  two  or 
three  dollars  upon  his  arrival  in  this  county 
he  was  obliged  to  begin  farming  in  a  very 
humble  and  primitive  manner,  and  his  sub- 
sequent success  furnishes  a  good  example 
of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  prudent  in- 
dustry directed  by  intelligence  and  discern- 
ment.    After  a  few  years  he  sold  this  farm 
and  purchased  another  in  the  same  town- 
ship, eventually  acquiring  a  well  improved 
farm  of  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  acres. 
At  one  time  he  also  owned  a  section  of  land 
in  Grant  county.  South  Dakota,  but  in  re- 
cent years  he  disposed  of  all  his  real  estate 
and  assisted  each  of  his  sons  to  obtain  a 
good  farm. 

Upon  his  arrival  in  this  country  he  de- 
termined to  become  an  American  citizen 
and  took  considerable  pains  to  fit  himself  for 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  an  Ameri- 
can citizen.  Though  he  never  received  any 
instructions  in  the  English  language,  he  at 
once  began  to  study  the  same  and  displays 
in  his  conversation  an  excellent  knowledge 
of  its  grammatical  construction.     In  a  few 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


639 


years  after  liis  arrival  lie  begj-an  to  be  se- 
lected by  his  townsmen  for  positions  of  trust 
and  has  filled  the  most  important  offices  in 
the  town  of  Caledonia.  For  ten  years  he  was 
chairman  and  eight  j^ears  its  town  clerk.  He 
is  now  serving  as  notary  public  and  health 
officer  of  the  township.  He  has  always  been 
a  dose  observer  of  public  affairs  and  at  pres- 
ent finds  himself  unable  to  give  conscientious 
support  to  any  political  party,  though  he  en- 
deavors to  discharge  his  duties  as  a  citizen 
according  to  his  judgment  and  knowledge. 
He  was  married  May  29,  1855,  to  Mar- 
garet Naser.  She  was  born  at  Blaufelden, 
Gerabronn,  W'urtemburg,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1854.  Her  parents,  John 
C.  and  Barbara  (Clingler)  Naser,  died  in 
Germany.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Staudenmayer  have 
seven  living  children  and  twenty-eight 
grandchildren.  Their  children  are  named 
as  follows:  Theressa,  widow  of  Jacob  Joss; 
George;  Sophia,  now  INIrs.  William  ]\Ic- 
Leish ;  John  L. ;  William  A. ;  Edward  R. ; 
and  Mary,  Mrs.  James  E.  Jones.  All  are 
residents  of  Columbia  county,  except  Mrs. 
Joss,  whose  home  is  at  Juneau,  Wisconsin. 


ORLANDO  MATTHEWS. 

Orlando  Matthews,  the  owner  and  oper- 
ator of  a  fertile  and  highly  tilled  farm  on 
section  8,  Big  Flats  township,  receives  his 
mail  at  the  postoffice  of  the  same  name,  and 
has  won  an  enviable  reputation  as  an  honest 
and  upright  citizen  of  Adams  county.  He 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Granby,  Oswego 
county.  New  York,  April  10,  1843,  and  his 
ancestral  stock  long  flourished  in  England ; 
his  grandfather  was  native  to  the  manor 
born. 

Marvin  Matthews,  the  father  of  Orlando, 
was  born  August  /,  181 7,  and  grew  to  man- 
hood in  Oswego  county,  where  he  wooed  and 


won  Almina  Burdick.  She  was  born  Decem- 
ber 26,  18 19,  and  proved  in  every  way  a 
worthy  helpmeet  to  her  frugal  and  indus- 
trious husband.  In  1847  they  came  to  De- 
lavan,  Illinois,  where  they  lived  one  year ; 
and  then, -not  satisfied  with  the  outlook,  came 
to  W'isconsin,  and  secured  a  home  near 
Waterloo.  Eight  years  later  he  made  anoth- 
er location,  and  one  which  proved  to  be  his 
last,  in  Adams  count}-.  He  died  January  17, 
1859,  leaving  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  good  Wisconsin 
land,  and  the  priceless  legacy  of  a  nol)le 
name.  He  was  an  original  Republican,  and 
was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  at  the  town 
of  Brownsville,  which  was  afterwards 
changed  to  Big  Flats.  His  father,  William 
Matthews,  was  born  in  England,  was  bred  to 
the  sea,  became  a  captain  of  a  coast  steamer, 
and  died  full  of  years  and  honor. 

Orlando  Matthews,  the  subject  of  this 
\\riting,  came  to  Wisconsin  while  still  a  lad, 
and  was  married  to  Laura  Haven,  April  22, 
1866,  in  the  town  of  Preston,  Adams  county, 
\Visconsin.  He  is  an  extensive  land  owner, 
and  has  been  singularly  successful  in  all  his 
dealings.  His  farm  consists  of  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  with  two  hundred  and 
twenty  under  cultivation.  The  family  man- 
sion is  ample  and  convenient  in  every  way, 
there  is  a  large  barn,  and  the  farm  is  amply 
provided  w'ith  outbuildings  suited  to  a  mod- 
ern and  progressive  agriculturist.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  his  good  standing  among  his 
neighbors  is  evidenced  by  his  frequent  elec- 
tion to  important  local  positions.  W'hen  he 
was  twenty-three  he  was  elected  town  clerk, 
a  position  which  he  held  nine  years.  He  was 
treasurer  eight  years,  and  in  1893  was  made 
chairman  of  the  town,  and  is  still  serving 
in  that  capacity.  He  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  county  politics,  fre(|uently  attended 
the  conventions,  and  is  universally  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the 
party  in  his  town.     He  also  is  deeply  in- 


640 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


terested  in  the  public  scliools,  and  does  every- 
thing possible  to  promote  their  welfare  and 
orderly  administration.  He  made  a  home- 
stead entry  of  the  original  eighty  acres  on 
which  his  home  now  stands,  and  the  balance 
of  his  extensive  real  estate  holdings  has  been 
secured  a  little  at  a  time.  He  is  giving  much 
alention  to  cattle  breeding,  and  sometimes 
has  a  herd  of  fifty  cattle  at  a  time.  The  ex- 
treme newness  of  the  country  at  the  time  of 
his  settlement  is  evident  by  the  fact  that  when 
he  made  his  location  there  were  only  eleven 
farmers  in  the  town,  and  that  for  fi\'e  years 
they  were  without  a  local  school. 

Mr.  Matthews  was  a  soldier  of  the  Union 
army  during  the  last  montlis  of  that  great 
struggle — the  Civil  war.  the  time  of  his  ser- 
vice being  within  the  period  set  by  September 
24,  1864,  and  June  27,  1865.  He  enlisted 
from  Big  Flats  and  was  discharged  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  He  was  one  of  General  Sher- 
man's soldiers,  marched  to  the  sea,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  important  battle  of  Kings- 
ton, North  Carolina.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mat- 
thews are  the  parents  of  six  children,  only 
two  of  whom  are  now  lixing :  Ezbum  mar- 
ried Christina  Peterson,  July  12,  1899,  and 
is  living  at  home.  Ivatie  is  the  wife  of  Fred 
A.  Reid,  a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Big  Flats. 
There  is  one  grandchild,  Grace  George,  in 
the  paternal  home.  Mrs.  Matthews  is  the 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Margaret  (Brown) 
Haven,  and  was  born  May  22,  1843,  ^^ 
Franklin,  Pennsylvania,  and  came  into  this 
state  when  quite  young.  Mr.  Haven  made 
his  first  home  at  Madison,  afterwards  at 
Fall  River,  Columbia  county,  and  in  1858 
located  in  Adams  county,  where  the  remain- 
ing years  of  his  life  were  spent.  He  was 
a  cabinet  maker  and  worked  at  his  trade 
many  years.  He  was  born  at  Ogdensburg, 
New  York,  November  16,  181 2,  and  was 
married  to  Margaret  Brown,  June  19,  1842, 
at  Franklin,  Pennsylvania.  Her  father,  Ja- 
cob Haven,  lived  at  French  Creek,  St.  Law- 


rence county.  New  York,  man}-  }-ears.  and  his 
mother  (Streeter)  lived  to  be  one  hundred 
and  one  years.  Mrs.  Jacob  Ha\en  was 
known  when  a  girl  as  Catherine  Streeter, 
and  li\ed  and  died  in  French  Creek,  New 
\'ork.  Altogether  it  is  an  interesting  family 
iiistor}-,  and  repays  close  study. 


CAPT.    ALEXANDER   PRESTON    EL- 
LINWOOD,  Deceased. 

P'robably  no  man  in  Reedsburg  was  bet- 
ter known  in  that  city  and  the  surrounding 
country  than  Captain  Ellinwood.  Having  re- 
sided in  that  place  for  more  than  two  score 
or  \'ears,  and  having  been  actively  identified 
v/ith  many  public  movements,  he  was 
brought  into  intimate  contact  with  a  large 
number  of  people  and,  though  his  views  were 
not  always  in  harmony  with  those  of  many 
of  his  contemporaries,  no  one  will  deny  that 
his  sentiments  were  honestly  conceived  and 
fearlessly  expressed  on  all  occasions. 

He  was  born  near  Peterboro,  Madison 
county,  New  York,  September  9.  1S33,  and 
is  a  son  of  George  \\^  Ellinwood  and  Han- 
nah J.  Alexander.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
)ears  he  started  out  to  make  his  own  way 
in  the  world  and  spent  the  first  season  as  a 
farm  laborer  at  eight  dollars  per  month. 
The  ne.xt  year  he  entered  New  York  Central 
College  at  McGrawville,  a  progressive  insti- 
tution, which  was  the  second  in  the  United 
States  to  adopt  the  system  of  co-education 
for  both  sexes.  He  spent  several  \'ears  there 
earning  the  means  to  continue  his  studies  at 
intervals,  by  such  employment  as  he  could 
secure.  A  jiart  of  this  time  he  taught  a 
country  school  for  seventeen  dollars  per 
month  and  "boarded  round."  Later  he  was 
engaged  as  principal  of  a  graded  school  at 
McGrawville,  New  York,  but  a  few  days  be- 
fore he  was  to  begin  he  learned  that  some  of 


CAPT.  ALEXANDER  P.  ELLIHWOOD.     (Deceased) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


643 


the  patrons  \vere  seriously  opposed  to  his 
being-  employed  on  account  of  his  "free 
thinking"  principles,  and  determined  to  seek 
a  ixisition  elsewhere.  In  company  with  A. 
J.  Warner,  since  famous  as  a  leader  of  the 
'free  silver  movement,"  but  at  that  time 
a  penniless  student  like  himself,  he  went  to 
central  Pennsylvania.  They  earned  enough 
to  meet  their  meager  expenses  by  working 
for  farmers  along  the  route  until  they 
reached  the  Kishaco(juillas  Valley,  where 
they  taught  an  acadein_\-  until  they  had  pro- 
cured sufficient  means  to  return  to  college. 
The  same  indomitable  spirit  of  perseverance 
w  hich  induced  him  to  obtain  an  education 
at  any  sacrifice,  characterized  subsec^uent  ef- 
forts and  he  never  was  known  to  abandon 
an  undertaking  which  he  set  out  in  earnest 
tc  accomplish. 

Having  finished  the  sophomore  }'ear  at 
college,  he  took  a  trip  through  Canada  and 
the  west,  arriving  in  Sauk  county  in  1858. 
He  taught  at  Reedsburg  and  elsewhere  un- 
til the  beginning  of  hostilities  between  the 
north  and  south  admonished  him  that  there 
W'-ere  more  urgent  duties  to  be  performed  and 
tb.at  his  assistance  was  needed  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union.  He  accordingly  directed 
the  same  enthusiasm  to  this  work  which 
had  marked  his  efforts  in  other  lines,  and  as- 
sisted in  recruiting  Company  A,  Nine- 
teenth ^^'isconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  which 
ir.cluded  in  its  membership  a  number  of  his 
former  pupils.  He  was  enrolled  December 
19,  1861,  and  was  at  once  made  second  lieu- 
tenant of  the  company.  The  regiment 
served  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  being  employed  most  of  the  time  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  taking  part  in 
a  number  of  battles  and  skirmishes  and  suf- 
fering much  from  malarial  fever.  Though 
he  was  offered  a  much  more  tlesirable  posi- 
tion soon  after  entering  the  ser\ice,  he  de- 
clined to  part  company  with  the  men  whom 

he  had  been  instrumental  in  persuading  to 
3* 


engage  in  the  conllict,  and  continued  to  share 
their  hardships  and  privations  until  his  serv- 
ices were  no  longer  needed  and  he  was  mus- 
tered out  as  captain  of  the  company,  Au- 
gust 9,  1865. 

Returning  to  Reedsburg  Captain  Ellin- 
wood  organized  and  taught  a  select  school, 
after  which  he  was  principal  of  public  schools 
for  se\'eral  years,  many  of  the  successful 
men  and  women  who  were  students  at  that 
time  bearing  testimony  to  the  thoroughness 
of  his  instruction.  Subsequently  he  was 
engaged  at  inter\-als  in  various  lines  of  busi- 
ness ;  at  one  time  he  was  in  the  mercantile 
business,  at  another  time  in  the  lumber  trade; 
during  the  pericid  in  which  the  cultivation  of 
hops  flourished  in  Sauk  county  he  dealt 
quite  extensivelv  in  that  product,  meeting 
with  severe  losses  in  the  crisis  of  1868,  at 
which  time  most  of  his  contemporaries  were 
hopelesslv  involved.  In  1870  he  purchased 
the  square  known  as  Mott's  second  addition 
to  the  \-illage  of  Reedsburg,  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  It  was  then  a  tract  of 
wild  land  containing  something  over  two 
acres.  Thtiugh  his  lack  of  judgment  was  de- 
rided ])}■  the  real  estate  dealers  of  that  time, 
he  built  his  residence  thereon  and  set  about 
the  improxement  of  the  property,  which  is 
now  cij\ered  with  buildings  and  good  resi- 
liences. From  time  to  time  he  made  addi- 
tional purchases,  ac(|uiring  at  one  time  about 
three  hundred  acres  in  and  adjacent  to  the 
city.  The  \'alue  of  all  this  property  has 
greatly  increased  and  much  of  it  has  been 
subdivided  and  improved. 

One  of  Ca]:)tain  Ellinwood's  greatest  en- 
terprises was  the  conduct  of  the  Reedsburg 
Fair,  which  he  held  annually  upon  his  own 
grounds  for  seventeen  years.  He  spared 
neither  time  nor  money  in  fitting  up  the 
premises  for  this  ])urpose  and  always  paid 
all  premiums  promptly,  though,  owing  to 
unfavorable  weather,  this  was  sometimes 
done  at  a  hea\-y  loss.    The  people  soon  began 


(544 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


to  appreciate  his  efforts  and  heartily  co- 
operated in  the  undertaking,  making  tlie 
fairs  great  successes  as  long  as  they  were 
continued,  but,  owing  to  failing  health  and 
other  considerations,  he  finally  found  it  ex- 
pedient to  abandon  the  exhibitions.  His 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  wedded  December 
21,  1868,  conducted  the  ladies'  department 
of  the  fair  and  was  of  great  assistance  to 
him  in  this  as  in  many  other  undertakings. 
The  maiden  name  of  this  lady  was  Hannah 
Cottington.  She  was  born  at  Waterville, 
New  York,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Jesse  and 
Rebecca  (Forward)  Cottington,  who  were 
among  the  worthy  pioneers  of  Sauk  county. 
The  three  boys  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  El- 
linwood  died  in  infancy.  They  reared  and 
educated  one  adopted  daughter,  Edith,  now 
the  wife  of  E.  A.  Thompson,  of  Reedsburg. 
Captain  Ellinwood  maintained  liberal  but 
decided  views  on  most  public  questions.  He 
leaned  toward  the  Unitarian  faith,  though 
not  connected  with  any  church.  For  forty 
years  or  more  he  was  identified  with  the 
Masonic  order  and  was  active  in  the  work 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  being 
a  past  commander  of  H.  A.  Tatur  Post,  at 
Reedsburg.  The  temperance  cause  always 
found  in  him  a  ready  and  able  champion. 
The  lively  interest  which  he  always  mani- 
fested in  public  affairs  led  to  his  being 
chosen  for  the  execution  of  numerous  offi- 
cial trusts.  For  several  years  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  town  and  village  and,  though 
he  vigorously  opposed  the  incorporating  of 
the  city,  was  elected  its  second  mayor;  for 
several  years  he  filled  the  office  of  chairman 
of  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  of  which 
body  he  was  a  member  for  twenty  years  or 
more,  and  in  1877  and  1878  he  represented 
his  district  in  the  Wisconsin  assembly.  He 
was  one  of  the  committee  of  five  appointed 
by  the  county  board  to  take  measures  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor  in  Sauk  county,  and 
in  erecting  the  county  poor  farm  buildings. 


a  work  he  took  much  pleasure  in,  as  he  was 
a  friend  of  the  indigent  and  helpless.  Be- 
ing naturally  gifted  with  unusual  powers  of 
language  and  reason,  he  had  no  hesitation  or 
eml^arrassmentin  expressing  his  ideas  on  any 
topic  in  ]jublic  or  private,  whenever  occasion 
required.  Although  his  position  regarding 
matters  of  public  policy  was  sometimes  vig- 
orously assailed,  he  retained  no  malice  to- 
ward any  one  and  enjoyed  the  personal 
friendship  and  esteem  of  most  of  the  people 
of  Sauk  county. 

Captain  Ellinwood  died  February  6, 
1900.  His  body  was  escorted  to  the  grave  by 
many  of  his  comrades  of  the  Nineteenth 
regiment,  six  of  whom  acted  as  pall  bearers. 
Many  comrades  of  his  company  were  pres- 
ent, as  well  as  the  members  of  H.  A.  Tator 
Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and  of  the  Woman's  Relief 
Corps,  and  a  large  concourse  •  of  friends. 
Mrs.  Ellinwood  is  still  residing  in  the  home 
place,  built  in  1872.  A  portrait  of  Captain 
Ellinwood  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


CHARLES  ABRAM  VAN  AERNAM. 

Charles  Abram  Van  Aernam,  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  the  village  of  Rio,  Colum- 
bia county,  Wisconsin,  represents  one  of  the 
prominent  pioneer  families  of  the  county, 
and  is  himself  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
character.  He  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Rio,  October  i,  1862,  and  is  a  son  of  Abram 
and  Helen  Van  Aernam,  of  whom  extend- 
ed notice  is  given  in  the  sketch  of  A.  E. 
Van  Aernam  on  another  page  of  this  vol- 
ume. 

The  subject  of  this  article  was  about 
fourteen  years  old  wdien  his  step-father, 
George  Busch,  removed  to  Cottonwood 
county,  Minnesota,  where  he  lived  about 
two  years.  While  still  a  boy  he  came  back 
to  Rio,  and  has  since  made  it  his  home.     Pie 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


G45 


attended  the  village  school,  and  at  the  age  of 
t\vent3'-two  began  life  for  himself  as  a  farm- 
er on  the  old  homestead,  ninety-two  acres 
of  which  he  still  owns.  Tliis  land  he  is 
at  present  renting,  and  puts  in  his  time  with 
a  steam  well-drilling  plant,  with  which  he  has 
put  down  many  valuable  wells  throughout 
the  county.  For  about  two  years  he  was  in 
a  meat  market,  but  finding  it  unsatisfactory, 
sold  it  out,  and  has  given  his  time  to  his 
well  business.  He  was  married  January  5, 
1887,  to  Miss  Addie  Ferris,  a  daughter  of 
John  R.  Ferris,  a  pioneer  farmer  of  Otsego 
township,  whose  biography  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mrs.  Van  Aernam 
was  born  May  19,  1867,  and  is  the  mother 
of  one  child.  Hazel,  who  was  born  October 
14,  1892.  Mr.  Van  Aernam  belongs  to 
Mt.  Pleasant  Camp,  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  at  Rio,  and  has  been  a  life- 
long Republican.  In  local  affairs  he  has  been 
a  man  of  considerable  importance,  and  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  village  board  of 
trustees,  and  takes  a  leading  position  in  the 
community. 


PERRY  CAVANAUGH. 

Perry  Cavanaugh,  an  enlightened  and 
progressive  farmer,  has  a  pleasant  and  at- 
tractive home  on  section  33,  Lincoln  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  and  is  a  good  repre- 
sentative of  the  sturdy  yeomanry  whose  stout 
arms  and  mighty  spirits  have  done  so  much 
to  redeem  the  wilderness  and  make  Wiscon- 
sin blossom  like  a  garden.  He  was  born  in 
Erin,  Chemung  county,  New  York,  Decem- 
ber 24,  1855.  He  is  a  farmer  by  choice, 
and  is  an  honor  to  his  calling. 

Perry  Cavanaugh  is  a  son  of  Charles  and 
Mary  (Catchim)  Cavanaugh,  who  were  mar- 
ried in  1850.  They  were  then  living  in  Dry- 
den,  New  York.  They  remained  in  the  east 
some  twenty  years,  and  in  1870  found  their 


way  to  Adams  county,  where  the  senior  Cav- 
anaugh invested  in  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres,  which  is  now  the  home  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  Mrs.  Charles  Cavanaugh 
v.-as  a  woman  of  many  marked  traits.  She 
was  much  respected  by  the  community  in 
which  she  lived,  and  beloved  by  her  friends 
to  an  unusual  degree.  In  the  home  circle 
her  character  shone  supreme,  and  in  the 
neighborhood  she  was  treasured  in  many 
hearts.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Julia  (Perry)  Catchim,  and  with  her  par- 
ents was  a  nati\-e  of  New  Jersey.  John 
Catchim  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  In  his  early  life  he  was  a  school 
teacher,  and  when  twenty-three  years  of  age 
moved  to  Chemung  county.  New  York, 
where  he  set  up  a  general  store,  and  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  for  nine  years.  After 
this  he  sold  his  store  and  bought  a  farm,  on 
which  the  rest  of  his  life  was  spent.  He 
died  in  1855. 

Charles  Cavanaugh  was  Ijorn  in  the  state 
of  New  York  and  was  apprenticed  early  in 
life  to  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  which  busi- 
ness he  followed  for  over  forty  years,  more 
than  twenty  vears  of  that  time  in  Wisconsin, 
his  sons  running  the  farm  while  he  worked  at 
his  trade.  Mrs.  C.  Cavanaugh  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  church  while  in  her  na- 
tive state. 

Perry  Cavanaugh  came  to  Wisconsin 
with  his  parents,  and  at  once  took  an  active 
part  in  the  busy  world  around  him.  He  be- 
came a  farmer,  and  the  family  homestead, 
on  which  he  resides,  has  become,  through 
his  care  and  toil,  a  model  farm  in  many  re- 
spects. He  pushed  himself  to  the  front  early 
in  life,  and  is  regarded  to-day  as  one  of  the 
leading  men  in  his  end  of  the  county.  He  is 
a  Republican  in  his  political  relations,  and  is 
an  active  party  worker.  He  was  married 
October  12,  1879.  to  Miss  Delphine  Bidwell, 
of  the  town  of  Easton,  Adams  county.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  William  Bidwell,  of  the  town 


646 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


of  New  Haven,  a  sketcli  of  wliose  life  aj)- 
pears  elsewhere  in  this  \'iilume.  The  union 
has  proved  a  happy  one  and  has  been  blessed 
by  the  coming  of  four  children :  Charles. 
Mary,  Frank,  and  Fred,  deceased.  The  last 
two  named  were  twins. 


SAMUEL  STAHL. 

Samuel  Stahl  is  a  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zen of  Lodi,  C(jluniljia  county,  Wisconsin, 
and  retains  unusual  physical  activity  at  such 
an  advanced  age  as  that  to  which  he  has  at- 
tained. His  has  been  a  creditable  career, 
and  shows  how  industry  and  integrity  will 
lift  a  man  from  the  most  humble  conditions 
into  afiluence  and  ease.  Me  began  the  world 
with  little  save  a  good  character,  a  clear 
mind,  an  honest  heart  and  habits  of  indus- 
try. 

Mr.  Stahl  was  born  in  Columbia  county, 
Pennsylvania,  August  19,  181 1,  and  is  a 
son  of  Abraham  and  Elizabeth  (Bear) 
Stahl.  The  father  of  Abraham  Stahl  came 
from  Holland  and  settled  on  a  farm  near 
Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  liv- 
ing there  when  the  battle  of  Germantown 
was  fought  near  his  house,  in  the  Revo- 
lution. Abraham  Stahl  was  a  miller  and 
died  about  1818,  leaving  his  widow  in 
very  humble  circumstances  with  nine  chil- 
dren. Samuel  Stahl  was  born  in  his  fa- 
ther's mill,  and  was  Ixmnd  out  on  the 
death  of  that  parent  to  an  uncle  by  marriage. 
He  suffered  considerable  neglect  as  well  as 
abuse,  and  ran  away  when  he  was  eight  years 
old.  This  was  in  the  early  spring,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  cross  the  Susquehanna  river 
on  the  ice.  There  was  an  open  space  in  the 
middle  of  the  river,  and  he  floated  a  rail 
across  and  crept  over  this  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  making  the  perilous  journey  safely. 
He  staved  with  his  mother  for  a  time  and 


then  went  to  live  with  another  farmer,  with 
v.hom  he  made  his  home  until  he  was  six- 
teen years  of  age.  His  early  years  were 
passed  in  extreme  povert)'.  He  had  but  one 
pair  of  shoes  the  entire  winter,  and  w^as  in 
the  habit  of  going  barefoot  throughout  the 
summer  and  SDinetimes  part  of  the  winter. 
The  young  man  did  what  he  could  to  rem- 
edy defects  of  early  education  after  he  be- 
came his  own  master,  which  was  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  He  went  to  both  German  and  Eng- 
lish schools  for  a  time,  and  entered  a  woolen 
mill,  where  he  became  a  ready  workman,  and 
spent  three  years.  When  he  was  about  twen- 
ty-one he  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
be  a  farmer,  and  accordingly  he  went  to 
Lycoming  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
cleared  a  farm  in  the  forest.  In  1849  Mr. 
Stahl  came  to  the  west  and  spent  a  year  in 
rvlihvaukee.  In  1850  he  came  to  Lodi  and 
secured  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
choice  farm  land,  which  he  still  owns.  He 
r;fterward  became  the  owner  of  another 
farm  nf  two  hundred  acres,  on  which  he 
made  his  home  until  1894,  when  he  moved 
into  Lodi.  He  sold  bis  first  crop  of  wheat 
in  Milwaukee,  and  hauled  it  to  that  city  with 
ox  teams,  requiring  two  weeks  to  make  the 
round  trip.  He  received  forty  cents  a  bushel 
for  it.  Wheat  was  not  paying  at  any  such 
figures,  and  Mr.  Stahl  turned  his  attention 
to  live  stock.  For  man_y  years  he  dealt  in 
cattle  and  horses  on  a  large  scale  for  the 
local  and  Chicago  markets.  He  was  a  lum- 
ber contractor  and  spent  several  seasons  in 
the  Wisconsin  and  Lemonweir  river  piner- 
ies. Mr.  Stahl  has  always  been  an  active 
and  industrious  man,  and  in  every  calling  he 
has  commanded  the  confidence  of  both  em- 
ployes and  associates  by  his  industry  and 
manifest  integrity.  While  still  a  young  man 
he  conducted  a  saw  mill  at  Okee  fur  the 
owner,  who  spent  the  winter  in  the  north. 
When  a  boy  he  worked  for  four  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  a  month,  considerably  more  than 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


647 


other  boys  of  liis  ag'e  were  able  to  commancb 
While  Hviiig'  in  ■Milwaukee  he  was  offereil 
four  acres  on  the  south  side  of  Si)ring'  sti'eet, 
about  eighty  rods  west  of  the  river,  for  one 
hundred  dollars  an  acre.  He  preferred  a 
farm,  and  thought  it  wiser  and  better  for 
his  famil}'  to  grow  up  in  the  country,  and  he 
has  never  regretted  the  refusal  of  this  very 
great  bargain,  which  was  apparent  even  at 
that  time. 

Samuel  Stahl  married,  November  15, 
1832,  JMiss  Louisa,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  (Carlisle)  Rogers.  Her  father  was 
the  proprietor  of  a  sawmill  on  "Race  Island," 
in  the  Susquelianna  ri\'cr,  and  lis'ed  in  Ly- 
coming count}-.  I\Irs.  Stahl  was  born  in 
New  Jersey  and  died  in  Lodi,  Wisconsin,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  The  date  of 
her  death  was  April  27,  i8<S3.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Lodi,  and 
a  lady  of  very  superior  character.  She  was 
the  mother  of  ten  children  :  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin is  an  eclectic  physician  at  Oakland,  Cal- 
ifornia. Harriet  Jane  is  Mrs.  Elias  Tallman, 
of  Bancroft,  Iowa.  John  Firman  wore  the 
Union  blue  as  a  member  of  the  Twenty-third 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was 
killed  at  Vicksburg,  May  26,  1863,  while 
carrying  wounded  from  the  field.  Joseph 
Carlisle  is  a  successful  miner  in  the  Klondike, 
but  his  home  is  in  Bancroft,  Iowa.  Almira 
Ann  is  Mrs.  Davison,  of  Bancroft,  Iowa. 
Catherine  Rebecca  married  Edward  Streeter 
and  died  in  Bancroft.  William  Edmund 
]i\-es  in  Burt,  Iowa,  and  Winfield  Scott  in 
Bancroft.  Louisa  Adelaide  was  born  April 
15,  1856,  married  David  Burnett,  and  died. 
Mr.  Stahl  has  forty-five  living  grandchil- 
dren, and  fifteen  or  more  great-grandchil- 
dren. Benjanu'n  F.  and  Joseph  C.  also  served 
in  the  United  States  army  during  the  Civil 
war,  and  five  of  his  grandsons  enlisted  dur- 
ing the  late  war  with  Spain. 

Mr.  Stahl  was  married,  in  1884,  to  Ellen, 
a  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Mecela  (Grove) 


Kyes.  This  family  came  from  western  New 
A'ork  to  Ohio,  and  then  in  1847  to  ^\'iscon- 
sin,  settling  in  Kenosha  county,  and  mov- 
ing from  there  to  the  town  of  West  Point, 
in  Columbia  comity,  where  the  husband  and 
father  died  September  11,  1876,  at  the  age 
ol  sevent_\-iive.  In  early  life  he  was  a  miller. 
His  wife  died  July  10,  1870,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three.  Mrs.  Stahl  was  l)orn  in  Keno- 
sha county  December  27,  1851.  Her  ma- 
ternal grandfather  was  a  weaver  near  Buf- 
falo, and  her  paternal,  grandfather  a  miller 
in  New  York.  Some  of  his  brothers  and 
brothers-in-law  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
armies.  Mr.  Stahl  has  long  been  a  Mason, 
also  a  member  of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern 
Star,  and  he  is  a  Republican  of  many  years' 
standing.  He  voted  for  Henry  Clay  in  1832 
and  has  since  been  a  voter  at  every  presiden- 
tial election  since  that  time.  He  has  filled  sev- 
eral town  offices  with  marked  ability.  He 
was  school  treasurer  for  thirty-seven  years, 
and  is  respected  and  liked  by  all  who  know 
him. 


REES  JAMES  DAVIS. 

There  is  no  class  of  biographies  which  is 
more  interesting  to  read  than  that  of  the  in- 
dustrious and  enterprising  farmer's  boy,  wlio 
has  risen  unaided  from  humble  circum- 
stances to  a  position  of  affluence  and  com- 
fort. Prominent  among  the  men  of  Sauk 
county  who  have  thus  laboriously  toiled  on- 
v,-ard  and  upward  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  stands  at  the  head  of  this  article. 

This  well-known  farmer  of  Winfield 
township  was  born  in  Adams,  Jefferson 
county,  New  York,  July  21,  1834,  and  is  a 
son  of  Amos  and  Rachel  (James)  Davis. 
The  father  spent  bis  entire  life  as  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  in  Jefferson  county,  and  there 
died  at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years.  His 
ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers  of 


648 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


New  England.  His  wife,  who  was  of  Welsh 
descent,  her  father  being  a  native  of  Wales, 
departed  this  life  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 
Her  mother  li\-ed  to  be  nearly  eighty  years 
old.  Our  subject  is  the  only  son  in  a  fam- 
il\'  of  six  children,  his  sisters  being  Celes- 
tine,  wife  of  C.  D.  Hunt,  of  Jefferson  coun- 
ty, New  York ;  Harriet,  wife  of  David  Ran- 
som, of  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin;  Mary, 
wife  of  D.  Lair,  of  Marshalltown,  Iowa; 
Carolina,  wife  of  James  McGuire,  of  New 
York :  and  Martha,  wife  of  Orrin  Durham, 
also  of  New  York. 

The  l>oyhood  and  youth  of  our  subject 
was  spent  upon  a  farm  in  his  native  state, 
and  his  education  was  accjuired  in  its  public 
schools.  .\t  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  be- 
gan to  support  himself  as  a  farm  hand,  and 
on  leaving  home  in  ths  spring  of  1855  came 
to  Rock  county,  Wirconsin,  where  he  spent 
two  years.  From  there  he  came  to  Sauk 
county  and  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred acres  in  Winfield  township,  which  at 
that  time  was  all  wild  land,  over  which  tht 
plowshare  had  never  passed.  He  clearetl, 
improved  and  cultivated  the  place  for  twenty 
years,  and  then  exchanged  it  for  his  present 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  in 
the  same  township.  This  is  divided  into 
highly-cultivated  fields,  rich  pastures  and 
timberland,  and  is  well  adapted  to  stock  rais- 
ing, his  specialty  being  the  breeding  of 
Hambletonian  and  Wilkes  horses.  Just 
after  completing  a  fine  farm  house  upon  his 
place,  in  1884,  a  cyclone  swept  over  the 
farm,  demolishing  his  residence  and  other 
buildings,  together  with  twenty  acres  of 
wheat  in  shock,  only  three  loads  of  the  same 
being  saved.  Notwithstanding  this  mis- 
fortune he  has  steadily  prospered  in  his  new 
liome  and  has  a  well-improved  farm,  which 
lias  been  acquired  through  his  own  well- 
directed  efforts  and  good  management,  for 
he  arrived  in  Reedsburg  with  onlv  twentv- 
five  cents  in  his  pocket,  though  he  had  paid 


fifty  dollars  upon  his  land  prior  to  coming 
hither. 

On  the  i6th  of  February,  1857,  ]\Ir. 
Davis  was  united  in  marriage  with  Ivliss 
Eliza  Ann  Seymour,  a  native  of  the  town 
of  Florence,  Oneida  county.  New  York,  and 
a  daughter  of  Ransom  and  Mary  C.  (Ran- 
som) Seymour.  The  father,  a -carpenter  by 
trade,  was  born  in  Winsted,  Connecticut, 
June  9,  1804,  and  died  in  Lewis  county, 
New  York,  May  27,  1845.  His  parents  were 
Abel  and  Nancy  (Humiston)  Seymour,  who 
died  in  Adams,  Jefferson  county,  New  York, 
at  a  ripe  old  age.  He  had  a  female  relative 
who  was  shot  by  the  Indians  during  the 
Revolutionary  war.  The  children  born  to 
our  subject  and  his  wife  were:  John  R., 
now  a  bookkeeper  in  a  large  feed  dealing 
establishment  in  Minneapolis,  Minnesota ; 
and  Inez  Adell,  who  died  April  24,  1879, 
aged  eight  years.  Mrs.  Davis  is  a  most 
estimable  lady  and  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Baptist  church.  Since  casting  his  first 
presidential  vote  for  John  C.  Fremont,  in 
1856,  Mr.  Da\'is  has  been  an  ardent  sup- 
porter of  the  Repul.)lican  party,  but  has 
never  cared  for  the  honors  or  emoluments  of 
public  office.  He  is  well  known  and  receives 
and  merits  the  esteem  of  his  many  friends 
and  acquaintances. 


HENRY  A.  FIELD. 

More  than  forty- four  years  have  passed 
since  this  gentleman  arri\'ed  in  Wisconsin, 
and  he  is  justly  numbered  among  the  hon- 
ored pioneers  and  leading  citizens  of  .\dams 
county.  He  was  prominently  identified  with 
her  agricultural  interests  for  many  years, 
but  is  now  living  retired  on  his  pleasant 
farm  in  Dell  Prairie  township,  near  Kil- 
l)(>iu"n  Citv.  His  is  an  honorable  record  of 
a   conscientious   man,    who   by    his   upright 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


G49 


lite  has  won  the  cuntideiice  of  all  with  win  mi 
he  has  come  in  contact. 

Mr.  Field  was  hcjrn  in  Chester.  Windsor 
county,  Vermont,  March  26,  1821,  and 
springing  from  good  New  England  stock, 
he  possesses  the  indomitable  energy  and  per- 
severance which  have  e\er  characterizetl  the 
people  of  that  localitv,  ami  ndw  in  his  de- 
clining years  he  is  able  to  enjuy  the  well- 
merited  reward  of  an  industrious  life.  He 
is  the  onl\-  son  of  James  antl  Mehitable 
(Thurston)  Field,  thrift}-  and  prosperous 
farmers  of  Windsor  county,  A'crnnmt,  where 
they  spent  the  greater  part  of  the'r  l;\es. 
The  father  died  in  Chester,  that  county,  in 
1850,  and  his  widow  afterward  came  to 
make  her  home  with  our  subject  in  Adams 
county.  Wisconsin,  where  she  died  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-four  years,  being  laid 
to  rest  in  the  Plainville  cemetery. 

During  his  boyhood  and  vouth  Ileiuw 
A.  Field  was  employed  on  the  home  farm 
during  the  summer  season,  while  through 
the  winter  months  he  attended  the  district 
schools,  where  he  accjuired  a  good  practical 
education.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  being 
the  only  son,  he  assumed  the  entire  control 
of  the  farm,  which  he  carried  on  until  1855. 
Being  convinced  that  better  opportunities 
awaited  men  of  enterprise  and  intelligence 
in  the  rapidly  developing  west,  he  then  came 
to  the  frontier  of  \\'isconsin  and  invested 
in  land  at  Plain\il]e.  He  made  his  home 
at  that  place  for  a  number  of  years,  while 
he  dealt  to  a  considerable  extent  in  wild 
lands.  In  1866  he  purchased  the  farm 
(near  the  village  of  Kilbourn)  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  which  has 
since  been  his  home.  He  is  now  the  owner 
of  about  five  hundred  acres  of  good  land 
in  that  township,  well  equipped  with  modern 
farm  buildings,  including  a  very  commodi- 
ous and  comfortable  residence,  where  he  is 
now  li\-ing  retired,  enjoying  the  fruits  of 
former  toil. 


On  the  /th  of  February.  1850.  JMr. 
Field  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
01i\e  T.  Thurston,  who  was  born  in  St. 
Lawrence  county,  X'ew  York,  and  died  No- 
vember 7,  1 89 1,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four 
years,  her  remains  being  interred  in  Plain- 
ville cemetery.  Her  parents,  John  and 
Olive  (Greeley)  Thurston,  were  nati\'es  of 
Chester,  Vermont,  and  the  mother  was  a 
representative  of  the  same  family  as  the  illus- 
trious Horace  Greeley.  To  Mr.  and  ^Mrs. 
Field  were  born  three  sons,  of  whom  one 
died  in  infancy:  Floyd  A.,  born  .Vugust  3, 
185S,  is  now  a  well-known  business  man  of 
Kilbourn;  and  George  H.,  born  January  Ji, 
i860,  resides  on  the  homestead  farm.  He 
married  Mary  A.  Paine  March  17,  1886,  of 
Kilbourn.     She  died  February,  1900. 

Although  nearly  four  score  years  have 
passed  over  his  head,  Mr.  Field  still  enjoys 
excellent  health  and  is  remarkalily  vigorous 
both  in  body  and  mind.  A  Republican  in 
principle,  he  has  given  little  heed  to  the 
distribution  of  political  honors  and  his  only 
official  service  has  been  in  the  capacity  of  as- 
sessor for  Dell  Prairie  township,  which  po- 
sition he  most  acceptably  filled  for  a  period 
of  twent\'  years.  His  successful  career  is 
the  natural  consecjuence  of  industrious  and 
prudent  habits  when  accompanied  by  discre- 
tion and  integrity  of  purpose,  and  the  his- 
tory of  his  life  afi^ords  an  example  Avorth}- 
the  emulation  of  rising  generations. 


\MLLL\M  JONES  EDWARDS. 

William  Jones  Edwards,  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  Civil  war  and  a  worth}'  rep- 
resentative of  the  agricultural  interests  of 
Columbia  county,  now  makes  his  home  in 
Portage.  His  early  life  was  spent  u]ion  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  being  born  in 
Dyfrun,  Merionethshire,  Wales.  January  r6, 
184,^  His  father.  Captain  William  Ed- 
wards, went  to  sea  when  a  bo\'.  and  tinalU' 


650 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Ijecame  commander  of  a  bi'ig  engaged  in 
the  coasting  trade  between  Wales  and  Ire- 
land. On  coming  to  the  United  States  in 
1849,  li*^  located  on  a  farm  in  Caledonia 
townsliip.  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  antl 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
There  he  died  about  1875.  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three  years.  He  was  active  in  support 
of  public  schools,  and  ser\-ed  as  an  iifficer 
in  his  district  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
early  life  he  married  Susanna  Jones,  also 
a  nati\e  of  Dyfrun,  and  a  daughter  of  John 
Jones,  a  farmer  who  lived  and  died  in 
JNIerionethshire,  Wales.  Our  subject's  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Edward  Edwards,  was 
also  a  farmer  l\v  occupation,  and  a  lifelong- 
resident  of  \\'ales.  Mrs.  Susanna  Edwards 
died  in  P(jrtage,  Wisconsin,  in  September, 
189S,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  She 
was  the  mother  of  five  children  :  Edward, 
who  died  in  boyhood;  (jwen,  wife  of  Evan 
R.  Evans,  of  Racine,  Wisconsin  ;  John,  who 
died  in  boyhood;  William  J.,  our  subject; 
and  Robert,  a  resident  of  Portage. 

\\  illiam  J.  Edwards  was  only  six  years 
old  on  the  emigration  of  the  familv  to 
America,  and  attended  school  more  or  less 
regularly  in  Columbia  county,  his  ser\-ices 
being  needed  on  the  home  farm  after  the 
death  of  his  two  older  brothers.  In  Au- 
gust, 1862,  he  joined  the  boys  in  blue  of 
Company  C,  Twenty-third  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  which  was  assigned  to  the 
department  of  the  Gulf.  From  JNIemphis  the 
regiment  went  to  Haines  Blufif,  taking  part 
in.  the  engagement  at  that  place,  and  from 
there  went  to  Arkansas  Post.  For  forty- 
se\-en  davs  they  partici]Mted  in  the  siege  of 
^''icksburg,  were  also  in  the  siege  of  Jack- 
son, Mississippi,  and  later  went  to  Xcw  Or- 
leans, where  thev  joined  (jeneral  Banks' 
Red  river  expedition.  On  their  return  the\' 
were  in  camp  at  Baton  Rouge  iov  a  time, 
and  then  proceeded  to  Mobile,  aiding  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Morgan,  Fort  Gaines,  Span- 


ish Fort  and  Fort  Blakeley.  They  were  at 
the  last  named  place  at  the  time  of  Lee's 
surrender.  During  the  Red  river  campaign 
Mr.  Edwards  was  slightU-  wounded  in  the 
left  arm  by  a  spent  ball.  He  took  [lart  in 
fourteen  battles,  and  was  constantly  in  act- 
'i\-e  service  with  his  comjiany  for  nearly 
three  years,  when  the  war  ended  and  he 
was  honorably  discharged  at  Moljile,  Ala- 
bama, July  4,   1865. 

Returning  home  Mr.  Edwards  resumed 
farming  in  Caledonia  township,  where  he 
still  owns  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  on  sections  17,  20  and  21,  but 
since  1897  has  made  his  home  in  Portage. 
During  the  summer  season  he  is  employed 
as  a  bridge  tender  by  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railroad  Company. 

In  June,  1870,  Mr.  Edwards  was  united 
in.  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Owens,  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Catherine  (Rob- 
erts) Owens,  and  a  native  of  Schuyler,  Her- 
khner  county.  New  York,  her  parents  having 
come  from  Wales  and  resided  in  the  Empire 
state  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1853  they 
came  to  Caledonia  township,  Columbus 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  the  father  died  u 
few  3'ears  later,  and  where  the  mother,  also, 
died  after  survi\-ing  him  some  years.  Her 
mother,  Mrs.  Gwen  Roberts,  died  in  New 
\ork,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  Of 
the  five  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ed- 
wards, three  died  in  infancy.  Those  liv- 
ing are :  Thomas,  a  carpenter  of  Baraboo, 
Wisconsin;  and  Susan. 

Mr.  Edwards  is  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Portage,  with  which  all  the  family 
are  connected,  and  he  is  also  a  member  of 
Rousseau  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  in  which  he  has 
served  as  junior  vice-commander.  Politically 
he  has  always  affiliated  with  the  Republican 
party,  but  has  never  been  an  active  politician. 
He  has  been  found  true  to  every  trust  re- 
posed in  him,  and  in  days  of  peace  as  in  time 
of  war  is  loyal  to  his  adopted  country. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


651 


WILLIA:\[  BRIi\FMI':R. 

\\'isconsin  is  indebted  ti)  Ciermany  fur 
much  i)f  lier  proo-ress,  imt  nnly  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  hut  in  lier  material  growth 
and  des'elopment.  W'ilham  Urimmer,  wiiose 
valualile  estate,  situated  in  Spi"in,t;\'ille  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  lias  furnished  to  the 
community  in  which  he  ,li\es  an  example 
of  Avholesome  thrift  and  honest  industry, 
and  of  its  results  even  in  a  countrv  to  \\hich 
he  came  a  stranger,  without  mean.s. 

Wlilliam  Brimmer  was  born  in  Silesia, 
Germany,  March  7,  1838,  the  son  of  Gott- 
fried and  Mary  (Menzel)  Brimmer.  Gott- 
fried Brimmer  was  a  wagon-maker  Ijy  trade, 
and  died  in  Germany.  His  father,  Gott- 
fried Brimmer,  lived  in  Barsdorf,  and  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  a  tailor.  \\^!lliam  Brim- 
n?er  attended  school  in  his  natixe  land  un- 
til he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  then 
for  two  years  worked  for  a  farmer.  After 
this  he  learned  the  trade  of  milhvrigh.t,  and 
worked  at  it  for  about  ten  years.  He  then 
served  in  the  German  army,  in  the  light  ar- 
tillery, taking  part  in  the  Holstein  war  in 
1864  and  the  Austrian  war  in  1866,  and 
did  go(_id  and  very  hea\-}"  service. 

In  June,  i8')7,  Mr.  B>rimmer  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  first  located  at  ^Vauke- 
sha,  \\'isc6nsin.  Not  being  alile  to  obtain 
work  at  his  trade,  he  did  farm  work  f(_)r  one 
year.  He  then  went  to  Chicago,  where  he 
w-orked  at  his  trade  of  millwright  iuitil  1881. 
In  the  meantime  he  had,  during  the  great 
fire  in  Chicago,  lost  a  new  house  and  valu- 
able furniture,  all  the  property  he  possessed 
in  the  world.  In  1881  he  came  to  Adams 
county  and  secirred  some  property  in  Spring- 
ville  township,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  now  owns  a  farm  ijf  about  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres,  well  cultivated,  and 
enhanced  by  v^aluable  improvements  and  con- 
veniences for  the  proper  conduct  of  modern 
farming.     He  is  engaged  in  the  raising  of 


grain  and  stock,  and  has  made  a  success  of 
it.  He  has  in  the  past  kept  bees,  and  his 
apiary  has  been  a  source  of  profit.  The  se- 
vere cold  of  the  winter  of  189S-99,  however, 
killed  them. 

Mr.  Brimmer  was  married  in  June,  1S65, 
to  Christine  Strum,  of  Berlin,  Germany. 
To  this  uni<jn  five  children  have  been  born, 
four  of  whom  are  still  living,  named  in  the 
order  of  birth  as  follows:  Martha,  born 
January  12,  1868,  now  a  stenographer  in 
Chicago;  George,  Ijorn  April  i,  1870,  now 
working  for  the  McCormick  Harvester 
Company  in  Chicago;  William,  born  in 
1873,  now  in  the  Ivlondike ;  and  Otto,  born 
June  8,  1875.  now  farming  on  the  old  home- 
stead farm  in  Spring\'ille  township. 

In  political  views  Mr.  Brimmer  is  a  Re- 
pul)lican,  and  \vhile  he  takes  a  lively  inter- 
est in  matters  ui  a  public  nature,  he  has 
never  sought  oflice.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church  at  Ouincy,  and  also  holds 
membership  in  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  Harmonia  L(.idge,  No.  221, 
Chicago.  I'^or  man}-  years  he  has  been  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  of 
the  county,  and  a  friend  to  every  enterprise 
that  promised  to  benefit  the  community  at 
large.  He  is  a  thorough  believer  in  the 
beneficial  results  of  a  i)ractical  and  liberal 
education,  and  his  infiuence  has  been  stead- 
ily e.xerted  for  the  i>do(l  of  his  fellow  men. 


JOHN  FRANKLIN  STREETER. 

John  Franklin  Streeter,  the  wide-awake 
and  aggressive  publisher  of  the  Cambria 
"News,"  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  success- 
ful newspaper  men  of  Columbia  count}',  and 
he  has  come  to  his  jircsent  standing  through 
h.ard  work  and  fair  ])Ia}'  with  his  comj^eti- 
tors.  He  was  born  near  Ijelvidere,  Illinois, 
Juh^  22,    1841),   and    is  a   son   of    KainX  and 


652 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Catherine  (Van  Arnian)  Streeter.  His  fa- 
ther was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  was  de- 
scended from  an  early  colonial  family,  which 
found  its  first  location  in  Massachusetts. 
The  name  was  originally  spelled  Straater 
He  learned  the  trade  of  wheelwright,  and 
worked  at  it  for  man\-  years  throughout 
Ohio  and  IlUnois.  In  fullowing  his  trade 
he  was  unduly  exposed,  contracted  a  fatal 
illness,  and  died  at  Newburg,  Boone  county, 
Illinois,  in  1853,  when  about  forty  years  old 
His  wife  suryiyed  many  years,  and  died  in 
Kilbourn,  Wisconsin,  in  1879,  when  almost 
eighty.  Her  father,  John  Van  Arman, 
served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Plattsburg  and  several  other 
engagements.  He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade, 
and  also  followed  farming.  His  father, 
Peter  Van  Arman,  was  an  officer  in  the 
Revolution,  and  bore  himself  well  and 
valiantly  in  the  struggle  for  independence. 
His  ancestors  came  from  Holland.  The 
Van  Arman  family  is  noted  for  its  unusual 
longevity  of  life. 

J.  F.  Streeter  left  home  when  eight  years 
of  age,  and  went  to  live  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Andrew  Bergstresser,  at  Kilbourn  City, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  attended 
public  school,  and  completed  the  English 
course  at  Point  Bluff  Institute  when  only 
eighteen.  Leaving  school,  he  entered  the 
office  of  the  "Kilbourn  Mirror,'"  to  learn  the 
printer's  trade.  He  became  master  of  his 
craft,  and  as  a  journeyman  printer  found  em- 
ployment at  New  Lisbon,  Sparta,  LaCrosse, 
and  other  points  in  Wisconsm.  Li  1872  he 
engaged  in  the  publication  of  the  "Journal," 
at  Waterloo,  Wisconsin,  which  had  lieen  es- 
tablished six  months  earlier.  He  was  at 
Waterloo  some  two  years,  and  then  closing 
out  he  went  to  Chicago  to  work  at  his  trade 
for  some  months.  He  was  publisher  of  the 
"Times"  at  Ottawa,  Illinois,  and  later  of 
the  "Evening  Journal,"  with  a  bi-weekly 
special,  the  "Advertiser,"  at  the  same  place. 


Altogether  he  spent  seven  years  in  Ottawa, 
and  for  a  part  of  this  time  was  city  editor 
of  the  "Free  Trader."  Later  on  he  pub- 
lished the  "\\'hiteside  Times,"  with  daily 
and  weekly  editions,  at  Sterling,  Ihinois. 
For  some  years  he  was  in  the  office  of  the 
"Evening  Wisconsin,"  at  Milwaukee,  and 
left  the  Cream  City  to  take  the  position  of 
foreman  and  city  editor  of  the  "Chronicle," 
at  Dodgeville,  where  he  eventually  published 
the  "Star."  In  that  cit\-  he  also  conducted 
a  job-printing  office  for  some  ten  years. 
After  this  he  Ixiught  and  published  the 
"Monitor"  at  Montfort,  Wisconsin.  In 
June,  1893,  lie  became  local  editor  of  the 
"Daily  Democrat"  at  Portage.  He  was  in 
Portage  only  a  short  time  before  he  leased 
the  office  of  the  "News"  at  Cambria,  and 
the  next  year  he  bought  the  entire  plant, 
and  has  been  busy  at  this  point  ever  since. 
He  has  an  extensive  patronage  as  a  job 
printer,  and  is  on  the  highway  to  success. 
F'or  some  years  past  he  has  been  a  Republi- 
can, and  in  the  sjiring  of  1900  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  congressional  convention  at 
Watertown.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church,  and  stands  well  in  the  com- 
munity. In  Januar}-,  1872,  he  was  married 
to  Ernestine,  a  daughter  of  Carl  Buth,  of 
Watertown.  She  was  born  near  Stettin, 
Germany,  but  spent  the  greater  part  of  her 
life  in  Watertown. 


DANA  DANIEL  BILLINGS,  Deceased. 

Dana  Daniel  Billings,  deceased,  who 
during  his  life  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  farming  community  of  Springville 
township,  Adams  county,  was  proprietur  of 
a  pleasant  estate  in  that  vicinity  for  more 
tlian  thirty  years,  and  had  gained  a  cnm- 
petence  which-  was  sufficient  to  allow  him 
to  live  in  ease  during  his    declining    3ears 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


653 


and  leave  liis  family  with  all  the  comforts 
of  life. 

Mr.  Billing's  was  born  in  Barnard,  Wind- 
sor county,  Vermont,  September  9,  1823, 
and  was  the  son  of  Daniel  Billings,  a  native 
of  the  same  place,  who  was  an  agriculturist 
by  occupation,  and  passed  his  life  in  his  na- 
tive state. 

Our  subject  has  made  good  use  of  the 
somewhat  limited  advantages  of  the  times 
toward  gaining  an  education,  and  became 
well  educated.  Until  he  reached  his  ma- 
jority he  worked  with  his  father  on  the  farm, 
and  became  a  thorough  husbandman.  He 
went  to  Wisconsin  from  Vermont  in  1851, 
and  located  in  Springvilie  township,  Adams 
county,  taking  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  government  land.  He  worked  hard  to 
clear  the  land  and  support  his  family,  and 
how  well  he  succeeded  the  estate  which  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  widow  bears  evi- 
dence. He  had  about  fifty  acres  under  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  and  had  erected 
substantial  buildings,  and  otherwise  im- 
proved his  property.  He  also  run  a  ferry 
across  the  Wisconsin  river,  the  first  one 
run  in  that  vicinity,  and  the  only  one  op- 
erated there  for  many  years,  and  large  num- 
bers of  immigrants  crossing  the  river  for 
points  in  Minnesota  and  the  west  took  ad- 
vantage of  that  means  for  crossing  the 
stream. 

Mr.  Billings  was  married  September  9, 
1853,  to  Annette  Teed,  daughter  of  Na- 
thaniel K.  and  Susan  (Chamberlain)  Teed, 
of  Tompkins,  Delaware  county.  New  York. 
Mrs.  Billings'  parents  were  of  old  English 
stock,  and  came  west  in  1851.  After  pros- 
pecting through  Walworth,  Sauk  and  Adams 
counties,  they  decided  to  locate  in  the  latter, 
which  they  did  about  1856,  and  remained 
there  about  seven  years.  They  moved  to 
Bear  Creek,  Waupaca  county,  remaining 
there  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
The  father  died  in  February,  1884,  and  his 


wife  survived  him  five  years,  passing  away 
April  3,  1889,  and  both  were  buried  at 
Bear  Creek. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Billings  were  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  are  living : 
Melvin  N.,  born  July  26,  1854,  now  resid- 
ing on  the  old  homestead;  Dana  A.,  born 
January  5,  1856,  now  residing  in  Spring- 
vilie; Edward  E.,  born  March  4,  1858.  died 
November  11,  1892;  Joseph  D.,  born  Sep- 
tember 20,  i860,  now  in  Kokomo,  Colorado; 
Emma  J.,  born  December  24,  1862,  now 
Mrs.  C.  Walker,  of  Plainville;  Ora  D.,  born 
January  16,  1867,  now  a  resident  of  Wood 
county,  Wisconsin;  Charles  L.,  born  May 
23,  1869,  now  employed  as  bridgeman  on 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road: \\'illie  J.,  born  December  12,  1871, 
now  an  agriculturist  of  Spalding,  Minne- 
sota; Lillian  L.,  born  January  29,  1875.  now 
Mrs.  L.  Harris,  of  White  Creek;  and  Homer 
E.,  bom  July  8,  1878,  now  residing  at 
home.  Mr.  Billings  passed  from  this  life 
November  15,  1882,  and  is  buried  at  Olin 
cemetery.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his 
township,  and  served  as  treasurer  of  his 
township  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  vari- 
ous other  ofiicial  positions,  includine  school 
offices.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  worker  in 
educational  matters,  and  did  everything 
to  advance  the  standard  of  education  in  his 
community.  He  was  a  Republican  in  po- 
litical sentiment,  but  did  not  take  an  active 
part  in  politics.  He  commanded  the  respect 
of  his  fellow  men  wherever  he  was  known, 
and  in  his  death  the  community  lost  a  good 
citizen  and  stanch  friend.  His  widow  sur- 
vives him,  and  resides  on  the  old  homestead. 
She  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health,  and 
appreciates  the  competence  which  is  hers  to 
tide  her  through  lier  declining  years,  and 
in  the  accumulation  of  which  she  is  justly 
entitled  to  much  credit,  for  her  words  of 
counsel  and  cheer  tlirough  the  struggles 
of  the  early  life  in  the  Wisconsin  home. 


654 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


HEXRY  D.  PAGE. 

Henry  D.  Page,  formerly  of  Baraboo, 
who  has  been  pii  lionored  and  trusted  em- 
ploye of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Rail- 
road Company  for  nearly  forty  years,  was 
born  in  Malone,  Franklin  county.  New  York, 
December  i6,  1848,  a  son  of  Tyloses  and  Cor- 
nelia (Nolan)  Page.  The  father  was  born 
on  the  Atlantic  ocean  while  his  parents  were 
emigrating  to  the  United  States.  The  fam- 
ily settled  in  Franklin  county.  New  York, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  in  that  state 
he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade.  In  1858 
he  removed  to  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  conducted  a  shoe  store  for  a  time,  and 
then  went  to  Fond  du  Lac,  this  state,  but 
is  now  living  retired  in  Minneapolis,  Min- 
nesota, at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four 
years.  His  estimaljle  wife,  who  was  born 
in  Connecticut,  died  in  ^^'alnut  Grove.  Min- 
nesota. January  J4.  1894,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-six. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  came  with  his 
parents  to  Wisconsin,  and  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years  entered  the  emploj-e  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  Company 
£s  an  apprentice  in  their  machine  shops  at 
Fond  du  Lac.  Before  he  reached  his  eight- 
eenth year  he  took  charge  of  an  engine  on  the 
^^'inona  &  St.  Peter  division  and  served  the 
company  in  the  capacity  of  engineer  for  eight 
years.  During  tlie  winter  of  1870-71  he 
was  on  an  engine  on  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  and  in  the  fall  of  the  latter  year 
■was  transferred  to  Harvard,  Illinois,  running 
a  train  for  several  months  between  Chicago 
and  Baraboo.  Later  he  returned  to  the 
Winona  &  St.  Peter  division,  and  in  1876 
became  foreman  of  the  shops  at  Winona, 
Minnesota,  but  in  December  of  the  following 
}ear  accepted  the  position  of  foreman  of  the 
shops  at  Harvard,  Illinois.  On  the  Qtli  of 
August,  1883,  he  was  appointed  master  me- 
chanic of  the  Madison  division,  with  head- 


quarters at  Baraboo,  where  he  remained  im- 
til  transferred.  He  had  charge  of  five  hun- 
dred sixteen  miles  of  railroad;  had  an  av- 
erage of  one  hundred  thirty  men  working 
under  him  in  the  shops,  and  about  three  hun- 
dred train  men.  His  practical  knowledge  of 
all  the  details  of  his  business,  as  well  as  his 
acquaintance  with  men,  renders  him  a  most 
valuable  employe,  as  is  evidenced  by  his  long 
continuance  in  so  important  a  position  with 
one  of  the  leading  railroad  companies  of  the 
Union. 

On  the  24th  of  November,  1876,  was 
celebrated  the  marriage  of  Air.  Page  and 
Miss  Louisa  Bunnell,  who  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  La  Crosse  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, a  daughter  of  \\'illard  and  Matilda 
Bunnell,  of  Winona.  [Minnesota.  The  fa- 
ther, who  is  a  son  of  Dr.  John  Bradley  Bun- 
nell, was  born  in  Rochester,  New  York,  and 
is  a  pioneer  of  Winona,  Minnesota,  where 
for  many  vears  he  served  as  an  Indian  fur 
trader  and  later  kept  a  wood  yard.  His  wife 
was  born  in  Detroit.  Michigan.  ]Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Page  have  two  children:  Henry  \\  ill- 
ard.  born  August  23,  1879;  and  Grace 
Louise,  born  April  21.  1882.  The  family 
is  connected  with  the  [Methodist  church  and 
is  held  in  high  regard  by  all  who  have  the 
pleasure  of  their  acquaintance.  [Mr.  Page 
is  an  honored  memlier  of  Cream  City  Di- 
vision, No.  66,  B.  of  L.  E..  [Milwaukee; 
Prairie  L(xlge,  No.  7,  I.  O.  O.  F..  of  Wi- 
nona; and  a  charter  member  of  Devil's  Lake 
Camp,  No.  390,  [M.  W.  .\.,  of  Baraljoo.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  principle  but  has  neither 
time  nor  inclination  for  political  agitation. 
In  1896  he  erected  a  fine  residence  in  Bara- 
boo. 


WALLACE  THOMPSON. 

Wallace  Thompson,  a  leading  citizen'  of 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  residing  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  may  well  be  classed  among 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


655 


the  pioneers  of  the  county,  as  he  has  lived 
there  since  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age. 

]\Jr.  Thompson  was  born  in  Delaware 
county,  New  York,  June  2,  1840,  the  son 
cf  AIanst)n  and  Sallie  (Rachenbach) 
Thompson.  His  mother  died  in  Delaware 
county  when  our  subject  was  but  three  years 
old,  and  the  father,  who  was  a  farmer,  came 
to  Wisconsin,  locating  in  Adams  county, 
April  14,  1856.  He  did  -not  long  survive, 
however,  his  death  occurring  in  May,  i860. 
He  "was  buried  in  Dell  Prairie. 

Wallace  Th(.impsi  m  was  reared  on  a  farm 
and  received  the  hmited  acK'antages  of  the 
common  schools,  though  he  was  compelled  to 
work  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  He  ac- 
companied his  father  to  Wisconsin  when  he 
was  sixteen  years  old,  and  during  the  sum- 
mer months  worked  at  home  on  the  farm, 
and  during  the  winter  months  worked  in 
the  pineries.  He  was  also  engaged  in  raft- 
ing logs  on  the  Mississippi  and  Wisconsin 
rivers.  He  followed  this  calling  from  1857 
until  1861.  In  the  latter  year  he  enlisted  in 
Company  D,  Tenth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry.  His  regiment  was  assigned  to  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  saw  all  the 
hard  service  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  that  corps. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Stone 
River,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain, 
Missionary  Ridge,  Pumpkin  \'ine  Creek, 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
numerous  lesser  engagements.  He  was 
wounded  at  Chickamauga  September  19, 
1863,  and  was  sent  to  the  hospital.  He  was 
again  wounded  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  June 
30,  1864,  and  was  honorably  discharged 
at  Milwaukee  in  October,  1864,  and  in  the 
following  February  (1865)  re-enlisted  in 
the  United  States  Veteran  Reserve  Corps. 
He  was  sent  to  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
thence  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  mus- 
tered out  in  February,  1866. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  married  April  9, 
1867,  to  Sabra  P.,  daughter  of  Martin  and 


Adaline  (Salisbury)  Solomon.  Mrs.  Solo- 
mon was  born  in  1842  in  New  York,  and 
came  with  her  parents  to  Wisconsin  when 
she  was  se\-en  years  of  age,  locating  in  Jef- 
ferson county.  The  family  only  remained  in 
that  county  about  three  years,  when  they  re- 
moved to  Adams  county,  and  took  up  land 
in  Dell  Prairie  township  in  1852.  Here  the 
father  followed  farming  until  the  time  of 
his  death  in,  the  spring  of  1857,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-six  years.  The  mother  died  Feb- 
ruary II,  1890,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  They  are  both  Ijuried  in  Adams 
county.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wallace  Thomp- 
son five  chiklren  have  been  born,  named  in 
the  order  of  their  birth  as  follows:  Estella, 
n_ow  Mrs.  T.  'lownsend,  of  Dell  Prairie, 
born  September  4,  1869;  George  W.,  of 
Austin,  Minnesota,  born  February  26,  1871 ; 
Fred  D.,  now  a  farmer  of  Dell  Prairie, 
born  September  5,  1875;  ^laud  M.,  now 
Mrs.  D.  Capron,  of  Dell  Prairie,  born  No- 
vember 7,  1880;  and  Mabel  B.,  living  at 
home,  born  November  12,  1882.  Mr. 
Thompson  is  a  Democrat  in  political  senti- 
ment, though  he  has  not  taken  an  active  part 
ir.  local  political  affairs.  He  is  an  honored 
member  of  John  Gillespie  Post,  No.  50,  G. 
A.  R.,  of  Kilbourn. 


GEORGE  B.   PAYNE. 

George  B.  Payne,  a  most  progressive 
and  successful  agriculturist,  is  the  owner  of 
a  beautiful  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  acres  in  Marcellon  and  Scott  town- 
ships, Columbia  county,  \\'isconsin.  His 
methods  of  farm  management  show  scien- 
tific knowledge  combined  with  sound,  prac- 
tical judgment  and  the  results  show  that 
"high-class"  farming  as  an  occupation  can  be 
made  profitable  as  well  as  pleasant. 

Mr.  Payne  was  born  in  Kane  county, 
Illinois,    in    January,    1852.      His    father. 


65G 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Aaron  Payne,  was  a  native  of  Springfield, 
that  state,  and  a  son  of  Charles  and  Eliza 
Payne,  who  came  from  the  east,  and  finally 
took  up  their  residence  in  Wisconsin.  The 
grandfather  engaged  in  farming  and  also 
operated  a  saw  and  gristmill  at  Geneva, 
that  state,  but  spent  his  last  days  in  Scott 
township,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  died  in  1871.  His  wife  passed 
away  the  year  previous. 

Aaron  Payne  came  with  his  parents  to 
Wisconsin,  and  in  early  life  assisted  his  fa- 
ther in  the  mills  and  also  ran  a  threshing 
machine  until  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when 
he  left  home  and  located  in  Linn  township, 
Walworth  county,  where  he  operated  a  rent- 
ed farm.  Later  he  purchased  a  place  on 
Lake  Geneva,  which  he  carried  on  until  1852, 
when  he  came  to  Columbia  county  and 
leased  a  farm  in  Scott  township,  but  after 
a  short  time  spent  here,  he  returned  to  Wal- 
worth county  and  resumed  farming  there. 
During  tlie  dark  days  of  the  Rebellion  lie 
enlisted  in  Juno,  1861,  in  Company  F, 
Fourth  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  and  remained 
in  the  service  for  five  years  and  three  months. 
The  following  year  was  spent  in  Walworth 
county,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  re- 
moved to  Henry  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
remained  until  1867,  when  he  again  came 
to  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and  bought 
a  farm  in  Scott  township,  where  he  now  re- 
sides at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  He 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  J. 
Scott,  of  New  York  state,  a  daughter  of 
Benjamin  and  Sylva  Scott,  who  lived  in 
St.  Peter,  Minnesota,  for  many  years,  but 
later  came  to  Scott  township,  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  her  father  died 
November  3,  1882,  the  mother  August  2t,, 
1883.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  were  born 
eight  children,  namely:  Almira,  wife  of 
Perry  Drinkwine,  of  Rock  Falls,  Wisconsin ; 
George,  our  subject;  Nettie,  wife  of  Joseph 
McGinnis,  of  Pardeeville,   Wisconsin ;  Ma- 


tilda, wife  of  Charles  Cufif,  of  Marquette 
count}-;  William,  a  resident  of  Scott  town- 
ship, Columl)ia  county;  Albert,  of  Marcellon 
township;  Hiram,  of  Scott  township;  and 
Carrie,  who  died  in  infancy. 

George  B.  Payne  remained  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
and  then  located  upon  his  present  farm  in 
IMarcellon  township,  to  the  improvement  and 
cultivation  of  which  he  has  devoted  his  en- 
ergies with  good  results.  He  is  also  en- 
gaged in  threshing,  and  being  a  natural 
mechanic,  is  a  good  blacksmith.  His  well- 
directed  efforts  have  been  crowned  with  suc- 
cess, and  he  has  become  one  of  the  leading 
and  representative  farmers  of  his  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Payne  has  been  twice  married,  his 
first  wife  being  Miss  Maggie,  daughter  of 
John  and  Catherine  Johnson,  of  Marcellon, 
and  to  them  were  born  two  children :  George 
E.,  at  home;  and  Annie,  now  the  wife  of 
William  Ebert,  of  Pardeeville.  The  wife 
and  mother  died  in  August,  1878,  and  in 
1880  Mr.  Payne  wedded  Miss  Mary  Cuddy, 
a  sketch  of  whose  family  appears  in  connec- 
tion with  that  of  W^illiam  Cuddy  on  another 
page  of  this  volume.  They  have  four  chil- 
dren: Agnes,  who  is  attending  school;  and 
Ella,  Alma  and  Katie,  all  at  home.  In  pol- 
itics Mr.  Payne  has  been  a  lifelong  Repub- 
lican. 


PETER  G.  JAOUES. 

Peter  G.  Jaques,  of  Wyocena  township, 
Columbia  county,  was  born  in  W'est  Point, 
New  York,  July  24,  1810,  and  enjoys  the 
distinction  of  being  an  original  son  of  the 
Revolution.  His  parents,  Solomon  and 
Sarah  (Mandigo)  Jaques,  were  natives  of 
the  same  place.  The  great-grandfather  of  our 
subject  came  from  \Vales,  and  helped  to 
drive  the  Indians  from  Long  Island,  and  for 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


657 


liis  services  received  a  square  mile  of  land 
in  Westchester  county,  New  York,  with  a 
quantity  of  provisions  and  farm  implements. 
The  tract  is  still  known  locally  as  the  "Mile 
square."  Benjamin  Jaques,  the  father  of 
Solomon,  removed  to  the  western  part  of 
Westchester  county,  while  the  latter  was  a 
small  boy,  and  a  few  years  later  went  into 
Orange  county.  Solomon  Jaques  enlisted 
as  a  "fatigue  man"  during  the  Revolution, 
and  was  a  teamster  by  employment.  He 
bore  a  hand  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Mont- 
gomery, near  his  home,  and  when  the  fort 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British  he  retired 
to  his  father's  home,  hoping  it  would  escape 
hostile  attention.  But  the  enemy  came  the 
next  day  and  burned  e\erything  they. could, 
and  left  behind  them  nothing  but  wreck. 
After  the  war  he  lived  on  a  farm  in  Orange 
county,  New  York,  where  he  died  in  1847, 
al  the  age  of  ninety-three.  Sarah  Mandigo 
was  born  in  Orange  county.  New  York. 
Her  father,  Michael  Mandigo,  came  from 
Italy.  She  died  many  years  before  her  hus- 
band, and  left  nine  children,  of  whom  one 
came  to  Wisconsin. 

The  subject  of  this  article  when  a  boy 
worked  on  coasting  vessels,  and  when  he 
had  reached  the  age  of  thirty  owned  a  craft 
of  considerable  size  himself.  With  it  he 
made  trips  between  Albany,  New  York  City 
and  adjacent  ports.  In  his  early  boyhood  he 
witnessed  one  of  the  first  steamboats  on  the 
Hudson,  which  hz  recalls  as  a  side-wheeler 
without  a  wheel  house.  It  required  twenty- 
four  hours  between  Albany  and  New  York, 
did  much  puffing  and  made  much  smoke. 
It  was  called  the  "North  Star."  He  saw 
the  "Fulton"  and  the  "Firefly",  and  has 
vivid  memories  of  early  days  on  the  Hudson. 
In  1855  he  came  to  this  state  and  settled  on 
a  farm  in  the  town  of  Wyocena,  where  he 
still  lives.  He  voted  for  General  Jackson 
in  1832,  but  has  been  a  Republican  since  the 
organization  of  the  party.   When  he  was  liv- 


ing in  New  York  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  but  is  not  crjunected  with 
any  church  in  Wisconsin.  r^Ir.  Jaques  and 
Mary  Jevness  were  married  February  5, 
1839.  She  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
(Green)  Jevness,  and  was  born  in  Birming- 
ham, England,  January  9,  1819.  In  1825 
the  family  came  to  the  United  States,  first 
locating  in  Connecticut,  and  afterwards  in 
Brooklyn  and  Highland  Falls,  New  York, 
both  parents  reaching  an  extreme  old  age, 
her  father  being  one  hundred  years  old  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jaques 
have  three  living  children ;  Mary  Ann.  the 
wife  of  P.  C.  Irwine,  of  Wyocena  township; 
John  Henry,  living  with  his  parents;  and 
Eugenia  Josephine,  who  is  Mrs.  Frank  Ben- 
nett, of  Columbia  county.  There  are  also 
seven  grandchildren  in  the  family. 


CHRISTIAN  SCHULTZ. 

Christian  Schultz,  general  farmer  of 
Ouincy  township,  Adams  county,  has  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  been  identified 
with  the  growth  of  that  region.  He  is  an 
ex-soldier,  who  went  for  the  cause  of  his 
country,  and  for  many  years  after  his  serv- 
ice was  unable  to  walk  without  the  aid  of 
crutches.  Loyalty,  perseverance,  industry 
and  honesty  have  been  the  dominant  traits 
of  character  which  have  controlled  his  career, 
and  in  his  declining  years  he  can  look  back 
over  a  well-spent  life,  and  in  reviewing  his 
many  experiences  feel  assured  that  his  labors 
have  not  been  in  vain.  He  is  proprietor  of  a 
fine  estate,  the  income  from  which  is  suffi- 
cient to  tide  him  through  his  life,  and  in  the 
acquisition  of  his  property  he  has  been  gain- 
ing a  knowledge  of  men  and  the  world  which 
places  him  on  an  intellectual  plane  with  his 
associates. 

Mr.    Schultz   was   born  at   Hessenheim, 


658 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  January  22, 
1827,  and  was  the  sun  of  Lawrence  and 
Maggie  Sclinltz.  His  fatlier  was  a  black- 
smith by  occupation  and  never  emigrated 
from  his  native  land.  Our  subject  attended 
school  until  he  reached  the  age  of  fifteen 
years,  when  he  learned  the  trade  of  black- 
smith. He  served  in  the  German  army  four 
years,  and  after  leaving  the  ser\ice,  in  1854, 
came  to  America.  He  secured  work  at  his 
trade  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  remained 
there  fi\-e  years.  He  then  decided  to  deter- 
mine what  the  west  had  in  store  for  a  young 
man  and  accordingly  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  located  in  Germantown  about  i860.  He 
worked  at  his  trade  at  the  saw-mill  and  was 
there  fifteen  years.  He  purchased  his  pres- 
ent farm  in  1875.  It  comprises  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  acres  of  which  he  has  cleared  and 
cultivates,  engaging  in  general  farming. 
He  has  built  a  comfortable  residence  and 
commodious  barns,  and  otherwise  improved 
the  estate,  and  mndern  machinery  is  used  to 
facilitate  the  work. 

Mr.  Schultz  enlisted  in  the  Tenth  Bat- 
talion, Wisconsin  Artillery,  and  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Ninth  Battery,  and  saw  service 
in  Colorado,  Mexico  and  through  the  west, 
and  was  discharged  at  Leavenworth,  Kan- 
sas, in  1863.  He  was  taken  ill  and  consigned 
to  a  hospital,  and  it  was  a  number  of  years 
before  he  regained  his  health. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  June,  1865, 
to  Doris  Chairman,  of  Germantown.  Eight 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schultz, 
seven  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows :  Fred- 
erick, now  residing  at  home;  Maggie,  now 
Mrs.  W.  Greenwood,  of  Ouincy;  August,  re- 
siding in  Harmony,  Minnesota;  Louie,  also 
in  Harmony;  Christian,  at  home;  William, 
at  home;  and  Nettie,  residing  in  Martyn. 
Mr.  Schultz  is  a  prominent  member  of 
Friendship  Post,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  a  gentle- 
man who  keeps  posted  on  public  affairs,  and 


is  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  com- 
munity. His  home  surroundings  are  of  a 
pleasant  nature,  and  he  is  a  man  of  good 
taste,  and  a  visit  to  his  estate  will  convince 
one  of  his  thrift  and  the  care  exercised  in 
the  work  attendant  to  farm  life.  He  has 
spared  no  pains  to  make  his  farm  one  of  the 
best  in  the  community,  and  he  may  well  be 
proud  of  his  success.  He  is  a  gentleman 
who  commands  the  respect  of  all  with  whom 
he  is  acfiuainted. 


F.  A.   DIERUF. 

F.  A.  Dieruf,  a  dealer  in  general  mer- 
chandise at  North  Leeds,  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  is  a  son  of  William  and  Antonie 
(Kleinert)  Dieruf,  and  was  born  at  North 
Leeds  November  5,  1873.  His  father  was 
burn  in  b'rankfort-on-the-Main,  Germany, 
in  1840,  and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  emi- 
grated to  America  with  his  mother  and  step- 
father, Jacob  Dengel.  The  family,  consisting 
of  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  settled  at 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  where  Mr.  Dengel  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  carpenter. 

Mr.  William  Dieruf  learned  the  trade  of 
bookbinder,  and  during  the  war  acted  as  clerk 
in  A.  F.  Waltzinger's  confectionery  store 
at  Madison.  He  was  married  in  1865  to 
Antonie  Kleinert,  of  Leeds,  and  two  years 
later,  in  1867,  he  located  at  North  Leeds, 
Wisconsin.  There  he  opened  a  general  store 
and  in  a  short  time  worked  up  a  large  trade, 
\>hich  he  carried  on  until  his  death.  May 
30,  1893.  He  was  independent  in  politics, 
took  a  deep  interest  in  local  affairs,  and 
served  a  number  of  years  as  town  clerk  and 
treasurer.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  church  at  Leeds,  and  at  his 
death  was  mourned  by  a  host  of  friends. 
Mrs.  Antonie  (Kleinert)  Dieruf  died  No- 
vember 22,   1897,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


059 


years.  She  was  liorn  in  the  Prussian  province 
of  Pomerania,  Germany,  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1854.  Her  father,  August  Fred- 
erick Kleinert,  was  one  of  the  pioneer  farm- 
ers of  the  town  of  Leeds.  She  was  the 
motiier  of  tweh'e  cliikh-en,  eight  of  wliom  are 
now  sur\i\ing :  ]\Iinnie,  the  wife  of  Jolm 
Hogan.  of  La  Delle,  South  Dakota;  Louisa, 
\>  ho  is  Mrs.  Robert  Heisig.  of  Leeds ;  An- 
t<<nie  married  Herman  Radawan  and  lives  at 
Morrisonville;  Fred  .A.;  Ida  married  C.  A. 
Kampen,  of  Otisco,  Minnesota;  Gustav ; 
Henry  antl  Henrietta,  the  three  latter  li\'ing 
in  Leeds. 

Fred  A.  Dieruf  attended  the  high  school 
ai:  Poynette  two  years,  though  he  did  not 
complete  its  course  to  the  end.  He  was 
graduated  from  the  business  college  at  Madi- 
son in  1890,  where  he  acquired  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  business  methods,  and  became 
conversant  with  all  matters  relating  to  the 
management  of  the  business  in  which  he  is 
engaged.  He  entered  his  father's  store  at 
the  village  of  North  Leeds,  as  soon  as  he 
had  finished  his  schooling,  and  here  he  has 
remained  to  the  present  time.  In  1896  he 
became  the  owner  of  the  entire  business, 
which  his  father  had  established.  He  car- 
ries a  good  stock  of  general  merchandise 
that  has  been  carefully  selected  with  a  view 
to  the  needs  of  the  community  in  which  he  is 
located,  and  he  enjoys  a  liberal  patronage 
from  the  people  of  the  prosperous  regions 
around  him.  He  competes  successfully  with 
the  merchants  of  the  larger  towns,  and  of- 
fers bargains  that  would  be  hard  to  surpass 
anywhere. 

Mr.  Dieruf  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Jung  May  6,  1898.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Mary  Jung,  of  Windsor,  Wis- 
consin, and  is  a  young  woman  of  man}- 
charms  and  graces.  They  have  one  child, 
Gladys  Irene.  Mr.  Dieruf  has  served 
as  town  clerk,  and  is  a  Republican  in  pol- 
itics. 


DAMD  STEVENSON. 

Da\-id  Stevenson,  a  pioneer  settler  of 
Wisconsin,  residing  near  Easton,  Adams 
county,  is  one  (if  the  successful  agricult- 
urists of  his  community.  He  has  passed  over 
thirty-five  years  on  his  present  homestead, 
and  has  made  of  it  one  of  the  finest  estates 
within  that  region.  He  is  progressix'e  in  his 
ideas  and  with  judicious  mind  is  able  to  de- 
termine the  feasibility  of  every  new  inven- 
tion, and  it  is  only  the  more  practical  in\en- 
tions  and  methods  which  are  accepted  by 
him.  He  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his 
calling,  and  has  s])ent  his  life  in  raising  the 
standard  of  agriculture. 

]\Ir.  Ste\enson  was  born  at  Barn  Bridge, 
county  Down,  Ireland,  May  15,  1830,  and 
was  the  son  of  Samuel  and  ]\Iartha  (_  Steven- 
son) Stevenson,  farmers  by  occupation,  who 
also  worked  in  the  linen  manufactory  at 
Barn  Bridge. 

Our  subject  attended  the  common  schools 
until  his  fifteenth  year,  when  he  entered  the 
linen  factory  and  learned  the  trade  of  linen 
w  eaver.  He  worked  at  his  trade  about  seven 
years,  and  then  sought  his  fortune  in  the  new 
world.  He  landed  at  New  York,  and  after 
a  short  stay  there  went  to  York,  Union  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  anil  worked  at  farming.  He  came 
to  Jefferson  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1856,  and 
located  at  JelTerson,  where  he  was  employed 
on  a  farm  eight  3'ears.  He  purchased  eighty 
acres  in  Easton,  Adams  county,  in  1855, 
but  did  not  take  up  his  residence  on  the  land 
until  the  fall  of  1863.  His  present  dwelling 
and  barns  are  built  on  the  original  eighty 
acres,  and  his  farm  now  comprises  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres.  It  is  well  improved, 
with  every  convenience  for  the  labors  inci- 
dent to  farm  life,  and  evidences  careful  man- 
agement. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  June,  1853, 
to  Elizabeth  Ann  Stevenson,  daughter  of 
Hugh    and    Eliza    (Spratt)    Stevenson,   of 


600 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Barn  Bridge,  Ireland.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steven- 
son have  been  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
six  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows :  Hugh, 
a  farmer  in  Easton;  Martha,  residing  at 
home;  Elizabeth,  residing  at  home;  Clara, 
also  at  home;  Wilham,  a  farmer  of  Easton; 
and  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  H.  Cleland,  of  Lincoln, 
Adams  county. 

Mr.  Stevenson  is  a  gentleman  of  the 
highest  character,  and  in  every  instance  dis- 
plays the  strictest  honesty  and  kindliest 
feelings.  He  keeps  pace  with  the  world  and 
in  matters  of  public  nature  is  decided  in  his 
opinions,  but  will  always  be  found  standing 
on  the  side  of  right  and  justice.  He  does 
not  advocate  the  principles  of  any  one  party 
in  political  belief  and  is  willing  to  support 
every  good  measure.  He  is  interested  in  ed- 
ucational matters,  and  for  se\eral  years  has 
served  as  school  treasurer.  He  does  not 
seek  public  office,  and  is  content  to  serve  his 
community,  by  lending  his  influence  for 
good  local  government,  and  is  deservedly 
held  in  high  esteem  Ijy  his  fellow  men. 


ELMER  MILTON  WALDREF. 

Elmer  Milton  Waldref,  a  prominent  cit- 
izen of  the  town  of  Leeds,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, was  born  February  3,  1855,  in  the  village 
of  Cottage  Grove,  Dane  county,  Wisconsin. 
He  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Eliza  (Sunder- 
man)  Waldref,  the  former  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania.  On 
both  sides  the  family  relates  to  old  colonial 
stock,  and  the  ancestors  of  our  subject  have 
long  been  established  in  this  country.  His 
father's  grandfather  was  connected  with  the 
American  Revolution,  and  bore  himself  gal- 
lantly through  that  mighty  struggle.  Jacob 
Waldref  and  his  wife  went  to  Ohio  about 
1840,  and  a  Uttle  later  removed  to  Jefferson 
county,  Wisconsin.  From  there  they  moved 
into  Dane  county,  and  finally  they  located  in 
this  county,  and  settled  upon  a  farm  in  the 


town  of  Leeds,  wdiere  they  lived  and  died, 
both  at  an  advanced  age.  Mrs.  Waldref 
was  seventy-two  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
August  30,  1887,  and  her  husband  lived 
many  years  a  widower.  He  died  Septemlier 
1,  1898,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six.  They  left 
a  family  of  seven  children:  Mary  Jane,  at 
home;  William  Henry,  town  of  Leeds;  Ab- 
igail, Mrs.  David  Thistle,  of  Colby,  Wiscon- 
sin; Jemima  is  Mrs.  Atkinson,  and  is  living 
at  home;  Malinda  Ellen,  at  home;  Elmer  M. 
and  Lavina  B. 

Mr.  W^aldref  came  to  this  county  with 
his  parents  when  about  six  weeks  old,  an.l 
grew  to  manhood  in  Columbia  county.  He 
attended  the  local  schools,  and  since  his 
early  youth  has  had  charge  of  the  family 
homestead.  He  is  an  extensive  tobacco 
grower,  and,  taking  the  years  together,  has 
been  greatly  prospered.  He  was  married 
August  8,  1878,  to  Martha  Scuttle,  daugh- 
ter of  Peter  and  Annie  (Ouitney)  Scuttle, 
natives  of  Norway.  She  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Leeds,  her  parents  being  among  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  this  part  of  the  state. 
Her  mother  died  about  1865,  and  her  father 
thirteen  years  later.  He  was  the  father  of 
five  children:  Andrew,  at  Lodi,  Wisconsin; 
Ole,  in  Leeds;  Martha,  who  is  Mrs.  E.  M. 
Waldref;  Sophie  is  in  Leeds;  and  Matthew 
in  Minneapolis.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  \\'aldref 
have  one  daughter,  Henrietta,  who  is  living 
at  home.  She  is  a  graduate  of  the  DeForest 
high  school  and  expects  to  be  a  teacher.  Mr. 
Waldref  is  a  Republican,  and  has  never 
avowed  any  other  political  allegiance.  He 
lias  been  on  the  school  board  ten  years,  town 
clerk  three  years  and  chairman  of  the  town 
board  two  years. 


ABNER  LOGAN  HARRIS. 

Abner  Logan  Harris  is  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  citizens  of  Reedsburg,  whose 
achievements,  as  well  as  those  of  his  departed 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


OGl 


wife,  must  ever  occupy  a  prominent  place  in 
the  annals  of  that  city  and  of  Sauk  county. 
Perhaps  no  other  man  has  contributed  as 
much  as  Mr.  Harris  toward  the  establishment 
of  Reedsburg's  reputation  as  one  of  the  best 
market  towns  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin, 
while  he  has  been  equally  active  in  promot- 
ing the  various  municipal  improvements  for 
which  the  town  is  famous,  for,  in  this,  as  in 
every  other  growing  city,  these  innovations 
have  been  accomplished  in  the  face  of  de- 
termined opposition  on  the  part  of  some  well- 
meaning  but  unprogressive  people  and  would 
never  have  been  completed  had  not  the 
movements  been  initiated  by  some  man  of 
judgment  and  perseverance  who  possessed 
the  courage  of  his  convictions  and  the  exec- 
utive ability  to  carry  out  his  projects.  The 
excellent  system  of  waterworks  and  electric 
lights,  now  the  pride  of  every  citizen,  was 
established  chiefly  through  his  vigorous  ef- 
forts and  will  always  be  a  monument  to  his 
memory,  it  being  conceded  by  rival  cities 
that  in  the  superior  service  and  economical 
administration  of  its  public  utilities  Reeds- 
burg  is  unsurpassed. 

Mr.  Harris  began  his  mercantile  career 
in  1867  at  Loganvilje,  Sauk  county,  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  J.  O.  Phelps  &  Co., 
but  about  four  years  later,  when  the  Chica- 
go &  Northwestern  Railroad  reached  Reeds- 
burg,  he  removed  to  that  growing  village 
and  his  home  has  since  been  at  that  place. 
He  then  became  a  partner  with  John  Kellogg 
but  this  relation  was  dissolved  a  few  years 
later  and  the  firm  subsequently  became  Har- 
ris &  Hostler.  Largely  through  his  push  and 
energy,  the  trade  rapidly  increased  and  the 
establishment  assumed  proportions  which 
would  do  credit  ^o  a  much  larger  city.  In 
1893  the  Stolte,  Dangel  &  Foss  Company 
was  incorporated  and  still  continues  the 
mercantile  trade,  i\Ir.  Harris  retaining  an 
important  interest  in  the  concern.  'J'lie  firm 
of  Harris  &  Hostler  still    operates    several 


large  warehouses  and  deals  extensively  in 
potatoes  and  other  products,  having  estab- 
lished this  enterprise  a  number  of  years 
since.  They  have  also  held  the  agency  for 
the  American  Express  Company  at  Reeds- 
burg  since  its  establishment  there  in  1872. 

As  postmaster  and  mayor  of  the  city, 
each  of  which  positions  he  filled  for  several 
terms,  Mr.  Harris  always  sought  to  make 
his  office  ser\-e  ]3ublic  rather  than  private 
ends,  which  fact  accounts  is  great  measure 
for  his  popularity  and  far  reaching  influence 
with  the  people. 

Many  of  the  sterling  characteristics  dis- 
played bj'  him  have  been  inherited  from  his 
ancestors,  a  number  of  whom  have  been 
distinguished  for  thrift,  enterprise  and  devo- 
tion to  principle.  His  first  progenitor  on 
this  continent  was  James  Harris,  who  came 
from  Bristol,  England,  in  1725,  and  engaged 
in  merchant  tailoring  at  Elizabethtown,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  marrie^  a  J\Iiss  Boleyn. 
He  was  an  Episcopalian  and  was  an  ardent 
supporter  of  the  British  crown  during  the 
troublous  times  which  preceded  the  Revolu- 
tion, but  did  not  survive  the  actual  outbreak 
of  hostilities.  Several  of  his  sons,  however, 
joined  the  Continental  army  and  more  or 
less  of  their  descendants  have  participated  in 
every  important  war  of  the  nation  since. 
Previous  to  the  Revolution,  the  family  had 
acquired  extensive  tracts  of  land  in  New 
Jersey  and  their  property  suffered  considera- 
ble damage  from  the  depredations  of  the 
British  troops.  About  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  John  Harris,  one  of 
the  sons  of  James  Harris,  removed  to  Penn- 
sylvania and  served  in  the  Continental 
army  from  1775  to  1781,  participating  in 
the  battle  of  Monmouth  and  other  en- 
gagements. His  wife  was  Mary  Hamil- 
ton, who  sprang  from  the  famous  Ham- 
ilton family  of  Lanark,  Scotland.  One 
oi  the  sons  of  Jnhn  and  Mary  Harris,  Jona- 
than W.,  became  an    extensive    farmer    of 


m2 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Richland  county,  Ohio,  and  later  of  the  town 
of  Troy,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin.  He  mar- 
ried Abigail  C.  Cracroft  and  the}-  became  the 
parents  of  Abner  L.  Harris,  whose  name 
heads  this  article. 

This  gentleman  was  born  near  Mans- 
field. Ohio,  September  15,  1839.  and  came  to 
Sauk  county  with  his  parents  in  1846.  He 
attended  school  for  a  time  at  Prairie  du 
Sac  and  was  married,  December  13,  1868, 
to  Miss  Frances  Smith.  This  noble  minded 
lady  was  born  at  Oriskany  Falls,  New  York, 
December  20,  1843,  ^"d  died  at  Reedsburg, 
March  10,  1899.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Ambrose  Smith  and  Juliet  (Parker)  Smith, 
who  were  early  settlers  of  Reedsburg.  The 
latter  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  John  Park- 
er, one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  W'al- 
lingford,  Connecticut.  Among  his  posterity 
was  Gamaliel  Parker,  who  enlisted  in  1777 
urider  Captain  Strong  and  served  through- 
(Ait  the  Re\olutii_)nar}-  war.  His  son,  Gama- 
liel, Jr.,  enlisted  February  i,  1783,  in  Cap- 
tain Chapman's  Company,  Second  Regiment, 
Connecticut  Troops.  The  last  named  was 
the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Smith.  Her  father, 
Joel  Parker,  married  Albacinda  Bunnell, 
whose  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Bunnell, 
served  in  the  Continental,  army  from  Che- 
shire, Connecticut. 

\\'hile  her  husband  was  chiefly  occupied 
in  advancing  the  commercial  and  material 
prosperity  of  the  town,  Mrs.  Harris  was  ever 
active  in  works  calculated  to  enhance  the 
spiritual,  moral  and  intellectual  culture  of 
the  people.  She  was  untiring  in  her  efforts 
in  behalf  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and 
the  various  local  kindred  organizations.  She 
founded  the  Reedsburg  Woman's  Club  and 
was  its  president  until  her  death.  She  was 
also  an  active  member  of  the  State  Federa- 
tion of  Woman's  Clubs,  and  contributed 
some  noteworthy  essays  for  its  annual  gath- 
erings. In  1898  she  was  elected  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  organization  for  the  Third  con- 


gressional district.  She  was  a  prime  mover 
in  founding  a  chapter  of  the  Order  of  Daugh- 
ters of  American  Revolution  in  Reedsburg, 
and  originated  the  project  to  establish  a  free 
public  library  at  that  place.  She  was  always 
distinguished  for  remarkable  strength'  of 
character  and  determination  of  purpose,  as 
well  as  for  unbounded  hospitality  and  amia- 
l)ility  of  disposition.  It  was  one  of  her 
maxims  that  the  work  of  reform  should 
begin  at  home,  and  her  domestic  duties  were 
never  sacrificed  while  participating  in  pub- 
lic events.  In  short,  she  was  one  of  those 
individuals  of  whom  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  "the  world  is  better  for  her  hav- 
ing lived  in  it."  She  left  a  son,  Dr.  J.  Earl 
Harris,  formerly  of  Chicago,  and  a  daugh- 
ter. Miss  Julia  P.  Harris,  both  of  whom  are 
graduates  of  the  Wisconsin  University. 
Dr.  Harris  was  a  graduate  of  the  Chicaga 
University,  of  the  Rush  Medical  Hospital  of 
Chicago,  and  the  Augustana  hospital,  and  is 
now  studvina:  in  \'ienna,  Austria. 


MYRON  MOSES  MORLEY. 

Myron  Moses  Morley,  an  ex-soldier  and 
prominent  farmer,  is  proprietor  of  a  fine  es- 
tate in  Ouincy  township,  Adams  county.  He 
has  made  that  community  his  home  for  near- 
ly thirty  years  and  enjijys  an  en\'iable  rep- 
utation. 

Mr.  Morley  was  born  at  Ashtabula,. 
Ohio,  December  22,  1847,  ^"cl  was  the  son 
of  Daniel  M.  and  Clarissa  M.  (Marsh) 
Morley.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ohio,, 
and  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  moved  to 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1865.  and  set- 
tled at  New  Haven.  He  was  engaged  in 
farming  and  also  worked  at  the  mason's 
trade  for  twenty  years.  He  died  January 
14,  1898,  at  Cartright,  Chippewa  county, 
Vvhere  he  took  land  in  1870.     The  mother 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


c>m 


■of  our  subject  is  living  at  Cartriglit  with 
her  son,  Marco.  Tlie  father  enhsted  in 
April,  1 86 1,  for  three  months"  service  in 
the  Nineteenth  Ohio  Infantry,  and  re-enhst- 
ed  in  August,  1861,  in  tlie  Twenty-ninth 
Ohio  Regiment.  He  was  dischargetl  in  tlie 
spring  of  1863  on  account  of  disability  for 
injuries  received  at  Port  Republic. 

Myron  Morley  was  the  oldest  in  a  family 
of  seven  children,  and  attended  school  at 
Ashtaljula  until  fdurteen  years  of  age.  He 
ran  away  from  home  and  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany F,  Second  Ohio  Cavalry,  September 
2;^,  1862,  and  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland, and  later  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, under  Sheridan,  in  Custer's  division  of 
ca\alry.  He  did  good  and  efficient  service 
and  was  wounded  at  Hanover  Court  House, 
and  was  confined  to  the  hospital  at  York, 
Pennsylvania,  for  about  four  months.  He 
rejoined  his  regiment  and  was  in  the  battle 
of  Cedar  Creek,  and  all  of  the  engagements 
in  which  the  cavalry  was  engaged  during  the 
last  years  of  the  war.  He  was  discharged 
at  St.  Louis,  June  10,  1865.  After  his  dis- 
cliarge  from  the  service  he  came  to  New 
Haven,  Adams  count}-,  and  in  1870  went  to 
his  i)resent  location  in  Ouincy  titwnshii), 
where  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five acres  of  land.  Since  that  time  he  has 
actively  engaged  in  farming  and  has  met 
with  success. 

Mr.  Morley  was  married,  July  4,  1869, 
to  Amanda  Smith,  daughter  of  Lorenzo  D. 
and  Eliza  L.  (Fisher)  Smith,  of  Ouincy, 
who  came  from  Ohio  to  Wisconsin  about 
1854.  Six  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  ]\Irs.  Morley,  as  follows:  Luther,  born 
July  I,  1S74,  now  residing  at  Martyn,  mar- 
ried Elsie  Needham,  of  Easton ;  Daniel,  born 
October  3,  1878,  now  at  home;  Ella  L,  born 
April  7,  1880,  a  teacher;  Carrie  M.,  born 
January  ig,  1882,  now  residing  at  home; 
Mzy,  born  August  28,  1888,  died  in  January. 
1894;  and  one  child  unnamed,  who  died  in 


infancy.  Mr.  Morley  is  a  prominent  mem- 
l)er  of  Ennis  Reed  Post,  No.  209,  G.  A.  R., 
and  is  present  senior  vice-commander.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  political  sentiment  and  is 
generally  elected  delegate  to  county  conven- 
tions of  his  party.  He  has  held  every  office 
in  his  township,  with  the  exception  of  treas- 
urer, and  is  ever  ready  to  advance  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  Quincy  township  and  Adams 
county.  He  is  deservedly  held  in  the  high- 
est esteem  by  the  members  of  the  comnuui'ty. 
He  is  justice  of  the  peace  in  Ouincy  town- 
sliip,  which  office  he  has  held  fourteen  years, 
and  his  name  stands  for  equity  and  truth. 


PETER  RICHARDS. 

Peter  Richards,  the  publisher  of  the  Lodi 
Valley  "News,"  at  Lodi,  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  is  one  of  the  veteran  newspaper 
men  of  Wisconsin,  and  stands  among  the 
most  devoted  and  u'^right  members  of  the 
fraternity.  He  is  a  straightforward  and 
honorable  man,  and  never  has  been  known 
to  sink  the  right  into  the  merely  exjjedient, 
and  traffic  principle  for  success. 

Mr.  Richards  was  born  at  Granville,  Lick- 
ing county,  Ohio,  February  2,  1828,  and  is 
a  son  of  W^illiam  Samuel  Richards  and 
Tryphena  Clark  Bushnell,  his  wife.  W. 
S.  Richards  was  a  native  of  New  London, 
Connecticut,  and  his  father,  Wilham  A. 
Richards,  served  as  cjuartermaster  of  the 
Eighth  Connecticut  Regiment,  under  Colonel 
Parsons,  during  the  Revolution.  He  (W. 
A.  Richards)  was  afterward  high  sheriff  of 
New  London  county,  and  was  a  man  of  char- 
acter and  standing"  at  that  early  day.  Lie 
( W.  S.  Richards)  went  to  Ohio  and  back, 
in  1810,  returning  to  Ohio  in  1811,  and 
made  the  long  journey  on  horseback.  He 
had  studied  medicine  in  the  east,  and  for  for- 
ty-one years  he  Vv-as  a  practicing  physician 
at  Granville,  Ohio,  v.diere  he  died  by  acci- 


664 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


dent  ill  ]May,  1852,  at  tlie  age  of  sixty-five 
years.  He  was  actix-ely  interested  in  the  af- 
fairs of  his  community,  and  was  without 
doubt  one  of  the  leading  men  of  that  part  of 
the  state.  ^Irs.  Tryphena  Clark  (Bushnell) 
Richards  was  born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut. 
Her  father  was  a  purser  in  the  navy  of  the 
United  States  and  died  in  the  West  Indies  of 
yellow  fever. 

Peter  Richards  attended  the  preparatory 
department  of  Granville  College,  and  the 
grammar  school  of  Kenyon  College,  and  in 
1846  began  the  learning  of  the  printing- 
trade  at  Newark,  Ohio.  In  Alarch,  1855,  he 
came  to  Wisconsin,  and  worked  at  his  trade 
ai  Fond  du  Lac,  Manitowoc,  and  then  at 
Madison.  Air.  Richards  made  his  entrance 
into  the  editnrial  and  publishing  world, 
where  he  has  acquitted  himself  so  well,  as  the 
editor  of  the  Baraboo  "Independent,"  which 
he  leased  from  Col.  D.  K.  Noyes.  This  paper 
has  been  published  in  connection  with  the 
famous  J.  C.  ("Shanghai")  Chandler.  On 
January  i,  1873,  JNIr.  Richards  and  John  H. 
Powers,  now  of  the  Baraboo  "Republic," 
started  the  Elroy  "Union,"  which  they  con- 
tinued for  a  year,  though  Mr.  Powers  with- 
drew from  the  enterprise  at  the  end  of  Au- 
gust. In  the  spring  of  1874  Mr.  Richards 
abandoned  the  effort  at  Elroy,  and  came  to 
Lodi.  Here  he  began  the  publication  of  the 
Lodi  X'allc)-  "News,"  and  has  continued  its 
publication  to  the  present  time.  It  is  one  of 
the  oldest  papers  in  Columbia  county,  and  is 
second  to  none  in  moral  tone  and  intellectual 
vdgor.  Mr.  Richards  is  still  active  at  the 
case  and  works  the  press  with  the  grace  and 
agilitv  of  a  voung  man. 


JAAIES  W.  TRUMBULL. 

Among  the  progressive  and  modern  ag- 
riculturists of  Adams  county.  James  W. 
Trumbull  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  fore- 


most. His  estate,  situated  in  Ouincy  town- 
ship, is  a  standing  testimonial  to  his  ability 
as  a  husbandiuan  and  to  his  attention  to  de- 
tails in  the  management  of  his  farming  op- 
erations. 

James  ^\^  Trumbull  was  born  in  Hori- 
con,  Dodge  county,  Wisconsin,  November 
25,  1850.  His  father,  Simeon  Trumbull,  a 
native  of  Vermont,  born  in  Burlington,  was 
a  plasterer  by  trade  in  his  early  manhood, 
and  came  to  Wisconsin  in  1845,  ^"d  located 
in  Dodge  county.  He  took  up  land  there, 
which  he  occupied  about  twelve  years.  He 
then  disposed  of  his  property  and  removed 
to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  and  took  up 
eighty  acres  of  land  near  Ouincy.  He  after- 
wards purchased  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  in  section  eighteen,  which  is  still 
owned  by  his  son  James,  the  subject  of  this 
article.  Simeon  Trumbull  was  a  stanch  Re- 
publican in  political  sentiment,  but  never 
sought  office.  He  was  a  hard  worker  and 
a  thoroughly  honest  man,  and  had  the  re- 
spect and  esteem  of  every  one  who  knew  him. 
He  died  March  4,  1899,  aged  seventy-nine 
years.  Our  subject's  mother,  Helen  (An- 
derson) Trumbull,  died  January  7,  1873,  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven  years.  Both  parents 
rest  in  the  cemetery  at  Ouincy.  To  this 
worthy  couple  four  children  were  born  :  Jo- 
sephine, now  Mrs.  A.  Faxon,  of  Salem,  Ore- 
gon;  James  W.,  our  present  subject;  Sealy, 
now  in  California;  Crant,  now  in  Lassen 
county,  California. 

James  W.  Trumbull  attended  school  un- 
til he  was  fifteen  years  old.  .\t  the  age  of 
sixteen  vears  be  went  into  the  pineries  in 
Clark,  Wood  and  Marathon  counties.  For 
about  twenty-five  j^ears  he  followed  this  call- 
ing, working  at  rafting  during  the  summer 
months  on  the  Wisconsin  river.  He  made 
several  trips  as  far  as  Hannibal,  Missouri, 
on  the  Mississippi.  In  1882  he  took  pos- 
session of  the  farm,  which  is  his  present 
liomestead,  and  since  that  time  has  been  con- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


GG5 


ducting  a  g-eneral  farniino-  business.  He  is 
the  owner  of  (_)ne  luuidrcd  and  titty  acres, 
alxnit  one  humlred  of  which  he  cultivates 
and  tlie  balance  being"  timber  and  pasture. 
He  de\otes  considerable  attention  to  stock 
raising",  of  which  he  has  made  a  success. 

Mr.  Trum])ull  was  married,  December 
I,  1874,  to  lunma  W'ooil.  a  native  of  Michi- 
gan. Mrs.  Trumbull's  parents,  Benjamin 
and  Abigail  (Knowland)  \\'ood.  reside  in 
Ouincy,  Adams  county,  W'iscon.sin.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Trumbull  ti\"e  children  l!a\e  been 
born,  of  whom  four  are  living,  named  in.  the 
order  of  birth  as  follows :  Roy.  burn  No- 
vember 28,  1875;  Allen,  born  No\"ember  7, 
1878;  Helen,  born  October  6,  1882;  Sybil, 
born  May  12.  1885.  These  children  are  all 
at  home  and  form  a  pleasant  and  intelligent 
family  circle.  ~Sh.  Trumbull  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  uses  his  franchise  in  the  in- 
terest of  that  party.  He  is  much  interested 
in  matters  of  a  public  nature,  and  is  an  earn- 
est adherent  of  the  principles  of  good  go\'- 
ernnient.  He  is  not  an  ot¥lce  seeker,  and  his 
intiuence  is  therefore  very  effective  with  his 
friends  and  accjuaintances.  His  honesty  and 
integrity  have  won  for  him  the  esteeni  of  all, 
and  these,  combined  with  his  industry  and 
able  management,  ha\e  made  him  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  valuable  prijpertv. 


HUGH  JA:\nESOX,  Dece.^sed. 

In  the  preparation  of  a  biographical  rec- 
ord of  Columbia  county  it  would  be  ac- 
counted incomplete  if  proper  representation 
were  not  made  of  this  old  Scotch  gentle- 
man, pioneer  and  representative  business 
man. 

Hugh  Jamieson  was  born  in  Underbill, 
parish  of  Loudon,  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  May 
15,  1829,  and  died  at  Poynette,  January  20, 
1899.    He  was  a  son  of  Hugh  Jamieson  and 


Janet  Findlev.  natives  of  Scotland,  the  fam- 
ily having  been  residents  of  that  immediate 
portion  of  Scotland  for  the  last  four  hun- 
dred years.  Some  of  their  ancestors  were 
among  the  Covenanters  who  were  subjected 
to  persecutiiin  on  account  of  their  religious 
principles,  and  later  members  of  the  family 
participated  in  public  aftairs  and  exerted 
considerable  influence  in  the  community. 
Hugh  Jamieson.  the  elder,  died  when  the 
subject  of  this  re\-iew  was  but  two  3"ears  old, 
and  the  mother,  Mrs.  Janet  Jamieson,  canie 
to  ^^'isconsin,  was  a  pioneer  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin \'alley  and  died  at  Poynette,  in  April, 
1865,  at  the  age  of  four  score  and  eight 
years.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  Find- 
Icy,  of  \\'oo(_lhead,  ]5arish  of  Loudon,  and 
was  the  mother  of  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, as  follows:  Janet  (Mrs.  Robert  Wil- 
son), Agnes  (Mrs.  Thomas  Mair),  John 
and  Hugh. 

Hugh  Jamieson  was  educated  in  his  11a- 
tive  country  and  while  a  boy  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  received  by  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land. In  1848  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  spent  a  short  time  in  Jefferson  county, 
\\'isconsin.  While  there  he  was  engaged  in 
teaming,  making  several  trips  to  Milwau- 
kee and  various  Iuml)er  districts  of  Wiscon- 
sin. September  14,  1849,  he  bought  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land,  upon 
which  a  portion  of  the  present  village  of 
Poynette  is  located,  for  which  he  paid  three 
hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  A  year  or  two 
later  he  located  on  this  land,  his  first  resi- 
dence being  a  small  log  cabin.  He  later  ac- 
Cjuired  more  lands,  and  at  one  time  owned 
over  one  thousand  acres,  including  several 
of  the  best  farms  in  Columbia  count\".  the 
products  for  some  }"ears  being  marketed  by 
team  in  Milwaukee  and  the  Wisconsin  pin- 
eries. 

In  addition  to  his  farming  operations 
he  conducted  for  some  sixteen  years  the 
Ensniinger  Hotel  at  Poynette,  at  which  place 


666 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


he  also  erected  the  first  grain  elevator  and 
for  a  number  of  years  dealt  successfully  in 
produce,  lumber  and  agricultural  imple- 
ments, most  of  these  enterprises  being  still 
continued  by  his  sons.  He  organized  the 
Bank  of  Poynette,  one  of  the  most  substan- 
tial financial  institutions  of  Columbia  coun- 
ty, of  which  he  was  president  during  the 
balance  of  his  life. 

He  was  married.  No\-ember  9,  1851,  to 
Miss  Lucy  Thomas,  a  nati\e  of  Cambridge, 
Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  B.  and  Samantha  (Jack- 
son) Thomas,  natives  of  Hindsdale.  Berk- 
shire county,  Massachusetts.  The  paternal 
grandfather  of  Mrs.  Jamieson,  Samuel  B. 
Thomas,  was  liorn  in  \\'orcester  county, 
Massachusetts,  while  the  father  came  from 
Cornwall,  England.  INIrs.  Samantha  Thomas 
and  her  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
]\Iartha  Rhoades,  were  born  in  Berkshire 
county,  Massachusetts.  Samuel  B.  Thomas, 
father  of  Mrs.  Jamieson,  became  a  pioneer 
of  Wisconsin  in  1848,  settling  at  Ivnappen's 
(jro\-e.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Missouri, 
where  he  attained  the  age  of  eighty-eight 
years..  His  son,  John  Thomas,  was  the  first 
merchant  at  Poynette  and  also  the  first  post- 
master. He  suggested  the  name  in  honor  of 
Paucpiette,  the  famous  Indian  fur  trader  ar 
Fort  \\'innebago.  but  by  erri^ir  on  the  i^art 
of  the  ]X)Stal  authorities  at  \\'ashington  the 
name  was  corrupted  to  the  name  of  Poy- 
nette. 

To  the  union  of  Mr.  and  ^Mrs.  Janiie- 
scn  were  born  nine  children,  seven  of  whom 
are  living,  as  follows:  Hugh  I^..  the  first 
white  child  born  in  the  village  of  Poynette ; 
William  W. ;  Addison  J. ;  Samantha  Janet 
(Mrs.  E.  E.  Hinkson)  ;  John  C. ;  Samuel, 
railway  agent  at  Arlington,  Wisconsin ;  and 
Amy  \'.  (Mrs.  Eric  Johnson). 

The  Jamieson  family  were  reared  in  the 
fi.ith  and  are  earnest  supporters  of  the  Pres- 
bvterian  denomination.     Referring  again  to 


the  subject  of  this  article,  we  find  a  man  of 
great  energy,  determination  and  remarkalile 
business  capacity,  and  wherever  known  was 
accredited  as  a  man  of  the  most  strict  in- 
tegrity. He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  his  right  of  suffrage  was  cast 
in  support  of  the  principles  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  in  which  organization  he  was 
for  many  years  a  leader  and  earnest  advo- 
cate. In  the  death  of  Hugh  Jamieson  the 
county  of  Columbia  lost  one  of  her  highly- 
respected  and  influential  citizens,  while  the 
family  continues  prominent  in  business  and 
social  circles. 


NELS  PAULSON. 

Nels  Paulson,  who,  with  his  son,  Edward, 
conducts  one  of  the  finest  farms  in  Strong's 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  is  a  for- 
eign born  citizen,  but  since  taking  up  his 
residence  in  America  he  has  contributed  to 
the  growth  and  upbuilding  of  her  better  in- 
terests, and  can  be  truly  classed  among  the 
public-spirited  men  of  his  community.  He 
has  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer 
for  over  forty  years,  and  has  gleaned  a 
knowledge  of  his  calling  which  makes  his 
judgment  sure,  and  he  is  a  gentleman  of 
broad  mind  and  excellent  habits  and  is 
willingly  accorded  the  esteem  of  bis  fellow 
men. 

Mr.  Paulson  was  born  in  Norway,  Janu- 
ary 23,  1828,  and  was  the  son  of  Paul  and 
Paulina  (Johnson)  Paulson,  who  were  farm- 
ers in  their  native  land  and  remained  there 
during  their  lives.  Our  subject  was  given 
as  good  an  education  as  was  afiforded  the 
youth  of  that  time,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  at  which 
he  worked  until  1855.  With  a  young  man's 
desire  to  see  more  of  the  world  he  came  to 
America  in  that  year,  and  located  in  Chester 
township.  Dodge  county,  Wisconsin,  where 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


667 


he  ])lied  his  trade  for  about  seven  years. 
He  then  purcliased  a  farm  in  Fond  chi  Lac 
count_v,  remaining  there  about  fifteen  }-ears, 
after  which  he  mo\-ed  to  l\ud()l])h,  Wood 
county,  and  conducted  farming  in  that  coun- 
ty al)Out  ten  years.  He  purchased  liis  jjres- 
ent  farm  in  Strong's  Prairie  tnwushi)),  in 
1887,  and  has  since  resided  thereon.  The 
farm  comprises  three  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  he  lias  succeeded  in  clearing  for 
cultivation  about  two  hundred  acres,  and  in 
company  with  his  son  engages  in  general 
farming. 

Air.  Paulson  \\as  married  to  Dorotha 
Christianson,  da--ghter  of  Elling  and  (".u- 
hne  Christianson,  of  Dodge  county,  W'is- 
consin.  One  child  was  born  tn  liless  the 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paulson,  a  son, 
Edward.  He  has  always  resided  with  his 
parents,  and  was  given  a  good  education. 
He  has  spent  his  life  working  with  his  fa- 
ther, with  the  exception  of  three  years,  when 
he  was  attending  the  Luther  College  at  De- 
corah,  Iowa.  He  was  married,  April  17,  1881, 
toSigridReierson,  daughter  of  Germund  and 
Gunnil  Reierson,  of  Numedal,  Xorwav,  \vho 
came  to  tlie  United  States  in  iS6_',  and  liu-at- 
ed  in  Strong's  Prairie.  To  this  uninn  iif  Ed- 
v,"ar(l  and  Sigrid  Paulson  eight  children  have 
been  born,  seven  of  wlmm  are  living,  as  fol- 
l(.\\s:  Xels,  (jermun,  Dorotha,  Salmar,  (ius- 
ta\-,  Maria  and  Martha.  '1  hev  are  an  in- 
telligent family  of  children  and  all  are  at 
home  with  their  parents  on  the  Immestead 
farm. 

B(_)th  our  subject  and  his  son  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  church,  and  in  political 
sentiment  are  Republicans.  'Mr.  Paulson. 
Sr.,  is  not  an  active  worker  for  his  party, 
but  his  son  takes  an  active  interest  in  po- 
htical  movements,  and  attends  as  delegate 
many  state  and  county  conventions  of  the 
party.  He  has  held  various  local  offices  of 
trust,  including  townshi])  clerk,  treasurer 
arid  chairman  of  the  board.     The  father  and 


son  are  able,  representative  citizens  of  the 
ci immunity  in  which  they  reside,  and  the 
township  (if  Strong's  Prairie  may  well  be 
proud  to  number  them  among  the  influential 
men. 


HORACE  S.  OBRION. 

Horace  S.  Obrinn,  one  of  the  foremost 
citizens  of  the  tnwn  of  Fountain  Prairie, 
Columbia  comity,  was  liorn  in  Dundee, 
Vates  county,  New  York,  March  i,  1841, 
and  l)y  industry,  thrift  and  honest  deahng 
with  the  public  has  accumulated  a  very  com- 
fortable fortune.  He  stands  high  in  the  es- 
timation of  the  ])ublic,  and  is  ]jassing  the 
closing  years  of  an  himorable  career  in  peace 
and  comfort. 

John  Obrii.in,  the  father  of  Horace  S.. 
was  a  native  of  Xew  York,  and  married 
Jane  Margaret  Kress,  also  Ixirn  in  the  same 
state.  His  grandfather  was  born  in  Ireland, 
and  married  an  English  woman.  He  was 
a  wheelwright  by  trade,  while  his  wife's 
people  were  largely  farmers.  He  came  west 
in  1844,  and  settled  in  Cnlumbia  county, 
making  his  home  fur  a  \'ear  at  Columbus. 
In  1845  he  took  up  iine  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  go\-ernment  land  in  Fountain 
Prairie,  and  here  he  held  I'lis  residence  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  Xo\-eml)er  20, 
1856.  His  widow  sur\i\-ed  him  many  years, 
anfl  remained  on  the  old  farm  until  the  day 
of  her  death,  August  19.  1884.  They  were 
the  parents  of  six  children :  Myron  died 
X^ovember  19,  1883  ;  Ida  did  not  live  out  her 
childhood ;  Ann  married  Reuben  Arner,  and 
has  her  home  at  Elrov,  Wisconsin ;  Jennie 
is  the  wife  nf  William  Kann,  and  li\'es  at  the 
same  [jlace. 

Horace  S.  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  neighborhoiid,  and  was  enter- 
ir.g  u])on  his  \-oung  manhimd  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Ci\il  war.  His  mother  offered  to 
send   him   awav   tu   school,   but   he   had   the 


668 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


patriotic  impulse  tliat  dominated  the  loyal 
north  so  strongly  and  determined  to  enlist 
in  the  Union  army.  He  was  mustered  into 
the  Thirty-second  Regiment,  Wisconsin 
\  olunteer  Infantry,  August  ii,  1862,  and 
with  his  regiment  went  directly  to  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  where  he  was  soon  attached  to 
the  command  of  General  Grant.  The  winter 
was  spent  on  the  skirmish  line  and  in  pur- 
suit of  Marmaduke  and  Forrest.  The  regi- 
ment was  in  no  battle  of  ao}-  importance 
until  the  last  year  of  the  war,  when  it  took 
part  in  General  Sherman's  memorable 
"march  to  the  sea."  After  the  surrender 
of  General  Johnston  the  regiment  was 
marched  to  Washington  to  take  part  in  the 
"Grand  Review,"  the  most  memorable  mili- 
tary pageant  ever  witnessed  on  this  con- 
tinent. There  Mr.  Obrion  was  mustered  out 
about  June  i,  1865,  and  immediately  re- 
turned to  Wisconsin.  During  the  war  he 
luid  risen  to  the  rank  of  first  sergeant,  and 
had  manifested  much  ability  and  courage  as 
a  soldier.  The  arts  of  war  had,  however, 
no  attraction  for  him,  and  he  gladly  em- 
braced the  opportunity  to  engage  once  more 
in  peaceful  labors. 

Mr.  Ubrion  was  marrietl,  August  20, 
1865,  at  Arena,  \Visconsin,  to  Angelia 
Fiero.  whose  home  was  at  Danville,  Dodge 
county,  Wisconsin.  Her  parents  had  moved 
to  Winnebago  City,  Minnesota,  and  she  was 
making  her  home  with  her  sister,  awaiting 
the  home-coming  of  her  future  husband. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Lany 
Fiero,  and  was  born  ]\Iay  10,  1842,  in 
Mentz,  Cayuga  county.  New  York.  Her 
parents  were  probably  native  to  the  same 
state,  but  her  grandparents  were  Holland 
born.  They  had  a  family  of  ten  children,  of 
whom  only  three  are  living:  Mrs.  Margaret 
Hatch,  Mrs.  Mary  Jane  Huntington,  of 
Minneapolis,  and  Mrs.  Horace  Obrion. 
Stephen  Fiero  brought  his  family  to  Michi- 
gan in  1848,  and  was  a  farmer  there  until 


1855.  That  year  he  settled  at  Danville, 
Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Fiero  died  in  Minnesota 
in  1863,  and  Islv.  Fiero  in  the  same  state 
fourteen  years  later. 

Horace  Obrion  settled  down  on  the  old 
farm  after  his  marriage,  and  has  made  it 
his  home  until  the  present  time.  He  has 
taken  a  prominent  position  in  local  affairs 
almost  from  the  first,  and  has  served  as  a 
member  of  the  town  board  of  supervisors 
for  many  years,  and  has  frequently  been 
chairman  of  the  organization.  He  is  a 
strong  Republican,  though  his  father  was  a 
Democrat.  He  belongs  to  the  Aloderu 
\Voodmen  of  America,  and  has  been  banker 
of  that  order.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Fall  River  Methodist  church,  ami 
he  has  ser\-ed  it  as  a  steward  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  There  are  six  children  in  the 
family :  Minnie  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  F.  D. 
Hunt,  of  Fall  River;  Mabel  is  Mrs.  R.  D.' 
Evans,  and  lives  in  the  same  place;  Sidney 
S.  married  Alice  Foster,  and  is  living  at 
DeSmet,  South  Dakota;  \\'alter  is  a  tele- 
graph operator,  and  is  at  home  with  his 
parents  ;Ethel  assists  in  the  home  duties ;  and 
Frnest  is  in  the  junior  j^ear  of  the  Colum- 
bus high  school.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Obrion  are 
pleasant, sociable  people,  and  are  well  thought 
of  in  the  community.  She  could  easily  es- 
tablish her  membership  in  the  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution,  and  he  is  very 
sure  his  grandfather  fought  in  that  great 
struggle.  Both  families  have  always  been 
faithful  to  their  country's  need,  and  on 
every  occasion  ha\e  furnished  their  full 
quota  of  soldiers. 


JAMES  ASAHEL  STONE. 

James  Asahel  Stone,  one  of  the  leading- 
attorneys  and  prominent  business  men  of 
Sauk    county,    Wisconsin,   now   located  at 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


669 


Keedsburg,  was  born  in  Smitlitield,  Madison 
county.  New  York,  December  i,  1856,  and 
is  a  son  of  Captain  James  Riley  and  Pamela 
Coe  (Ellinwood)  Stone.  The  father  was 
also  a  native  of  Smithfield  and  his  ancestors 
were  from  Connecticut.  During  the  dark 
days  of  the  Rebellion,  he  recruited  Com- 
pany F,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
seventh  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  commissioned  captain  of  his  company, 
being  mustered  in  as  such  September  ig. 
1862.  Among  the  engagements  in  which 
he  participated  were  the  battles  of  Chancel- 
lorsville  and  Gettysburg,  and  at  the  latter 
he  was  taken  prisoner.  After  one  year  spent 
in  Libby  prison,  during  which  time  he  en- 
dured untold  hardships,  he  was  transferred 
to  Alacon,  Georgia,  where  he  died  August 
12,  1864,  at  the  age  of  forty  years.  He  was 
a  brave  soldier  and  was  greatly  respected 
by  his  men  as  well  as  his  fellow  officers. 
Prior  to  entering  the  army  he  engaged  in 
farming  and  working  at  the  stone  mason'.'^ 
trade,  and  many  monuments  of  his  skill  and 
handiwork  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Peterboro, 
New  York.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of 
Madison  county,  New  York,  and  a  daughter 
of  George  W.  Ellinwood,  a  prominent  citizen 
of  that  locality,  who  was  engaged  in  farming 
and  hotel  keeping,  and  also  served  as  justice 
of  the  peace  for  some  years.  The  Ellin- 
wood family  is  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage. 

The  preliminary  education  of  our  sub- 
ject was  obtained  in  the  common  school  and 
Evans  Academy,  of  Peterboro,  New  York. 
In  the  winter  of  1869-70  he  came  with  his 
mother  to  Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  and  locat- 
ed on  a  farm,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he 
devoted  his  energies  through  the  summer 
months,  while  in  the  winter  he  attended  the 
Reedsburg  high  school,  where  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1875.  Subsequently  he  attended  the 
Oshkosh  Normal  School  for  one  term,  and 
for  two  years  was  a  student  at  the  State 
University.  Later  he  studied  law  with  Judge 


Stevens  and  R.  P.  Perry,  of  Reedsburg, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1889,  since 
which  time  he  has  successfully  engaged  in 
general  practice.  He  spent  five  years  in  Pot- 
ter and  Sully  counties.  South  Dakota,  locat- 
ing settlers,  conducting  contests,  etc.,  and 
still  owns  a  claim  there.  Since  his  return 
to  Reedsburg  he  has  built  up  a  large  and 
lucrative  practice,  and  in  connection  with 
his  professional  duties  he  is  more  or  less 
interested  in  the  insurance  and  collection 
business.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  State  Bank  of  that  place,  for  which 
he  acts  as  attorney. 

Mr.  Stone  was  married,  April  19,  1884, 
to  Miss  Minnie  Louise  Corwith,  a  daughter 
of  Silas  W.  and  Anna  L.  (Albrecht)  Cor- 
with, of  Prairie  du  Sac,  Wisconsin.  Her 
father  died  in  Reedsburg,  June  2~,  1894, 
at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy-eight  years,  but 
her  mother,  who  was  born  in  Doelleda, 
Germany,  is  still  living  in  Reedsburg,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three.  Mrs.  Stone  was  born  in 
Troy    township,    Sauk    county,    March    6, 

1857- 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone  have  three  children : 
Anna  Louise,  James  Riley  and  Millie  Coe. 

Mr.  Stone  has  always  taken  a  deep  in- 
terest in  educational  affairs.  He  served  two 
terms  as  city  superintendent  of  schools,  and 
three  years  as  member  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation. He  is  now  a  member  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  free  public  library,  of 
Reedsburg,  which  was  established  by  his 
earnest  effort,  combined  with  other  public- 
spirited  citizens. 

His  family  attend  the  Presbyterian 
church.  In  social  bodies  he  is  a  member  oi 
Maplewood  Camp,  No.  470,  M.  W.  A.,  and 
its  presiding  officer;  is  a  member  of  Reeds- 
burg Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  has  taken 
the  chapter  degrees  in  ]\Iasonry.  Both  he 
and  wife  belong  to  Queen  of  Shelja  Chapter, 
O.  E.  S.,  at  Reedsburg. 

Politically  he  is  identified  with  the  Re- 


670 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


publican  party,  and  (October,  1900)  is  the 
nominee  for  tlie  assembly  for  the  second  dis- 
trict in  Sauk  county.  For  four  years  he  has 
creditably  filled  the  office  of  city  attorney  of 
Reedsburg. 

He  holds  and  merits  a  place  among  the 
representative  legal,  practitioners  and  citi- 
zens of  Reedsburg,  and  is  a  pleasant,  affable 
gentleman  who  makes  many  friends. 


STEPHEN  HUNGERFORD. 

Stephen  Hungerford,  who  now  makes 
his  home  with  his  son  in  Dell  Prairie  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  haying  retired  from 
the  struggles  and  cares  of  a  busy  life,  was 
for  many  years  connected  with  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  Adams  county.  He 
owned  a  considerable  tract  of  land  lying 
partly  in  that  and  partly  in  Columbia  coun^ 
ty,  and  carried  on  farming  on  a  respectable 
scale.  In  1900  he  disposed  of  his  place  and 
sought  the  rest  a  long  and  active  career  had 
earned   for  him. 

Mr.  Hungerford  was  born  near  Fulton, 
Oswego  county,  New  York,  September  29, 
1 81 8,  and  was  the  son  of  Eleazer  and  Har- 
riet M.  OVaterhouse)  Hungerford.  The 
family  settled  in  New  York  in  an  early  day 
and  became  worthy  citizens  of  that  state. 
The  father  engaged  in  sailing  a  vessel  on 
Lake  Ontario  for  a  number  of  years,  but 
on  account  of  ill  health  gave  up  that  occu- 
pation at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  The 
father  died  about  1869  and  was  laid  to  rest 
in  Oswego  county,  New  York. 

Until  nineteen  years  of  age  our  subject 
■was  bound  out  to  farm  work  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  uix)n  attaining  his  majority  he 
was  employed  by  the  state  of  New  York  as 
salt  inspector,  at  Syracuse.  During  this 
time  he  also  followed  blacksmithing  and  car- 
riage making,  in  which  work  he  continued 


for  alxtut  six  years.  \\'hen  thirty-one  years 
of  age  he  went  to  California,  via  the  Isth- 
mus, wdiich  he  crossed  on  foot,  and  then 
taking  a  steamer  for  San  Francisco,  the  en- 
tire trip  taking  about  six  months.  He  en- 
gaged in  mining  in  that  state  with  varied 
success,  and  after  four  and  one-half  years, 
in  1854,  returned  to  New  York,  and  after 
a  brief  stay  left  for  Kinderhook,  Branch 
county,  Michigan,  where  he  purchased  land 
and  began  farming.  He  followed  farming 
there  nine  years,  and  then  disposed  of  his 
interests,  and  in  April,  1864,  came  to 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  carried 
01:  farming  until  1900  when,  as  stated,  he 
sold  out  and  reniox-ed  to  Dell  J-'rairie  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Hungerford  was  married  June  i^,, 
1843,  to  Lydia  M,  Root,  daughter  of  Free- 
dom and  Sally  ( Crippen)  Root,  of  Lysander, 
Onondaga  county,  New  York.  Mrs.  Hun- 
gerford's  father  v,as  a  prominent  hotel 
keeper  of  that  place,  and  his  tleath  occurred 
in  i860,  and  the  mother  passed  away  in 
1843.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hungerfonl  the 
following  children  were  born :  Mar^•,  now 
Mrs.  M.  .V.  Rublee,  of  Kilbourn,  Wiscon- 
sin; Henry,  now  in  Washington;  Orvil  died 
Feliruary  J4,  1894,  and  was  buried  at  Sib- 
ley, Iowa;  Charles,  farming  in  Washington; 
Fred,  farming  in  Dell  Prairie  township; 
Frank,  now  Mrs.  L.  B.  Dunton,  of  Dundee, 
Illinois;  and  Lonis,  farming  at  White  Creek, 
Adams  county.  Airs.  Stephen  Ilungei'-ford 
died  July  24,  1900,  and  lies  l)urietl  in  Spring 
Gro\'e  cemetery,  Kilbourn. 

Mr.  Hungerford  is  one  of  the  iniblic- 
spirited  men  of  his  community,  and  despite 
liis  eighty-two  years  is  still  greatl}'  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  the  people.  He  fol- 
lows public  affairs  and  keeps  posted  on  the 
issues  under  daily  discussion,  and  is  a  gen- 
tleman who  is  strong  in  his  convictions. 
He  is  a  memlier  of  the  Popuhst  party  in 
political  sentiment,  and  along  the  lines  of  his 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


671 


party  takes  an  active  interest,  but  does  not 
seek  ])iil)lic  otilice :  lie  stands  as  a  prominent 
memlier  of  tlie  farming  community,  where 
he  lias  chosen  to  reside  for  so  many  years. 
His  career  has  lieen  one  of  usefulness  and 
activity,  and  he  is  passing  his  declining 
years  amid  those  who  honor  the  characteris- 
tics which  have  dominated  his  life. 


PETER  WILLIAMS. 

Peter  Williams  is  one  of  the  best-known 
citizens  of  Cambria,  having  been  a  resident 
of  that  place  nearly  all  the  time  for  more 
tlian  half  a  centiu'v.  During  the  greater  jiart 
of  this  period  he  has  served  the  people  in 
some  official  or  business  capacity  and  his  con- 
duct of  these  affairs  has  been  such  as  to  merit 
and  receive  the  approbation  of  his  associates. 

Mr.  Williams  is  a  native  of  Wales,  born 
to  Thomas  and  Jane  (Andrew)  Williams  at 
Penmachno,  Caernarvonshire,  on  the  17th 
day  of  December,  1831.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  years,  his  father  having  died,  he 
was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  tailor's  trade. 
Having  served  three  years  thereat,  in  1849 
lie  crossed  the  ocean  and  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin. In  the  meantime  his  mother  had  mar- 
ried Mr.  Owen  R.  Roberts  and  the  family 
had  settled  in  Columbia  county  in  1847. 
After  spending  a  few  3'ears  with  them  upon 
a  farm  in  the  town  of  Courtland,  Peter 
started  out  to  seek  his  fortune.  Tailoring- 
had  never  been  congenial  to  his  tastes  and  he 
endeavored  to  find  some  other  work,  but  as 
his  entire  cash  capital  consisted  of  twenty- 
five  cents,  he  was  constrained  to  accept  em- 
ployment in  a  tailor  shop  at  Beaver  Dam 
at  the  princely  salary  of  eight  dollars  per 
month,  though  his  services  soon  commanded 
better  remuneration.  During  the  next  few 
years  he  visited  various  places  in  Wiscon- 
sin   and    worked  at  several  different  pur- 


suits without  materially  improving  his  cir- 
cumstances, but  accjuiring  some  useful  ex- 
perience. In  the  spring  of  1854  he  opened 
the  first  tailor  shop  in  Cambria  and  con- 
ducted the  same  for  twenty-five  j-ears  or 
more,  receiving  the  patronage  of  the  best 
citizens  of  that  village.  In  .the  meantime 
he  devoted  his  intervals  of  leisure  to  reading 
law  and  in  1880  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  He  began  practice  in  partnership  with 
A.  Scott  Sloan,  then  secretary  of  state  for 
Wisconsin,  who  was  for  many  years  an  in- 
timate friend  of  Mr.  Williams.  Since  that 
time  he  has  devoted  most  of  his  attention 
to  this  profession  thi:)Ugh  simultaneously  fill- 
ing one  or  more  official  positions  almost 
constantlv.  Eor  many  years  he  has  Ijeen  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  it  should  be  men- 
tioned to  his  credit  that  it  has  been  his  policy 
to  discourage  rather  than  to  promote  litiga- 
tion among  a  people  who  are  naturally  in- 
clined to  preserve  order  and  harmony  in 
their  relations  one  to  another.  He  has  also 
served  as  town  clerk,  president  of  the  vil- 
lage, postmaster  and  member  of  the  coun- 
t}'  boartl  of  super\'isors.  In  1888  he 
was  elected  clerk  of  the  court  for  Co- 
lumbia county.  Two  3'ears  later  he  was  re- 
elected by  the  popular  vote,  but  was  unable 
to  hold  the  office,  owing  to  a  technicality. 
He  has  been  a  promoter  of  many  useful 
measures  calculated  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  town  and  county,  and  has  conscien- 
tiously discharged  every  trust  reposed  in 
him  by  the  people.  He  has  been  a  consist- 
ent supporter  of  Republican  principles  from 
the  inception  of  that  party,  having  cast  his 
first  presidential  ballot  for  John  C.  Fremont 
in  1856.  In  1895  Governor  Upham  ap- 
pointed him  agent  for  the  Wisconsin  School 
for  Dependent  Children,  at  Sjjarta,  which  po- 
sition he  filled  for  eighteen  months. 

Mr.  Williams  has  erected  two  of  the  most 
substantial  and  attractive  brick  buildings 
upon  the  main  street  of  Cambria,  and  is  a 


672 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


stockholder  of  Cambria  Music  Hall.  While 
he  has  been  too  liberal,  and  honest  to  accumu- 
late a  fortune,hehas  been  reasonably  success- 
ful in  a  business  way  and  there  is  probajjly  no 
n-.an  in  Cambria  who  enjoys  a  greater  degree 
of  the  public  confidence.  An  honored 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  he  has 
filled  the  principal  chairs  in  Cambria  Lodge, 
and  is  connected*  with  Fort  Winnebago 
Chapter  at   Portage. 

No\-ember  24,  1856,  he  secured  a  help- 
mate upon  life's  journey  in  the  person  of 
Miss  Eleanor  Owens,  daughter  of  Owen  S. 
and  Grace  (Jones)  Owens.  This  estimable 
lady  was  born  at  Bethesda,  C?ernarvonshire, 
Wales,  and  came  to  Columbia  county  with 
her  parents  in  1847,  settling  in  the  town  of 
Springvale.  Evan  Jones,  maternal  grand- 
father of  Mrs.  Williams,  was  a  harper  and 
attained  remarkable  skill  in  that  profession. 
During  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  was 
employed  to  play  in  an  inn  at  Csergybi,  near 
the  foot  of  Snowdon,  which  was  frequented 
by  tourists  from  England  and  other  parts 
of  Europe.  Of  eight  children  born  to  Mr. 
ard  Mrs.  Williams,  but  two  survived  the 
period  of  infancy,  but  eight  grandchildren 
delight  their  hearts.  Their  only  son,  Owen 
Caradoc,  is  a  well-known  business  man  of 
Cambria,  and  their  daughter,  Jennie,  is  the 
wife  of  Thomas  A.  Sanderson,  of  Minne- 
apolis. 


JOHN  BROWN  NORTON. 

John  Brown  Norton,  one  of  the  pioneer 
printers  and  publishers  of  Wisconsin,  is  now- 
living  retired  after  a  long,  busy  and  useful 
life  at  Baraboo.  His  identification  with 
"the  art  preservative  of  all  arts"  dates  from 
his  seventh  year  ami  from  that  time  until  he 
laid  aside  business  cares  in  1880  he  was  in 
some  way  connected  with  the  publishing 
business. 


Mr.  Norton  was  born  in  Mt.  Zion,  Han- 
cock county,  Georgia,  in  August,  1826,  a 
son  of  Jacob  and  Harriet  (Holbrook)  Nor- 
ton, both  natives  of  Weymouth,  Massachu- 
setts. The  father  was  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Rev.  John  Norton,  the  founder  of  the 
first  church  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts, 
which  structure  is  still  standing  and  is  now 
the  oldest  church  in  the  United  States.  He 
was  a  nephew  of  Rev.  John  Norton,  who 
came  to  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  in  1635, 
and  after  jareaching  there  for  one  year  went 
t(5  Boston,  and  for  many  years  was  pastor 
of  the  first  church  there,  it  being  the  pred- 
ecessor of  the  famous  Old  South  Church. 
Rev.  Jacob  Norton,  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College 
and  a  fellow  student  and  relative  of  J.  Q. 
Adams.  For  the  long  period  of  forty-three 
years  he  was  pastor  of  one  church  in  Wey- 
mouth, Massachusetts.  He  married  Eliza- 
beth Cranch,  daughter  of  Judge  William 
Cranch,  of  Boston,  and  a  niece  of  Abigail 
Smith,  who  became  the  wife  of  President 
John  Adams.  All  his  sons,  with  one  ex- 
ception, were  graduates  of  Harvard. 

Jacob  Norton,  father  of  our  subject, 
served  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  took  part  in  the  campaign  about  Lake 
Champlain.  He  was  one  of  the  most  ex- 
pert swordsmen  of  his  day.  Li  early  life 
lie  learned  the  printer's  trade  with  Lincoln 
&  Edmunds,  one  of  the  oldest  publishing- 
firms  of  Boston,  and  later  he  carried  on  a 
book  printing  establishment  of  his  own. 
About  1 81 8  he  went  to  Georgia  and  for 
twelve  years  or  more  was  editor  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  "Hancock  County  Advertiser." 
He  then  located  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  book  and  job  print- 
ing business  until  his  death.  Subsequently, 
about  1850,  his  widow  came  to  Wisconsin 
and  died  in  Prairie  du  Sac,  Sauk  county,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years.  When 
a  young  woman  she  sang  in  the  choir  of 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


(573 


Dr.  William  E.  Channing's  church  at  Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts.  Her  father,  Jolm  Hol- 
brook,  was  an  extensive  dealer  and  manu- 
facturer of  boots,  shoes  and  furs  at  Boston, 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  at  an  early 
•day  and  erected  the  first  brick  house  in  that 
city. 

John  B.  Norton,  of  this  review,  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  boyhood  in  Lowell, 
Massachusetts,  and  there  acquired  his  early 
education.  At  the  age  of  seven  years  he 
began  setting  type,  and  after  having  thor- 
oughly mastered  the  printer's  trade  he  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  was  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Harper  Brothers  for  a  number  of 
years.  Had  his  health  permitted  him  to  re- 
main longer  with  that  firm  he  was  to  have 
been  made  assistant  superintendent  of  their 
establishment.  Li  1855  he  came  to  Prairie 
du  Sac,  Wisconsin,  and  spent  two  years  on  a 
farm  recuperating.  He  then  went  to  Madi- 
son and  secured  an  interest  in  the  "State 
Journal,"  which  he  retained  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  During  this  time  the 
office  furnished  to  Anson  Kellogg,  of  the 
"Baraboo  Republic,"  the  first  "insides,"  so 
called,  ever  printed  in  the  Lhiited  States. 
While  connected  with  the  "Journar'  Mr. 
Norton  was  state  printer  for  a  time.  Owing 
to  failing  health  he  severed  his  connection 
with  the  paper  in  1880,  and  lived  for  sev- 
eral years  in  retirement  at  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  but  is  now  a  resident  of  Bara- 
boo, Wisconsin.  Before  coming  to  this  state 
he  started  the  first  steam  press  in  Savannah, 
Georgia,  and  the  second  in  that  state. 

In  1848  Mr.  Norton  married  Miss  Caro- 
line M.  T.  Fowler,  a  native  of  Andover, 
New  Hampshire,  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Nancy  (Leavitt)  Fowler,  of  Lowell, 
Massachusetts.  Her  maternal  grandfather, 
Major  Jonathan  Leavitt,  served  from  the 
beginning  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war,  taking  part  in  many  engagements 
on  both  land  and  sea.    He  was  with  the  army 


during  the  famous  winter  at  Valley  Forge. 
He  died  at  Conway,  New  Hampshire,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-four  years.  The 
children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton  are 
as  follows:  Claude  R.,  a  [ihysician  of  Phila- 
delphia, Penns},'l\-ania ;  John  Jacob,  a  resi- 
dent of  Rome,  New  York,  and  was  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  Rome  Gas  and  Electric 
Light  Company  for  many  years,  now  special 
agent  for  an  extensive  Nicaraguan  enter- 
prise; Carrie  Fowler,  wife  of  Dr.  C.  H. 
Hall,  of  Madison,  Wisconsin ;  and  David 
A.,  who  died  August  20,  1892,  soon  after 
his  graduation  from  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, at  Philadelphia. 

Socially  Mr.  Norton  afliliatcs  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows,  and  politically  is  identi- 
fied with  the  Republican  party,  though  at 
local  elections  he  sometimes  votes  inde- 
pendent of  party  ties.  He  is  widely  and 
favorably  known  throughout  the  state  and 
has  a  host  of  warm  friends  in  Sauk  county. 


CURTIS  B.  NEFF. 

Curtis  B.  Neff,  residing  on  section  28, 
in  Easton  township,  is  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Adams  county.  He  has  engaged 
in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  and  to  his  efforts  much  of 
the  present  solid  prosperity  of  his  vicinity 
is  due.  He  came  to  Adams  county  when  it 
was  a  wilderness  and  has  assisted  in  trans- 
forming it  into  one  of  the  most  thriving 
agricultural  districts  in  \Visconsin.  His 
home  is  one  of  pleasant  surroundings 
and  he  has  added  modern  improvements  and 
prospered  in  his  chosen  calling,  and  is  now 
one  of  the  substantial  men  of  his  community. 
It  is  through  his  perseverance  and  honest 
dealings  that  he  has  acquired  a  fortune,  and 
is  supplied  with  the  comforts  of  life. 


674 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Neff  was  I)orn  July  12,  1823,  at 
Cortland,  Xew  Y(_irk,  and  was  the  son  of 
Isaac  and  Polly  (Black)  Neff,  of  Dutch  de- 
scent. The  family  resided  near  the  Mohawk 
river  many  years  and  the  father  was  a 
farmer.  They  went  to  Lake  Mills,  Jeffer- 
son county,  Wisconsin,  about  185 1  or  1852 
and  took  up  land  on  which  the  father  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1889,  aged  ninety-five  years. 
The  mother  survived  him  fi\e  years  and  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety-one  or  ninet\"-t\\o  years, 
and  both  were  buried  at  Lake  Mills. 

In  the  famih-  of  nine  children  our  sub- 
ject was  the  fifth  in  order  of  l)irth.  He 
went  to  Jefferson  county  one  year  later  than 
his  parents,  and  purchased  forty  acres  of 
land  near  Lake  Mills,  where  he  stayed  about 
eight  years.  He  came  to  Easton,  Adams 
county,  on  a  hunting  expedition  and  the 
creek  and  general  appearance  of  the  coun- 
try pleased  him  and  he  disposed  of  his  in- 
terests in  Jefferson  county  and  pre-empted 
one  hundred  and  twenty,  acres  of  land  in 
section  28,  which  is  his  present  home  farm. 
He  has  con\'erted  it  into  a  well-improved 
farm  and  most  of  the  land  is  under  culti- 
vation. 

Mr.  Neff  was  married  in  December, 
1847,  to  Nancy  L.  Frink,  daughter  of 
George  and  Esther  (Brown)  Frink,  of  Lake 
Mills,  who  came  to  Wisconsin  from  New 
York.  Mrs.  Neff  died  June  18,  1873.  Six 
children,  five  of  whom  are  living,  were  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Neff,  as  follows :  Caroline, 
now  Mrs.  L.  Lampher,  of  Easton;  Henry, 
engaged  in  farming  in  Easton  township; 
William,  mining  in  California;  Laura,  re- 
siding at  home;  and  George,  farming  at 
home. 

Mr.  Neft'  stands  for  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party.  He  has  lent  his  influence 
for  the  upbuilding  of  Adams  county,  and  is 
prominent  in  the  farming  community  where 
he  has  resided  so  many  years.     He  has  held 


various  township  offices  of  trust,  and  in  every 
instance  dischargetl  his  duties  faithfully  and 
well.  He  has  labored  hard  throughout  his 
career,  and  during  his  younger  days  had 
little  opportunity  to  gain  an  education,  but 
through  his  own  eft'orts  he  has  acquired  a 
good  education  and  is  well  read  and  keeps 
abreast  of  the  times.  To  such  men  the  com- 
munity owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  the 
part  they  ha\e  taken  in  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation, and  the  community  of  Easton  town- 
ship willingly  accurds  this  gentleman  the 
highest  esteem. 


J/iMES  FRANCIS  FORREST. 

James  Francis  Forrest,  a  well-known 
farmer  of  the  town  of  Arlington,  Columbia 
county,  also  possesses  a  noteworthy  me- 
chanical skill  and  ingenuity.  He  is  a  man 
ot  decided  business  ability.  He  makes  fruit 
raising  and  pigeons  a  specialty,  and  gives  his 
farm  much  care  and  thought,  and  demands 
that  it  should  give  corresponding  results. 
He  belongs  to  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  the  county,  being  the  son  of  William  For- 
rest, a  native  of  Lanarkshire,  Scotland, 
whose  parents  died  in  that  country  during 
his  boyhood.  When  grown  to  manhood  he 
came  to  the  United  States  and  lived  for  a 
time  in  \'ermont.  About  1850  he  came  to 
Wisconsin,  and  located  in  the  town  of  Ar- 
lington. He  built  the  first  house  in  "Pine 
Hollow,"  and  at  the  same  time  he  purchased 
land  in  section  10,  of  the  same  town.  There 
he  made  his  home  from  1863  to  his  death, 
January  11,  1894,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  )'ears,  ten  months  and  twenty-nine 
days.  He  was  a  successful  farmer,  and  the 
owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  which  he  had  thoroughly  improved. 
He  was  a  Democrat,  but  never  an  office 
seeker.     He  married  Miss  Marion  Brown- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


075 


lee,  a  native  of  Carluke,  Lanarksliire,  Scot- 
land, and  a  daugliter  of  Alexander  and 
Marion  (Liglitbody)  Brownlee,  her  mother 
springing  from  an  old  and  aristocratic  fam- 
ily. Mrs.  Marion  Forrest  died  November 
30,  1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years, 
three  months  and  seventeen  days.  She  was 
the  motlier  of  five  ciiildren :  Marion,  Mrs. 
John  W'.  \\'rig"ht,  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin; 
Agnes  and  Jean,  of  Poynette ;  Ehzabetli, 
the  wife  of  W'ilHam  Axon,  of  Lodi,  Wis- 
c(jnsin ;  and  James  F. 

James  Francis  Forrest  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Arhngton,  Cohunbia  county,  Wis- 
consin, April  28,  1863,  and  the  farm  that 
is  now  his  home,  and  which  he  is  cultivat- 
ing with  so  much  success,  is  also  his  birth- 
place. Here  he  spent  his  boyhood,  and  at- 
tended the  public  schools,  finishing  at  Poy- 
nette and  at  Madison.  He  is  a  natural  me- 
chanic, and  has  devised  many  labor-saving 
appliances,  which  he  operates  with  a  station- 
ary engine.  He  is  constantly  called  upon  to 
repair  farming  implements  for  his  neighbors, 
and  among  other  things  has  invented  and 
constructed  a  very  practical  manure- 
spreader.  He  has  also  made  several  clocks, 
of  a  curious  and  complicated  pattern,  and 
does  considerable  fine  scroll  work. 

Mr.  Forrest  and  Miss  Mabel  Chipman 
were  married  May  14,  1896.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  George  and  Martha  (Taylor) 
Chipman,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in  the 
sketch  of  W.  R.  Chipman,  published  in  this 
volume.  The  grandmother  of  Mrs.  Forrest, 
Mrs.  Achsa  Taylor,  is  an  estimable  lady  of 
ninety-seven  years,  and  makes  her  home  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Forrest,  where  she  is  sur- 
rounded with  an  atmosphere  of  tender  and 
venerating  lo\e.  She  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire.  James  Francis  Forrest  and 
wife  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  Nellie,  a 
sweet  and  winsome  little  girl,  born  Novem- 
ber I,  1897.  The  family  are  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  church  at  Poynette,  and  are 


counted  among  the  best  people  in  this  section 
of  the  county.  Mr.  Forrest  has  lieen  a  Pro- 
hibitionist from  boyhood. 


ROYAL  AVERS,  Dece.xsed. 

Royal  Ayers,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  Fairfield  township,  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  he  is  still  remembered  by 
the  older  residents  of  this  portion  of  the 
county  as  a  man  of  indomitable  force  of 
character.  He  was  horn  at  Rockingham, 
Vermont,  March  27,  1824,  and  died  in  the 
township  of  Fairfield,  June  25,  1891,  and 
within  these  limits  lived  a  useful  and  hon- 
orable life.  He  was  a  son  of  Moses  and 
Abigail  (Proctor)  Ayers,  and  a  descendant 
of  John  Ayers,  who  was  born  in  Notting- 
liam,  England,  in  1592,  and  came  to  Massa- 
chusetts in  1637,  and  was  the  founder  of 
the  family  in  America.  Moses  Ayers  was 
a  native  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  where 
h.c  was  born  in  1790,  dying  in  Putney,  Ver- 
mont, when  over  seventy-eight  years. 
Y^bigail  Proctor  was  born  in  Washington, 
New  .Hami^shire,  and  died  at  Putney,  Ver- 
mont, when  past  ninety-seven  years.  Moses 
Ayers  was  a  son  of  William  Ayers,  of 
Haverhill,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  veteran 
of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  married 
Mollie  Reynolds,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
"Runels,"  a  prominent  pioneer  of  Bradford, 
Massachusetts. 

Royal  Ayers  was  one  of  a  family  of  thir- 
teen children,  of  whom  two  died  in  infancy. 
Royal  and  three  of  his  sisters  became  resi- 
dents of  Sauk  county.  They  were:  Abbie, 
who  married  W.  R.  Glover,  and  lived  in 
Greenfield  township ;  Martha  married  George 
W.  Barnes  and  had  her  home  in  Fairfield 
townshi]);  Louisa  married  O.  G.  Watkins, 
of  Baraboo  township,    and    is    now    dead. 


C76 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


Rlr.  Avers  went  to  Massachusetts  wiien  sev- 
enteen years  of  ag'e,  and  for  the  next  ten 
years  was  mainly  employed  on  the  wharves 
at  Weymouth.  He  was  three  years  or  more 
in  Rockingham,  Vermont,  and  in  1855  came 
to  Wisconsin  and  located  in  Fairfield  town- 
ship, where  he  bought  two  hundred  acres  of 
land,  receiving  for  a  portion  of  this  a  gov- 
ernment patent.  He  devoted  his  life  to  the 
improvement  of  this  valuable  tract,  and  made 
it  one  of  the  choicest  farms  of  the  county. 
And  this  farm  was  his  home  until  his  death. 
He  was  a  believer  in  land,  and  at  one  time 
owned  over  six  hundred  acres.  He  was  at 
different  periods  of  his  life  engaged  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  loaning  money,  and 
seldom  made  a  misdeal.  He  was  a  vigorous 
and  industrious  man,  possessed  an  excellent 
judgment  and  made  his  mark  upon  the  com- 
mercial and  business  interests  of  Sauk 
county.  He  was  a  Republican,  and  always 
took  an  active  interest  in  politics.  For  nine 
years  he  was  chairman  of  the  town  board, 
holding  that  ofifice  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Union  army  during 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  enlisting  February 
7.  1865,  as  a  member  of  Company  E,  Forty- 
ninth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  mustered  out  November  14,  1865.  He 
was  stationed  at  Rolla,  and  Benton  Bar- 
racks, ]\Iissouri. 

Islx.  Ayers  and  Miss  Nancy  Jackson  were 
married  November  9,  1848.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Luther  and  Sally  (Noyes)  Jackson, 
and  was  born  at  Abington,  Massachusetts. 
Her  father  was  born  near  Plymouth  Rock, 
and  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade.  He  died  at 
Abington,  July  18,  1887,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six.  Mrs.  Ayers  is  the  mother  of  one 
son  and  four  daughters:  Lucy  was  born  at 
Abington,  Massachusetts,  and  died  January 
22,  1863;  Abbie  E.,  born  May  4,  1852,  at 
Rockingham,  Vermont,  has  taught  fourteen 
years  in  the  schools  of  Sauk  county,  and  is 
now  Mrs.  Elwyn  D.  Kidder,  of  Harriman, 


Tennessee;  Carrie  Frances,  born  January 
3,  1857,  is  now  Mrs.  E.  R.  Thomas,  of 
Fairfield  township;  Ella  Vesta,  born  May 
19,  1859,  is  living  on  the  homestead  farm; 
Charles  Jackson,  born  November  23,  1861, 
has  always  lived  on  the  home  farm,  which  he 
now  owns.  He  has  been  a  Prohibitionist 
from  bo}'hood,  and  has  no  desire  for  offi- 
cial position.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayers  helped  to 
organize  the  Fairfield  Methodist  church,  and 
he  was  one  of  three  contributors  to  pur- 
chasing a  building  for  purposes  of  worship. 
The  family  is  known  as  an  intelligent  and 
cultured  one,  and  all  its  members  are  full 
of  a  high  purpose  in  life.  The  son  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church,  and  was  a  Good 
Templ.ar  as  long  as  the  order  was  maintained 
in  Fairfield. 


SHERMAN   COLBURN,   Deceased. 

Sherman  Colburn,  deceased,  was  for 
many  years  prior  to  his  death  one  of  the 
leading  farmers  of  Springville  township, 
Adams  county,  and  left  an  estate,  which  is 
one  of  the  best  in  that  community.  The 
homestead  is  located  on  section  13,  and  his 
widow  now  makes  her  home  there,  with  her 
two  youngest  children.  Mr.  Col.burn  was 
an  agriculturist  for  over  thirty  3'ears,  and 
was  an  earnest  worker  and  well  posted  on 
general  topics.  He  made  a  success  of  his 
vocation,  and  won  the  esteem  of  his  fellow 
men.  He  was  an  ex-soldier,  and  no  man 
ever  entered  the  defense  of  his  country  with 
more  loyalty  and  patriotism.  His  life  was 
that  of  an  honest  man  and  public-spirited 
citizen,  and  he  passed  away  mourned  by 
many  friends. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Fairfield,  Ver- 
mont, April  16,  1825,  and  was  the  son  of 
Hugh  and  Sylvia  (Sherman)  Colburn.  His 
father  lived  in  Vermont  and  was  from  an  old 
established  family  of  that  state.  He  was  a 
blacksmith  by  trade. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


G77 


Of  a  famil}-  of  four  children  oiir  subject 
was  the  second  in  order  of  birth,  and  after 
the  age  of  six  years  was  reared  by  an  aunt, 
Mrs.  Barlow.  He  Hved  with  her  until  about 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  attended  school 
and  received  a  fair  education.  He  went 
to  Boston  about  1845  and  learned  the  trade 
of  currier,  which  he  followed  until  about 
thirty  years  of  age.  He  turned  his  steps 
toward  the  new  west  in  1855,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  was  employed  in  the  pineries  of 
Wisconsin  and  later  engaged  in  farming, 
spending  twelve  years  on  various  farms. 
He  then  purchased  his  farm  in  section  13, 
Springville  township,  where  he  resided  un- 
til his  death.  He  enlisted  in  Company  K, 
Thirty-eighth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  numer- 
ous small  skirmishes,  and  was  discharged 
after  about  nine  months'  service.  He  was 
a  true  and  bra\'e  soldier  and  never  once  fal- 
tered when  duty  called. 

Mr.  Colburn  was  married,  June  10,  1856, 
to  Elvira  Bresee,  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Mary  Ann  (Thomas)  Bresee,  of  ■  Sutton, 
Quebec,  who  were  of  French  Canadian  de- 
scent. Eight  children  were  born  to  bless 
the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Colburn,  as  fol- 
lows: Edwin  S.,  born  November  29,  1859, 
now  residing  at  Big  Spring;  Harvey  B.,  born 
October  18,  1862,  now  farming  in  Dell 
Prairie  township;  Andrew  \V.,  born  March 
18,  1864,  now  engaged  in  farming  in  Ex- 
celsior township,  Sauk  county;  William  H., 
born  April  21,  1867,  now  farming  in  Spring- 
ville township;  Sylvia  A.,  born  November 
29,  1869,  now  Mrs.  D.  M.  Shoff,  of  Easton; 
Evalette,  born  February  9,  1872,  now  Mrs. 
H.  Reynolds,  of  Twin  Villey;  Frank,  born 
October  18,  1874,  now  residing  with  his 
mother;  and  Ruby  M.,  born  February  15, 
1877,  now  at  home.  Mr.  Colburn  passed 
away  at  Springville,  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, September  11,  1895.  He  was  a 
prominent  member  of  John  Gillespie  Post, 


G.  A.  R.  He  gained  his  competence  through 

honesty,  industry    and    perseverance,    and 

was    an  exemplary    husband,    father    and 
friend. 


MORITZ     BERNHARDT     ANACKER. 

Moritz  Bernhardt  Anacker,  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  of  Caledonia  township,  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  has  an  interesting  and 
romantic  career.  He  was  born  in  the  village 
of  Herrenbreitungen,  Schmalkalden,  Hesse 
Cassel,  Germany,  May  20,  1845,  '^"d  is  a 
son  of  Christopher  and  Mary  (Jaeger) 
Anacker.  The  mother  died  when  our  sub- 
ject was  only  four  years  old,  and  the  father 
passed  away  in  1891,  when  over  sixty  years 
of  age.  Members  of  the  Anacker  family 
have  been  prosperous  farmers  and  land  own- 
ers in  Herrenbreitungen  for  a  number  of 
centuries,  the  church  at  that  place  contain- 
ing records  of  the  family  as  early  as  the 
eleventh  century.  That  church,  one  of  the 
oldest  in  Europe,  was  built  of  stone  and  slate 
in  1446,  used  by  both  denominations,  Lu- 
therans and  Reformers.  Martin  Luther 
was  born  near  by.  One  hundred  years  pre- 
vious to  that  time  all  of  the  Anacker  family 
at  Herrenbreitungen  died  of  a  plague,  which 
depopulated  that  and  two  adjacent  villages. 
Their  propert}-,  however,  was  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  descendants  of  an  Anacker  whose 
ancestors  had  moved  to  Switzerland  about 
1 100.  The  great-grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject was  Kolus  Anacker,  a  wealthy  farmer 
of  Herrenbreitungen,  and  the  grandfather 
was  Henry  Anacker,  a  highly  educated  and 
intiuential  citizens  of  that  place,  who  took 
great  pains  to  search  and  preserve  the  rec- 
ords of  his  famil}'. 

Christopher  Anacker,  the  father  of  our 
subject,  was  a  man  of  considerable  promi- 
nence in  his  community.  Besides  carrying 
on  a  large  farm  for  some  years,  he  operated 


678 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


the  town  brewery  and  public  house  at  Her- 
renbreitungen,  where  he  filled  some  official 
positions.  During:  the  war  of  1866  between 
Prussia  and  Austria,  he  favored  the  Prus- 
sians, though  his  king,  Frederick  William 
\y,  of  Hesse-Cassel,  was  in  sympathy  with 
the  Austrians.  When  the  king  attempted  to 
fly  to  Switzerland  with  the  war  fund  of 
about  three  million  dollars,  Mr.  Anacker 
was  instrumental  in  notifying  the  Prussians, 
who  intercepted  the  treasure.  Some  of  the 
Bavarian  troops,  who  were  allies  of  the 
Austrians,  intended  to  capture  ]\Ir.  Anacker, 
because  he  had  refused  to  sell  them  beer,  and 
was  denounced  as  the  Prussians'  friend,  but 
escaped  through  a  ruse  of  our  subject,  who 
di\-erted  their  attention  and  served  them  with 
beer.  The  next  day,  but  one,  the  Bavarians 
were  defeated  in  battle  by  the  Prussians  at 
Rossdorf. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  recei\'ed  only 
a  limited  common-school  education,  Imt  be- 
ing a  prec(,>cious  youth,  he  became  well  in- 
formed. At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he 
went  to  live  with  his  maternal  grandfather, 
Moritz  Jaeger,  at  Herrenbreitungen,  who 
sent  him  to  the  high  school  in  Schmalkal- 
den,  for  one  year.  While  there  he  gained  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  French  language, 
and  intended  studying  English,  but  did  not 
remain  long  enough  for  that  purpose  on  ac- 
count of  sickness  in  the  family. 

Failing  to  agree  with  his  father  and 
step-mother,  Mr.  Anacker  came  to  America 
in  1866,  leaving  home  at  night,  as  he  had 
been  drawn  as  a  conscript  for  the  king's 
cavalry,  the  "Cuirassiers."  One-fourth  of 
the  property  which  he  was  to  inherit  from  his 
mother  was  confiscated  by  the  government, 
and  the  rest  he  w^as  beaten  out  of  by  his 
father's  recklessness.  Diligent  efforts  were 
made  to  apprehend  him  by  the  officers  at 
Bremen,  where  he  was  delayed  for  a  few 
days  before  taking  a  vessel.  By  the  assist- 
ance of  friends  he  succeeded  in  eluding  the 


officers,  though  the  vessel  was  searched  after 
he  embarked.  Upon  landing  in  New  York 
he  went  to  Rockford,  Illinois,  and  soon  after- 
ward came  to  Portage,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  secured  em])loyment  in  a  hotel.  About  a 
year  later  he  commenced  working  as  a  farm 
laborer  in  Caledonia  township,  and  spent 
four  years  in  that  wav,  carefully  sa\'ing  his 
\Aages  until  he  was  able  to  stock  a  rented 
farm,  which  he  operated  for  three  years. 
In  1875  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  his  present  farm  on  section  2^.  Cal- 
edonia township,  all  of  which  was  wild  land 
when  he  purchased  it,  to  which  he  has  since 
added  one  hundred  and  forty  acres.  He 
spent  four  days  in  clearing  a  track  through 
the  woods  to  the  spot  where  he  wished  to 
build  his  house.  The  place  is  now  well  im- 
proved with  good  buildings,  is  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  and  watered  by  living 
springs.  He  has  given  considerable  atten- 
tion to  the  breeding  of  Jersey  cattle  and 
other  live  stock,  but  in  1896  he  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  nearly  all  his  stock  by  a 
contagious  disease.  However,  he  now  has 
several  head  of  fine  thorough-bred  Jersey 
and  Durham  cattle  upon  his  farm. 

In  the  fall  of  1871,  having  unexpectedly 
made  arrangements  to  take  possession  of  a 
rented  farm,  Mr.  Anacker  found  it  neces- 
sary to  secure  a  housekeeper.  The  only 
young  lady  whom  he  considered  eligible  for 
that  important  position  was  a  distant  cousin, 
Miss  Minnie  Anacker,  whom  he  had  met 
but  once  or  twice,  but  satisfactory  arrange- 
ments were  soon  made,  and  they  were  united 
in  marriage  December  10,  1871,  since  which 
time  they  have  traveled  life's  joirrney  to- 
gether in  harmony  and  tranquiUty.  She  was 
born  in  Herrenbreitungen,  Germany,  June 
30,  1852,  and  the  following  year  was 
brought  to  this  country  by  her  parents,  Gus- 
tave  and  Sabina  (Eberlein)  Anacker,  who 
settled  in  Lewiston  township,  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  her  father  died  in 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


679 


the  fall  of  1880,  aged  sixty-two  years,  her 
mother,  L)eceml)er  6,  1868,  aged  tifty-one. 
Her  paternal  grandfather,  George  Anacker, 
was  a  brother  of  the  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, Henry  Anacker.  To  our  subject  and 
his  wife  have  been  born  fifteen  children,  of 
whom  two  died  in  infancy.  The  others  are 
Charles  W.  A.,  now  a  resident  of  Lime 
Springs,  Iowa ;  Christopher  ^Vilham  Otto, 
and  Mary,  wife  of  William  S.  Walter,  also 
of  Lime  Sorings ;  Minnie,  wife  of  William 
S.  H.  Johnson,  of  Portage,  Wisconsin; 
Amelia,  of  Lime  Springs,  \o\\a ;  Anna,  of 
Portage,  \Visconsin :  and  Rosie,  Bernhardt, 
Gustave,  Henry,  Edward,  Margaret  and 
Leonard,  all  at  home.  They  also  have  three 
grandchildren.  All  of  the  children  have  been 
given  good  district-school  educations. 

Mr.  Anacker  usually  supports  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  is  an  advocate  of  the  gold 
standard,  and  keeps  well  informed  on  the 
questions  of  the  day.  He  is  widely  and  fa- 
vorably known,  and  has  a  host  of  warm 
friends  in  his  community. 


ROBERT  NEWTON  BARTHOLOMEW. 

Robert  Newton  Bartholomew,  Lodi, 
Wisconsin,  is  the  oldest  living  pioneer  of 
the  Lodi  valley,  and  through  a  long  and  use- 
ful career  has  been  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial citizens  of  this  part  of  the  county.  He 
is  a  thoroughly  honorable  and  upright  man, 
kind  and  sympathetic  in  his  spirit,  and  his 
entire  business  career  has  been  marked  by  an 
unswerving  integrity.  He  properly  belongs 
to  a  record  of  the  representative  men  of  Co- 
lumbia county. 

Mr.  Bartholomew  was  born  at  Lexing- 
ton, McLean  county,  Illinois,  October  8, 
1834,  and  is  a  son  of  Marston  Clark  and 
Mary  Hopkins  Bartholomew.  His  father 
was  born  at  Jeffersonville,  Indiana,  and  his 
ancestors  came    from    Burford,     England, 


where  the  Bartholomew  chapel  has  stood  for 
fi\'e  hundred  years.  William  Bartholomew 
came  to  this  country  about  1690,  and  built 
a  mill  at  Stony  Creek,  Connecticut,  and  there 
his  descendants  are  still  represented  by  sev- 
eral active  and  pushing  business  men.  Gen- 
eral Joseph  Bartholomew,  the  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  article,  was  born  in  New 
Jersey,  March  15,  1766,  and  when  he  was 
two  years  old  his  family  moved  to  Laurel 
Hill,  Pennsvlvania.  As  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough  to  enter  the  Continental  army  he 
became  a  soldier,  and  fought  against  the  In- 
dians and  the  Tories  on  the  Pennsylvania 
frontiers.  About  1795  he  floated  down  the 
Ohio  river  and  settled  at  "the  falls,"  on  the 
Kentucky  shore,  near  the  present  site  of 
Louisville.  He  remained  there  several  years, 
and  then  crossed  over  into  Indiana  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  near  Charleston.  In  181 1 
he  was  appointed  a  colonel  in  the  Indiana 
troops,  and  served  as  second  in  command 
under  General  Harrison.  He  was  wounded 
ir.  the  arm  at  the  battle  of  Tippeca- 
noe, and  never  wholly  recovered  from 
its  effects.  On  account  of  his  conspicu- 
ous bravery  in  that  battle  he  was  ap- 
pointed brevet  brigadier-general.  When 
General  Zach  Taylor  was  besieged  at  Fort 
Harrison  he  joined  a  regiment  raised  for  his 
relief  and  served  as  a  private.  At  Vincennes 
he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  expedition, 
owing  to  the  illness  of  General  Gibson,  and 
it  is  said  that  the  Indians  fled  as  soon  as  they 
heard  their  old  enemy  was  in  command  of 
the  approaching  forces.  As  a  consequence 
of  his  brilliant  conduct  of  this  expedition  he 
was  made  a  major-general.  In  1830  he 
moved  to  McLean  county,  Illinois.  The 
country  was  then  a  wilderness  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war  two  years  later,  he  built  a  block  house, 
which  served  as  a  shelter  for  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country  until  the  troubles  were  ended. 
He  died  in  November,   1840,    on    the    day 


680 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


William  Henry  Harrison  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  General  Bar- 
tholomew was  distinguished  for  bravery, 
hospitality  and  the  most  marked  reluctance 
to  discourse  concerning  his  own  experiences. 
He  was  a  man  of  much  character  and  ability, 
and  serx'ed  in  the  legislatures  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Indiana. 

Marston  Clark  Bartholomew  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  March,  1845,  and  made  claim 
to  land  in  section  22,  of  the  town  of  Lodi, 
Columbia  county.  At  the  land  ofifice,  then 
located  at  Mineral  Point,  he  was  informed 
that  the  land  had  already  been  deeded,  and 
he  finally  paid  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
an  acre  to  perfect  the  title.  He  found  the 
nearest  white  settlements  at  Fort  Winnebago, 
Madison,  \\'yocena,  Columbus  and  Sauk 
Prairie.  His  family  came  on  in  September, 
and  the  only  others  in  the  town  of  Lodi  that 
season  were  his  brother,  George  M.  Barthclo- 
rr.ew.  Rev.  Harry  Maynard  and  ^^'illiam 
Simcoe,  with  their  families.  He  bought 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  it  is 
still  in  the  possession  of  the  immediate  fam- 
ily. He  died  January  i,  1 881,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years,  and  had  lived  a  long  and 
useful  life.  He  served  as  chairman  of  the 
town,  and  filled  other  public  ofiices.  He 
was  a  Whig  and  in  later  life  a  Republican. 
At  the  age  of  fifty-six  he  took  up  arms  in  de- 
fense of  the  Republic,  and  served  in  the  Civil 
v>'ar.  After  taking  part  in  se\'eral  battles 
lie  was  severely  wounded  at  Antietam,  and 
finally  discharged  on  account  of  disability. 
His  wife,  Mary  (Hopkins)  Bartholomew, 
died  April  17,  1886,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
3ears.  She  had  enjoyed  good  health  to  a 
time  close  to  her  fatal  illness.  She  was  born 
lit  Dover,  Delaware,  and  her  ancestor,  Rob- 
en  Hopkins,  came  into  Delaware  from 
England  by  way  of  Canada.  1  here  he  ac- 
quired a  large  tract  of  land  under  the  orig- 
inal Penn  purchase,  and  deeded  a  portion 
to  his  son,  John  Hopkins.     Robert  Hopkins, 


a  son  of  John,  removed  to  Shelbyville,  Ken- 
tucky, about  1 8 16,  and  subsequently  to  Jef- 
fersonville,  where  he  died  in  1830  at  an  ad- 
vanced age.  Mrs.  Bartholomew  became  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  of  whom  two  died 
in  infancy;  Christiana,  the  widow  of  H.  C. 
Maynard,  of  Lodi;  Nancy  Elizabeth,  the 
wife  of  Philip  Ringsdorp,  of  Lodi ;  Robert 
N. ;  Joseph  M.  died  in  Milwaukee,  March  8^ 
1S98;  Mary  C,  the  widow  of  Anson  Ack- 
erman,  and  lives  in  Kansas;  John  M.,  a  sol- 
dier in  Company  A,  Seventh  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Lifantry,  a  part  of  the  famous  Iron 
Brigade,  was  killed  August  28,  1862,  at 
the  opening  of  the  battle  of  Gainesville.  Jo- 
seph M.  and  his  father  ser\-ed  in  the  same 
company. 

Robert  N.  Bartholomew  has  lived  in  Co- 
lumbia county  since  he  was  eleven  years  old 
with  the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in  Kan- 
sas during  the  prevalence  of  the  border  war. 
He  went  to  that  state'  in  1856  and  jM'e- 
empted  land  in  Bourbon  county,  and  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Kansas  State  Militia,  and 
saw  John  Brown  several  times,  but  was  nev- 
er associated  with  that  noted  leader.  He  has 
devoted  his  entire  life  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  is  one  of  the  most  respected  and 
successful  farmers  of  the  county.  He  was 
married  in  185^  to  Miss  Priscilla  B.  Eells, 
a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Eells,  and 
a  native  of  Hanover,  Massachusetts.  Her 
father  was  a  blacksmith  and  lived  some  years 
in  Lodi.  He  moved  later  in  his  life  to  Gal- 
latin, Missouri,  where  he  tlied  in  1879,  and 
his  widow  ten  years  later. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bartholomew  are  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  and  have  seventeen 
grandchildren.  All  but  t\Ar)  of  their  children 
are  living  in  Lodi.  Ransom  G.  is  in  Chicago, 
and  Martha  E.  in  Wvocena.  Marston  Clark 
is  on  the  old  homestead  farm.  Mary  D. 
married  James  L.  Pollock;  and  Xellie  M., 
S.  L.  Fellows.  Albert  G.  and  John  B.  are 
in.  business  in  Lodi. 


COMPENDIUM    OP    BIOGRAPHY. 


CSl 


Mr.  Bartholoniew  lias  always  been  a 
Democrat,  and  has  taken  a  iji'oniinent  part 
in  the  wnrkin^-  of  the  partv.  He  has  served 
on  the  ciinnty  ci>mmittee.  and  has  been  dele- 
g"ate  to  the  state  ciunention.  He  and  his 
wife  helped  to  organize  the  Uni\ersalist 
church  of  Lodi,  and  he  has  al\va}-s  strongly 
supported  that  organization.  He  is  now  one 
of  its  trustees,  and  has  been  its  moderator 
from  the  beginning.  He  and  his  wife  have 
carried  the  spirit  of  their  faith  into  their 
lives  and  are  noted  for  their  kind  antl  bene\- 
oient  .spirit,  their  open-handed  generosity, 
and  their  ready  sui)port  of  that  which  tends 
to  the  ])ublic  welfare.  He  has  1)een  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  ^lasonic  organiza- 
tion, and  belongs  to  the  Lodi  Valley  Lodge, 
the  Baraboo  ^^alley  Chapter  and  Command- 
ery,  Knights  Templar,  and  the  \\'isci>nsin 
Consistory  at  Milwaukee.  He  was  master  of 
the  Lodi  lodge  for  eighteen  years  previous 
to  1897. 

Mr.  Barthokjmew  is  highly  esteemed  in 
every  relation  of  life,  ami  has  shown  liim- 
self  a  genuine  man  throughout  his  long- 
career. 


ISAAC  WARREN  MORLEY. 

Isaac  Warren  Morley,  a  representative 
and  prominent  citizen  of  Excelsior  township, 
residing  on  section  29,  is  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Sauk  county,  and  his  name  is  inseparably 
connected  with  its  agricultural  and  educa- 
tional interests.  He  was  born  in  Mentor, 
Lake  county,  Ohio,  September  2,  1820,  a 
son  of  Thomas  and  Lillis  (Russell)  Morley, 
natives  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts, 
respectivel}'.  His  paternal  ancestors  were  of 
English  extraction,  and  the  first  to  come  to 
the  new  world  was  a  passenger  on  the  May- 
flower. The  grandfather,  Thomas  Morley, 
\\as  a  man  of  unusual  physical  development 
and  was  a  soldier  of  the  Continental  army 


during  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  spent 
his  last  years  upon  a  farm  at  Kirtland,  Ohio, 
where  he  died  in  his  eighty-fifth  year.  His 
wife,  Lucy,  had  preceded  him  to  the  world 
bevond  a  few  months.  Our  subject's  ma- 
ternal grandfather.  Abel  Russell,  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  ]\Ientor,  Ohio,  and  the 
first  town  clerk  of  that  place.  He  died  on 
his  farm  there  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 
About  1812  the  father  of  our  subject  re- 
mo\'ed  with  his  family  to  the  Western  Re- 
serve of  Ohio,  and  Ijecame  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Lake  county,  where  he  followed 
farming  for  many  years.  He  died  in  the 
spring  of  1885  at  the  advanced  age  of  nine- 
ty-three years.  He  was  always  healthy  and 
vigorous  up  to  the  time  of  his  tleath.  His 
wife  died  a  number  of  3'ears  previous,  at  the 
age   of   fifty-four. 

The  early  education  of  our  suliject  was 
obtained  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
state,  and  for  (.me  term  he  attended  the  acad- 
emy there.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  com- 
menced teaching  school,  and  later  spent  four 
years  at  the  Western  Reserve  Seminary  in 
Kirtland,  Ohio,  where  James  A.  Carfield 
some  times  participated  in  the  public  exer- 
cises. After  completing  the  prescribed  course 
at  that  institution  he  successfully  engaged  in 
teaching  for  a  numlier  of  years. 

In  1849  Mr.  Morley  made  a  trip  to  Sauk 
count}',  Wisconsin,  and  entered  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres  of  fine  farming  land 
and  20,  Excelsior  township,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  took  u\)  his  residence  upon  his 
property.  He  improved  about  one  hundred 
an.d  sixty  acres  of  this  land  and  lived  there 
for  a  number  of  years,  Init  since  1883  has 
resided  upon  his  nresent  farm  on  section  29. 
the  same  township,  where  he  has  one  hun- 
dred and  eight\'  acres  of  fine  farming  land 
near  the  Baraboo  river,  \\hich  affords  ex- 
cellent advantages  for  stock  raising.  He  has 
erected  good  buildiuL's  upon  his  jilace  and 
made  many  niher  ini]>ro\ements  which  aild 


682 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


greatly  to  its  value  and  attractive  appear- 
ance. In  company  with  his  Ijrother,  L\inan 
K.  INIorley,  he  dro\e  about  one  thousand 
liead  of  merino  sheep  from  Ohio  to  Sauk 
count}-,  in  1850,  it  being  one  of  the  largest 
flocks  ever  introduced  into  the  count}-.  1  hey 
also  drove  several,  head  of  horses  and  other 
stock.  For  some  years  our  subject  bred 
nierino  sheep,  but  for  some  time  past  has 
given  his  attention  to  Shropshire  sheep,  and 
ia  his  present  flock  has  about  one  hundred 
thoroughbreds  and  high  grade  stock.  He 
is  also  interested  in  breeding  good  cattle.  As 
a  farmer  and  stock  raiser  he  has  met  with 
well-deserved  success. 

In  1844  Mr.  Morley  wedded  Miss  Mari- 
ette  Smith,  a  daughter  of  Elijah  Smith,  of 
Kirtland,  Ohio.  She  was  born  in  that  place, 
and  died  in  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  De- 
cember 26,  1898,  at  the  age  of  seventy- four 
years.  The  children  born  of  this  union  were 
l\iary,  wife  of  Rufus  C.  Cole,  of  Ivedwood 
Falls,  Alinnesota;  Alvah  H.,  who  died  in  Ul- 
rich.  South  Dakota,  in  the  spring  of  1898,  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven  years;  Lucius  W.,  a 
resident  of  Hot  Springs,  South  Dakota ; 
Thomas  E.,  a  farmer  of  Excelsior  township, 
Sauk  county;  Harvey  ^^'.,  on  the  home 
farm;  Leaphe,  now  at  home;  and  Minnie,  at 
home.  Mr.  Morley  also  has  nine  grandchil- 
dren. 

In  1 86 1  Mr.  Morley  was  elected  the  first 
county  superintendent  of  schools,  and  ac- 
ceptably filled  that  office  for  four  years.  He 
had  previously  acted  as  town  superintend- 
ent for  se\-eral  years,  and  f(jr  a  numl.ier  of 
years  after  coming  to  the  county  continued 
to  engage  in  teaching  school.  He  assisted  in 
organizing  the  Sauk  County  Agricultui-al  So- 
-  ciety  in  1856,  and  has  been  an  exhibitor  at 
nearly  all  the  annual  fairs,  where  he  has  re- 
ceived many  premiums  on  his  live  stock. 
He  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Henry 
Clay,  in  1844,  and  since  the  organization  of 
the   Republican  party  has  been  one  of  its 


sianch  su]iporters.  He  was  one  (-if  the  found- 
ers of  the  Congregational  church  of  Reeds- 
burg,  now  disbanded,  was  trustee  of  the 
saiue  many  years,  and  was  a  memlier  of  the 
official  board  during  its  entire  existence. 
For  some  time  he  was  also  an  active  mem- 
ber of  Reedsburg  Grange,  P.  of  H.,  and 
helped  to  organize  the  Good  Templars 
ledge  in  Narrow  Prairie  township,  now  dis- 
banded. His  life  is  exemplary  in  many  re- 
spects and  he  has  ever  supported  those  in- 
terests which  are  calculated  to  uplift  and 
benefit  humanity,  while  his  own  high  moral 
worth  is  deserving  of  the  highest  commenda- 
tion. He  is  a  strictly  temperate  man,  ne\-er 
using  tobacco  or  licjuor  in  any  f(_irm.  and 
has  the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 


GEORGE  ROSWELL  COOK. 

George  Roswell  Cook,  a  progressive 
farmer  of  Dell  Prairie  township,  has  been  a 
resident  of  Adams  county  many  years,  and  is 
well  known  and  highly  respected.  He  was 
born  in  Steuben  county.  New  A'ork,  April 
30,  1855,  and  was  the  son  of  Orange  and 
Rosella   (Donaldson)   Cook. 

Orange  Cook  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion and  resided  in  the  eastern  states  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  the  family  moved  to 
Springville  township,  Adanis  count}-,  in 
1861.  The  father  died  in  Steuben  county, 
N'ew  York,  about  1865,  and  the  mother  re- 
sided on  the  homestead  in  Adams  county 
until  her  death.  May  19,  1869.  She  was 
laid  to  rest  in  Olin  cemetery. 

Our  subject  received  a  liberal  education, 
having  attended  the  district  school  and  the 
high  school  at  Kilbourn,  and  spent  one  year 
in  Canisteo  Academy,  Steuben  county,  New 
York.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  he 
returned  to  Marathon  and  Lincoln  counties, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  engaged  in  the  lumber- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


ing  business  for  aliout  four  years.  He  then 
went  to  Springvale  township,  Adams  county, 
where  he  owned  land  which  lie  had  purchased 
when  seventeen  years  of  age.  and  resided  on 
the  farm  and  added  \-arious  improvements. 
He  disposed  of  his  land  in  Springxille  town- 
ship, in  1890,  and  located  on  his  farm  in 
section  8.  m  Dell  Prairie  townshi]).  which 
he  has  improved  until  it  is  now  one  of  the 
best  culti\-atetl  in  the  \icinity.  He  is  a  most 
progressive  farmer  and  was  one  of  the  first 
to  advocate  dairying  in  Adams  county.  He 
has  met  with  success  in  that  line,  and  his  es- 
tate is  kept  in  the  best  condition,  and  good 
residence,  barn  and  outbuildings  ni;u'k  his 
financial  success  and  care.  One  hundred  ami 
twenty-five  acres  of  land  are  under  cultiva- 
tion and  he  has  about  twenty  head  iif  milch 
cows,  anil  in  that  branch  alone  is  gaining 
a  comfortable  competence.  He  raises  stock, 
and  all  grain  he  raises  is  used  to  feed  the 
stock  on  the  farm. 

Mr.  Cook  was  married,  March  25,  188^, 
to  Emma  Brandenburg,  daughter  of  Chris- 
tian Brandenburg,  who  located  in  Ouincy, 
Adams  county,  a  number  of  years  ago,  and 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  region. 
Mr.  anil  ^^Irs.  Cook  are  the  ])arents  of  fi\'e 
children,  all  of  whom  are  at  home,  as  fol- 
lows: Carl,  born  September  7,  1886;  Grace, 
born  November  2,  1887:  Effie,  born  July  3, 
1890;  Earl,  born  Xoveniber  21.  1893;  and 
Bessie,  born  December  21,  1895. 

Mr.  Cook  has  been  called  to  fill  various 
township  offices  of  trust,  including  chairman 
of  the  town  board,  township  clerk,  and  jus- 
tice of  the  peace.  He  is  a  Rei^ublican,  and 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  party  and 
country,  but  does  not  take  an  active  part  in 
political  affairs.  He  is  first  vice-president  of 
the  Adahis  County  Agricultural  Associa- 
tion, and  the  society  is  at  present  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  and  .\dams  county  is  fast 
coming  to  the  front  as  a  thriving  agricult- 
ural district.     To  such  men  as  Mr.  Cook  the 


county  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  the  part 
they  have  taken  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  bet- 
ter interests  of  the  vicinity,  and  the  active 
ii.'terest  displayed  in  all  matters  of  local  im- 
portance. 


GEORGE  W.  JEXKIXS,  M.  D. 

George  W.  Jenkins,  AI.  D.,  has  been 
identified  with  the  interests  of  Kilbourn  City 
and  vicinity  for  nearly  a  half-century,  and 
is  one  of  the  oldest  representatives  of  his 
profession  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin.  In 
both  public  and  ])ri\ate  life  his  career  has 
been  such  as  to  inspire  the  confidence  and 
good  will  of  the  people  and  no  citizen  of  that 
thriving  village  is  held  in  higher  regard  by 
the  communit}'. 

Dr.  Jenkins  was  bijrn  in  the  town  of  Du- 
anesburg,  Schenectady  county,  Xew  \ork, 
September  19,  1824.  His  father,  William  A. 
Jenkins,  was  a  nati\'e  of  Long  Island,  whose 
grandfather,  Christopher  Jenkins,  had  set- 
tled there  in  colonial  days.  The  last  named 
was  an  English  sea  captain.  His  wife, 
whose  given  name  was  Abbe,  was  of  Welsh 
lineage.  Their  son,  Christopher,  the  father 
ol  William  A.  Jenkins,  was  also  a  sea  cap- 
tain. He  was  a  \ery  athletic  man  and  could 
lift  an  ap.chor  weighing  eight  hundred 
pounds.  William  A.  Jenkins  spent  most  of 
his  life  on  a  farm  in  Schenectady  county, 
Xew  York.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Elizabeth  Jenkins,  was  remotely  de- 
scended from  the  same  family  as  her  hus- 
band. Her  mother  was  a  relative  of  Hamil- 
ton Fish,  the  distinguished  Xew  York 
statesman. 

After  leaving  the  public  school  at  Quaker 
Street,  a  \illage  near  his  nati\'e  place,  the 
subject  of  this  notice  engaged  in  teaching.  A 
little  later  he  took  up  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  William  H.  Brigham,  of  Charles- 
ton, Xew  ^'ork,  at  which  place  he  spent  about 


684 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


four  years,  a  part  of  that  period  l)eing-  em- 
ployed in  teaching-.  He  afterward  attended 
the  medical  departm.ent  of  Columbia  College 
in  New  York  City,  from  which  institution 
he  received  his  diploma  in  1851.  Having 
determined  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  .west, 
he  joined  the  late  Jonathan  Bowman  and 
one  or  two  other  gentlemen  from  Charles- 
ton, New  York,  and  came  directly  to  Wis- 
consin. Upon  arriving-  at  Alilwaukee  the 
party  hired  a  team  and  drove  by  way  of 
Madison  to  Delton.  Six  months  later  Dr. 
Jenkins  began  practice  at  Newport,  a  flour- 
ishing village  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  at  the 
mouth  of  Dell  creek.  He  remained  about 
ten  years  at  that  location,  witnessing-  its  de- 
velopment to  a  town  of  fifteen  hundred  peo- 
ple and  its  subsequent  abandonment  by  the 
removal  of  most  of  the  buildings  and  in- 
habitants to  the  present  village  of  Kilbourn 
Cit}'.  This  place  was  entirely  unsettletl 
when  he  arrived  in  Columbia  ciiunty,  being 
a  part  of  the  Indian  reservation.  Since  lo- 
cating here  he  has  been  continuously  engaged 
in  active  practice,  meeting  with  phenomenal 
success,  and  the  demand  for  his  services  ex- 
tending through  several  counties.  For  some 
years  he  was  accustomed  to  ride  on  horse- 
back, often  fording-  streams  and  lareaking 
roads  through  sloughs  and  marshes,  some 
of  his  trips  occupying  several  days'  time. 
Though  he  sometimes  reached  his  patients 
bespattered  with  niud  and  water,  his  ser- 
vices were  none  the  less  appreciated.  In 
1863  he  became  associated  with  Dr.  H.  C. 
Markham  and  they  opened  a  drug  store  at 
Kilbourn  City.  After  a  time  he  purchased 
his, partner's  interest  and  still  carries  on  the 
business.  When  the  business  part  of  the 
town  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1866  he 
promptly  replaced  the  original  store  with  a 
substantial  lirick  building,  joining  with  his 
contemporaries  in  establishing  a  brick-kiln, 
by  which  means  the  cost  of  material  for  their 
buildiiigs  was  materiallv  decreased.     For  a 


number  of  years  past  he  has  been  a  surgeon 
for  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road, and  is  a  member  of  the  National  Rail- 
way Surgeons'  Association.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Columbia  County  Medical  Associa- 
tion, the  Wisconsin  State  Medical  Associa- 
tion, and  occupies  an  enviable  position 
among  his  professional  brethren, 
fessional  brethren. 

The  Doctor  was  married,  in  1856,  to 
Miss  Mary  Markham,  daughter  of  Sidney 
D.  Markham,  of  Colosse,  New  York.  They 
have  one  daughter,  Kate  M.  The  family  is 
connected  with  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
the  Doctor  is  prominent  in  the  Masonic  or- 
der. He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge 
and  chapter  at  Kilbourn,  in  which  he  has 
filled  the  principal  offices.  He  is  a  member 
of  Fort  Winnebago  Commandery,  No.  4, 
Knights  Templar,  at  Portage,  and  also  iden- 
tified with  Milwaukee  Consistory.  In  early 
life  he  was  a  \Mng,  but  he  has  lieen  a  Re- 
publican since  the  organization  of  that  party. 
He  has  avoided  active  participation  in  poli- 
tics, his  only  official  service  having  been  in 
the  capacity  of  town  superintendent  of 
schools  and  that  of  health  officer  for  the  vil- 
lag-e  of  Kilbourn  City. 

The  Doctor  relates  some  interesting 
rennniscences  of  early  days  in  Wisconsin, 
some  of  which  afford  apt  illustrations  of  the 
urjcoutli  manners,  con\-iviaI  habits  and  crude 
biU  hearty  hospitalit\-  which  were  charac- 
teristic of  the  pioneers.  Among  his  early 
associates  at  Newport,  with  whom  he  board- 
ed for  some  time,  was  Colonel  Joseph  Baile\% 
afterwards  fan-ious  as  the  savior  of  General 
Bank's  fleet  on  the  Red  river  during  the 
Civil  war.  Another  early  acquaintance  was 
the  notorious  fur  trader,  fared  S.  ^^'als\vorth 
(a  brother  of  Judge  ^^'alsworth),  who  kept 
a  country  tavern  on  the  road  leading  from 
Portage  to  the  pineries.  He  was  famous  alike 
for  his  hos]jitality,  con\-ivialitv  and  good 
humor.    At  the  sessions  of  the  court  in  Mad- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


685 


ison,  one  of  liis  favorite  amusements  con- 
sisted in  ridini;-  a  horse  through  tlie  court 
room;  but  he  always  cheerfully  paid  the  fine 
imposed  for  this  breach  of  decorum,  consid- 
ering the  fun  was  well,  worth  the  money.  At 
the  general  election  of  1852  the  Doctor 
joined  a  party  which  drove  to  Lewiston,  the 
nearest  polling  place,  to  deposit  their  ballots, 
a  four-horse  team  being  employed  to  trans- 
port the  party  and  give  proper  dignity  to 
the  expedition.  A  numljer  of  taverns  along 
the  line  were  liberally  patronized  and  some 
members  of  the  party  became  quite  hilar- 
ious. On  the  way  home  they  were  passed  by 
a  stranger,  who  made  some  slighting  remark 
concerning  the  "four-horse  team."  He  was 
overtaken  at  the  next  tavern,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  Walsworth's,  where  the  driver  of 
the  wagon  promptly  resented  the  insult  by 
knocking  him  down  with  his  fist,  after  wdiich 
everybody  shook  hands  in  token  of  friend- 
ship and  the  stranger  set  up  the  drinks  for 
the  party. 


\VILLIAM  WARD. 

\\'illiam  Ward,  a  popular  conductor  on 
the  Madison  division  of  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Railroad,  has  been  connected 
w-ith  that  corporation  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. He  was  born  in  Freehold,  New  Jer- 
sey, January  6,  1858,  a  son  of  Michael  and 
Bridget  (Brehany)  Ward,  natives  of  Ire- 
land. Having  lost  his  parents  during  his 
boyhood,  Michael  Ward  came  to  the  United 
States  in  early  life  and  locatetl  in  Monmouth 
county,  New  Jersey,  where  he  made  his 
home  until  April,  1873.  He  then  came  to 
Footville,  Wisconsin,  where  he  lived  upon 
a  farm  until  called  from  this  life,  Ajiril  5, 
1899,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  His 
wife  died  July  27,  1895,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years,  and  both  were  laid  to  rest  in  St. 
Joseph's  cemetery  at  Janesville,   Wisconsin. 


They  were  devout  members  of  the  Catholic 
church,  and  most  estimable  people.  The  ma- 
ternal grandfather  of  our  subject  died  in 
Ireland,  but  his  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Brehany, 
came  to  this  country  and  died  in  Footville, 
Wisconsin,  December  2,  1890,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years. 

William  Ward,  of  this  sketch,  is  indebted 
to  the  public  schools  of  Marlboro,  New  Jer- 
sey, for  his  educational  privileges.  In  1873 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Wisconsin,  and 
soon  afterward  began  work  for  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  Company,  as 
water  boy,  and  served  as  brakeman  for  that 
company  for  one  year,  after  which  he  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad  Company.  He  steadily 
worked  his  way  upward  until,  in  1880,  he 
was  promoted  to  conductor,  and  now  has 
charge  of  freight  trains  on  the  Madison  di- 
\-ision  of  the  Northwestern  Railroad,  run- 
ning between  Baraboo  and  \Vinona.  During 
his  entire  railroad  career  he  has  never  met 
with  an  accident  or  injury,  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  most  trusted  emplo3'es  of  the 
company. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1882,  Air.  Ward 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Katie 
Petted,  who  was  born  in  Newtown,  Con- 
necticut, and  came  with  her  parents,  Michael 
and  Mary  Petted,  to  Sauk  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, locating  in  Fairfield  township.  The  fa- 
ther, who  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  died  in 
Baraboo,  October  16,  1896,  aged  sixty-eight 
years,  and  his  wife  died  December  3,  1893, 
aged  sixty-five  years.  They  were  born  in 
Ireland,  but  were  reared  in  Connecticut.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  \\'ard  have  been  b<-irn  four  chil- 
dren, namely:  Mamie,  Cassie,  Willie  and 
Jiihn.  The  famil}^  are  connected  with  St. 
Jiiseph's  Catholic  church,  of  Baraboo,  and 
Mrs.  Ward  is  now  treasurer  of  the  Ladies' 
Sodality. 

In  1898  Mr.  Ward  built  a  pleasant  resi- 
dence on  Second  street,  Baraboo,  which  is 


686 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


an  ornament  to  that  part  of  tlie  city,  and 
there  the  tan:ily  now  reside.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  Baraboo  Division,  O.  R.  C.  in 
v.'hich  he  has  filled  all  the  principal  offices, 
and  is  a  Democrat  in  political  sentiment. 
Although  he  takes  a  deep  interest  in  all  pub- 
lic questions,  he  has  little  time  or  inclination 
for  their  as-itation. 


JOSEPH  Bg\\'EN. 

Joseph  Bowen.  who  for  the  past  twenty 
years  has  tilled  the  soil  in  Colburn  township, 
is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  Adams 
county.  He  engag^es  in  general  farming,  and 
is  well  known  as  an  earnest,  industrious  and 
honest  man,  ready  at  all  times  to  further  the 
interests  of  his  community,  and  the  coun- 
try at  large.  He  is  an  ex-soldier,  who 
bra\^ed  the  dangers  of  war  to  preserve  the 
Union,  and  during  his  ser\'ice  was  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fra}'.  He  is  Iijyal  and  pro- 
gressive and  well  merits  his  success. 

Mr.  Bowen  was  born  in  Erie,  Pennsyl- 
vania, June  1 8,  1836,  and  was  the  son  of 
John  and  Margaret  (McLean)  Bowen.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  in  New 
York  state.  Our  subject  was  limited  as  to 
his  educational  advantages,  and  has  gleaned 
his  information  outside  of  the  school  room. 
He  was  bound  out  to  a  farmer  for  three 
years,  at  the  early  age  of  twelve  years,  and 
worked  for  farmers  until  he  enlisted  in 
Company  B,  One  Hundred  and  L'orty-fifth 
Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry,  August 
10,  1862.  He  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  courageously  entered  all  the  battles 
and  engagements  in  which  that  army  partici- 
pated. He  was  discharged  May  31,  1865, 
after  nearly  three  years'  service.  After  leav- 
ing the  army  he  came  to  Columbia  county, 
\\'isconsin,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  two 
years,  and  in  1868  located  in  Strong's  Prai- 
rie township,  Adams  county,  and  homestead- 


ed  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  and 
purchased  forty  acres.  He  conducted  this 
farm  ten  years,  and  in  1878  moved  to  Col- 
burn township,  Adams  county.  He  owns 
eighty  acres  of  land,  all  of  which  is  under 
cultivation.  It  is  a  model  little  farm,  and 
equal  to  any  in  the  vicinity.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  three  years  spent  in  the  army 
service  he  has  devoted  his  life  to  the  pur- 
suit of  agriculture,  and  has  gained  a  knowl- 
edge of  his  vocation  which  is  indeed  valua- 
ble. 

Mr.  Bowen  was  married,  December  :;S, 
1859,  to  Samantha  Scott,  daughter  of  David 
C.  and  Elizabeth  (Fuller)  Scott,  of  Arbour 
Creek,  Pennsylvania.  Eight  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bowen,  as  fol- 
lows :  Ida,  now  Mrs.  M.  Freeland,  of 
Strong's  Prairie;  Ada,  now  Mrs.  H.  Bloom- 
field,  of  Strong's  Prairie;  Lil)l)ie,  Ijurn 
March,  1866,  now  Mrs.  H.  W'inslow.  of 
Plainfield ;  Josephine,  now  Mrs.  P.  Mc- 
Gregor, of  Hancock;  Josie  D.,  a  farmer  of 
Colburn  township;  Albert,  born  in  1873, 
now  farming  in  Colburn  township;  Willie, 
born  in  1875,  now  residing  at  home;  and 
Fred,  born  in  1877,  now  farming  in  Colburn 
township.  Ida  and  Ada  are  twins,  and  were 
born  in  January,  1861,  and  Josephine  and 
Josie  D.  are  twins,  and  were  born  in  1871. 

Mr.  Bowen  was  a  memljcr  of  Hancock 
Post,  No.  150,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  political  sentiment,  but  does  not  take  an 
acti\-e  part  in  the  affairs  nf  bis  party.  He 
is  public-spirited  and  enji.iys  a  comfortable 
competence  which  he  has  gained  by  the  judi- 
cious use  of  his  time  and  the  resources  which 
came  to  him.  His  career  while  in  the  service 
of  his  country  is  one  which  he  can  review 
with  justifiable  pride,  as  well  as  his  career  as 
a  private  citizen.  He  defended  the  Union 
faithfully,  and  has  ever  displayed  the  same 
characteristic  in  the  defense  of  his  commu- 
nity and  friends,  and  will  always  be  found 
standing  on  the  side  of  right  and  justice. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


687 


STEWART  C.  BELL. 

Stewart  C.  Bell,  one  of  the  best  citizens 
of  ColumlMa  county,  livins^  in  the  town  of 
Hampden,  was  born  in  Brookfield,  Wiscon- 
sin, June  1 8,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of  Francis 
and  Margaret  (Coulter)  Bell,  natives  of 
northern  L-eland.  Bell  Tavern,  where  he  was 
born,  is  quite  an  historic  spot.  The  senior 
Bell  kept  the  tavern  for  many  years  in  the 
pioneer  days,  and  entertained  at  his  table 
many  of  the  old  nobilities,  such  as  Solomon 
Juneau  and  L  P.  ^\^'dker.  For  additiijnal 
information  concerninsj  them  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  sketch  headed  Robert  Bell. 

Mr.  Bell  recei\'ed  his  preliminary  school- 
ing at  hiinie,  and  was  a  student  fnr  a  time  in 
the  Spencerian  Business  College  at  Milwau- 
kee. In  1866  he  crossed  the  plains  overland, 
intending  to  go  to  California,  but  stopped  in 
Nevada  to  take  a  position  as  porter  with  a 
wholesale  supply  house.  He  proved  so  well 
adapted  to  the  business,  cjuick  witted  and  re- 
liable in  all  his  transactions,  that  he  rose 
from  position  to  position  with  remarkable 
rapidity,  and  presently  became  the  head  of 
the  house,  having  as  his  principal  assistant 
the  present  governor  of  that  state,  Rheinhold 
Saddler.  They  were  \'ery  intimate  friends, 
and  their  acf|uaintance  still  continues.  In 
1869  Mr.  Bell  relinquished  his  Nevada  in- 
terests, returned  to  this  state  and  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother,  Robert,  bought  a 
farm  in  Columbia  county,  and  here  he  has 
kept  his  residence  to  the  ])resent  writing. 
In  1876  the  brothers  divided  their  joint 
holdings,  and  each  has  increased  his  real  es- 
tate interests,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
now  owns  a  well  appointed  and  highly  cult- 
ivated farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
acres.  It  has  fine  buildings,  and  is  one  of  the 
choice  farms  of  the  county. 

Stewart  C.  Bell  and  Mirza  L.  Phillips 
v.'ere  married  November  15,  1869.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Eli  Phillips,  of  Brookfield,  and 


was  born  May  25,  1847,  in  the  town  of 
Brookfield.  Her  parents  were  nati\'es  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Phillips  belong  to 
an  old  colonial  family.  Her  father  saw 
W'ashington's  funeral,  and  rememliered  see- 
ing him  more  than  once.  He  had  a  family 
of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  living: 
Jerome  E.  Phillips,  at  Clinton,  bnva; 
Homer,  Fountain  Prairie,  Wisconsin ;  Mon- 
roe and  Eugene,  Omro,  Wisconsin ;  and 
Mirza,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Bell.  ^Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Bell  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
Frank  E.,  a  teacher  and  a  graduate  of  the 
Oshkosh  Normal :  Alma  May,  at  home ;  and 
Harvey  B.,  now  a  normal  student  in  Osh- 
kosh. Our  suljject  is  a  Democrat,  and 
though  he  li\es  in  a  Republican  neighbor- 
hood, has  been'justice  of  the  peace,  assessor, 
town  clerk  and  chairman  of  the  town  board. 
He  is  secretary  of  the  town  insurance  com- 
pany, and  was  a  potent  factor  in  its  organi- 
zation. He  was  census  enumerator  for  1900, 
and  is  the  government  crop  reporter  for  this 
section.  He  was  the  prime  factor  in  se- 
curing route  No.  i,  free  mail  delivery,  Co- 
lumbus, ^\'isconsin.  He  wrote  the  congress- 
man, got  u])  petitions,  and  stuck  to  it  until 
he  secured  what  he  was  working  for.  He 
has  always  been  interested  in  public  progress, 
and  an  untiring  worker  for  every  measure 
calculated  to  promote  the  general  welfare. 
With  perfect  propriety  he  may  be  classed 
among  the  leading  men  of  Columbia  county. 


WILLIAM  RUSSELL  CHIPMAN. 

William  Russell  Chipman.  a  bright  and 
progressive  farmer  of  the  town  of  Leeds, 
Columbia  county,  \\'isconsin,  has  long  since 
learned  that  the  noblest  life  that  can  be  lived 
is  tliat  which  opens  the  way  to  the  heart  of 
nature,  and  keeps  a  man  far  from  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  crowded  pavements    and    the 


688 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


vices  of  the  great  city.  Upon  liis  broad  acres 
he  can  be  honest,  and  live  true  to  Iiis  best 
self.  Air.  Chipman  is  a  true  type  of  the  best 
American  farmer,  upright  and  manly,  indus- 
trious in  his  habits  and  a  kindly  heart. 

Mr.    Chipman   was  born   in   this   town- 
ship May  lo,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of  George 
and  Martha   (Taylor)    Chipman.      George 
Chipman  was  a  native  of  Westminster,  Ver- 
mont, and  his  ancestors  came  from  England. 
They  settled  in  Massachusetts  long  previous 
to  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  some  of  their 
representatives  were  men  of  considerable  im- 
portance in  colonial  affairs.     Ebenezer  Chip- 
man,  the  father  of  George  Chipman,  was  a 
farmer  and  lived  in  Vermont  the  greater  part 
of  his  life,  and  died  in  Milton,  Wisconsin, 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years.   'George  Chip- 
man  left  Vermont  and  settled  in  Wiscon- 
sin  in    1848.     He  lived  near  Janesville   a 
number  of  years,   and   about    i860  moved 
into  Columbia  county,  where  he  bought  a 
farm  in  the  town    of    Leeds.     In   1867  he 
bought  a  second   farm  near  Leeds  Center. 
This  he  greatly  improved,  put  up  fine  build- 
ings and  brought  to  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion.    Since  1893  he  has  been  living  a  re- 
tired life  in  the  village  of  Poynette,  where 
he  is  now  making  his  home,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two.     His  estimable  wife  is  in  her 
sixty-seventh  year.     She  is  a  daughter  of 
George  Taylor,  who  was  a  farmer  in  Ver- 
mont and  Canada,  and  in  his  later  years  a 
resident  of  Cashton,  Monroe  county,  Wis- 
consin, where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two.     George  Chipman  and  his  wife  were 
the  parents  of  two  children:  William  Rus- 
sell and  Mabel.,  now  the  wife  of  J.  F.  For- 
rest, a  farmer  in  the  town  of  Arlington. 

William  Russell  Chipman  has  always 
Hved  in  the  town  of  Leeds,  and  is  a  fair 
representative  of  the  "boys  of  old  Colum- 
bia." He  attended  the  district  school,  and 
spent  some  time  in  the  Sun  Prairie  high 
school,  and  then  took  the  shorter  agricult- 


ural course  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 
He  has  had  charge  of  the  home  farm  since 
1884,  and  has  developed  into  a  broad-mind- 
ed and  progressive  farmer.  He  gives  his 
chief  attention  to  live  stock.  He  feeds  ex- 
tensively for  the  Chicago  markets,  and  sends 
forward  every  year  a  number  of  cattle  and 
sheep.  He  is  a  man  of  public  spirit  and  was 
the  chief  promoter  of  the  Leeds  Telephone 
Company,  an  organization  recently  effected, 
to  afford  the  neighboring  farmers  communi- 
cation with  Madison  and  several  of  the  ad- 
joining towns.  He  is  the  president  of  the 
company  and  has  largely  made  it  a  decided 
success. 

Mr.  Chipman  and  Miss  Jennie  Roberts 
were  married  in  1893.     Mrs.  Chipman  is  a 
daughter  of  David  G.   and   Mary    (Jones) 
Roberts,   residents   of   the   town  of   Leeds, 
where  she  was  born.     Her  father  was  born 
in  Caernarvonshire,  Wales,  and  came  to  Co- 
lumbia, Wisconsin,   in   1847,  when  he  was 
still  a  boy.     He  lived  in  early  life  at  Cam- 
bria,  and   later  moved  into    the    town    of 
Leeds,  where  he  died  February  8,  1887,  at 
the  age  of  fifty.     He  was  a  son  of  David 
Roberts,  who  died  on  the  ocean  while  com- 
ing to  the  United  States.     His  widow  came 
on  to  Columbia  county,  and  settled  in  the 
town  of  Cortland.     She  was  seventy  years 
old  when  she  died.      Mrs.    Mary    Roberts 
died  in  September,  1897,  at  the  age  of  fifty-- 
seven.     She  was  born  in  Wales,    and    was 
brought  to  this  country  in  her  infancy.    Her 
father,   William  Jones,   settled   near  Utica, 
New  York,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty.     His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Mary  Morris,  and  lived  to  be  forty-seven. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  were  among  the  most 
highly  respected  people    of    the    town    of 
Leeds,  and  were  the  parents  of  five  children : 
Jennie,  now  Mrs.  Chipman;  George,  of  St. 
Croix  county,  Wisconsin ;  Milton  is  at  Wash- 
ington,  D.    C,   an   employe   of   the   census 
bureau ;  Herbert,  a  traveling  salesman  and 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


(i89 


resident  of  tlie  town  of  Leeds;  and  Edwin, 
of  the  same  community. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  R.  Cliipman  are 
the  parents  of  two  bright  and  charming 
cliiidren,  Harold  and  Mary.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Leeds  Congregational  church, 
and  are  highh-  esteemed  by  all  who  know 
them.  He  is  a  Republican,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  county  committee.  He  formerly 
had  a  deep  interest  in  the  Prohibition  party, 
but  of  late  years  has  been  identified  with  the 
Republican  organization,  particularly  on  all 
questions  that  relate  to  national  affairs. 
He  is  now  serving  as  justice  of  the  peace. 


GEORGE  HARRINGTON. 

George  Harrington,  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  is  a  respected 
resident  of  the  village  of  Easton.  He  was 
born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  February 
i6,  1834.  His  father,  John  Harrington, 
was  a  mechanic  and  worked  for  many  years 
in  New  York  City,  and  died  there  in  the 
spring  of  1844.  His  wife,  Mary,  died  in 
1843,  and  both  parents  were  buried  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  To  this  worthy  couple 
six  children  were  born,  three  of  whom  are 
still  living,  namely :  Susan,  now  Mrs. 
Young,  of  Staten  Island;  Mar}^,  now  Mrs. 
W.  R.  Marsh,  of  Rahway,  New  Jersey ;  and 
George,  the  subject  of  our  present  article. 

George  Harrington  was  left  at  about  the 
age  of  ten  years  without  parents,  and  was 
taken  in  charge  by  relatives.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen  years  he  went  to  work  on  a 
farm  near  Oxford,  in  Orange  county.  New 
York,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He 
received  a  preliminary  education  between  his 
tenth  and  fourteenth  years.  He  has  been  a 
great  reader  and  observer,  however,  and  has 
managed  to  pick  up  a  fund  of  practical 
knowledge  that  has  stood  him  in  good  stead 


on  many  occasions,  ^^'hen  he  was  seventeen 
years  old  he  returned  to  New  York  City  and 
engaged  with  an  oysterman,  fishing  in  Long 
Island  Sound,  and  taking  the  oysters  to  New 
York  City.  He  was  about  three  years  on  the 
water,  sailing  from  New  York  to  Salem, 
I'hiladelphia,  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  other 
points. 

In  1855  Mr.  Harrington  left  New  York 
for  Wisconsin,  and  located  in  Columbia 
count}',  near  Portage,  and  lived  with  a 
farmer  at  Silver  Lake  about  nine  months. 
In  the  winter  of  1856-57  he  was  in  the 
pineries  along  the  Yellow  river.  In  No- 
vember, 1855,  he  entered  a  tract  of  land 
comprising  eighty  acres,  in  the  town  of 
Easton,  but  did  not  reside  upon  it  until 
1857,  when  he  located  upon  the  land  and 
began  to  improve  it.  This  land  he  held  un- 
til 1865,  at  the  time  of  his  discharge  from 
the  service,  when  he  sold  it  and  purchased 
a  farm  on  section  32.  This  farm  he  held 
for  nineteen  years,  and  finally  traded  it  for 
property  in  the  village  of  Easton. 

Mr.    Harrington    enlisted    August    16, 

1864,  in  Company  K,  Thirty-eighth  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  imme- 
diately assigned  to  service  at  Petersburg. 
He  remained  on  duty  there  until  April  5, 

1865.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  in  June,  1865. 

Mr.  Harrington  was  married  in  Febru- 
ary, 1862,  to  Mahala,  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Eliza  (De  Remmer)  Algard,  of  Ore- 
gon, Dane  county,  Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Har- 
rington died  August  31,  1892,  and  rests  in 
the  Easton  cemetery. 

In  political  sentiment  our  subject  is  a 
Republican  and  takes  an  active  interest  in 
public  affairs.  He  has  served  as  supervisor 
of  his  township,  and  for  fourteen  years  has 
lield  the  oftice  of  school  treasurer.  He  takes 
an  interest  in  the  advancement  of  the  cause 
of  education,  and  enjoys  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  all  men  regardless    of    political 


690 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


bias.  He  is  a  ^ood  Christian  citizen  and  a 
man  of  sterling  worth.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Ennis  Reed  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  at  White 
Creek. 


GILBERT  B.  VAX  ALSTINE. 

Gilbert  B.  Van  Alstine,  who  is  no^v  li\'- 
ing  a  peaceful  and  quiet  life  in  tlie  town  of 
Newport,  Columbia  count)-,  hail  a  varied 
and  eventful  career  until  after  he  had  reached 
middle  age  and  more.  He  was  born  at 
New  fane,  Onondaga  count}-.  New  York, 
P"ebruary  22,  1832.  He  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools  of  New  York,  and  at 
Kingsville  College,  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio, 
where  he  attended  until  he  had  nearly  fin- 
ished the  full  course.  He  made  his  first  in- 
dependent venture  for  himself  when  about 
seventeen  years  old,  and  went  on  the  great 
lakes  as  a  sailor.  He  was  a  fresh  water 
sailor  for  six  years,  and  then  he  sought  em- 
ployment on  the  ocean.  He  engaged  on  the 
whaler  "Monongahela,"  which  was  built 
and  owned  in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
but  fitted  out  and  operated  from  New  York 
City.  He  was  on  the  ocean  some  four  years, 
two  of  which  he  spent  on  a  whafing  expe- 
dition, and  two  engaged  in  the  coasting 
trade.  He  had  trying  experiences,  but  came 
through  them  all  safe  and  sound.  He  was 
wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Patagonia,  and  with 
a  few  companions  was  cast  upon  a  barren 
shore.  After  enduring  every  sort  of  priva- 
tion they  were  rescued  by  the  "Four  Sover- 
eigns," and  taken  to  Valparaiso,  Chili,  South 
America.  While  he  was  a  sailor  on  the 
lakes  the  ship  in  which  he  was  engaged  ran 
into  the  brig  "Blossom,"  and  sent  it  to  the 
bottom  almost  immediatel}'.  More  than  two 
hundred  lives  were  lost  and  the  scenes  of 
horror  then  witnessed  will  never  leave  his 
memory. 

Mr.  Van  Alstine  finally  left  the  ocean, 


and  was  a  lumberman  for  several  years,  win- 
ning considerable  success.  In  1866  he  came 
to  Kilbourn  City  and  took  a  position  as  en- 
gineer with  Hindes  &  Drinker.  In  1870  he 
located  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  the  town  of  Newport.  This  he  has 
greatly  improved  in  every  way.  He  now 
has  a  fine  farm  and  home  buildings,  and 
ninety  acres  under  cultivation.  He  added  to 
this  from  time  to  time  until,  in  1886,  he 
was  the  owner  of  a  half-section  of  valuable 
land.  He  sold  that  year  small  tracts  of  land, 
and  made  substantial  imi)rovements  on  what 
he  retained  nearer  town. 

John  and  Harriet  (Blake)  Van  Alstine, 
the  parents  of  the  subject  of  this  article, 
were  prominent  people  in  their  eastern 
home.  Her  father  was  born  March  7,  1797, 
and  was  an  old-line  Whig,  always  opposed 
to  e\-ery  form  of  monopoly,  and  in  his  last 
years  a  Republican.  The  Blakes  were  an 
educated  family,  and  their  daughter  Harriet 
was  fitted  for  teaching  school.  Thej-  came 
to  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  then  to  Wisconsin, 
where  the  father  died  in  Adams  county  May 
16,  1874.  The  mother  was  born  July,  1806, 
and  died  October  12,   1874. 

In  politics  Gilbert  Van  Alstine  has  fol- 
lowed in  his  father's  steps  and  voted  with 
the  Republican  part}'.  He  is  now  a  member 
of  the  Reform  party.  He  does  not  belong 
to  any  neighboring  church,  and  holds  the 
faith  of  Swedenborg  as  his  interpretation 
of  religion.  In  i860  he  was  married  to 
Amelia  V.  Rea,  a  daughter  of  Walter  C.  and 
Mary  A.  (Pinkerton)  Rea.  She  was  born 
November  4,  1840,  at  Portville,  Cattaraugus 
county.  New  York,  and  was  educated  at  the 
local  academy,  from  which  she  graduated. 

The  children  of  Gilbert  B.  and  Mrs.  Van 
Alstine  (all  living)  are:  Florence  E.,  born 
March  16,  1862,  now  the  wife  of  Edward 
Kenney,  proprietor  of  a  large  dairy  farm 
at  Rochester,  Minnesota;  Gilbert  E.,  Jr., 
born  October  11,  1866,  married  Mabel  Flan- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


691 


ag-an,  of  Kilbourn,  is  an  engineer  and  car- 
penter living  in  Kilbourn;  ]Mary  Coraline, 
born  February  4,  1869,  now  the  wife  of 
Frank  Kingsley,  farmer  in  the  town  of 
Newport,  Columbia  county;  Byron  B.,  born 
August  4,  1 87 1,  married  Anna  Bieter,  of 
Mantorville,  Minnesota,  and  is  an  engineer 
living  near  ^^lantorville ;  John  Frederick, 
born  December  4,  1873,  married  Maud 
Kingsly  and  engaged  by  a  milling  company 
in  Minneapolis;  \\'alter  C.  (twin  of  John 
F.),  born  December  4,  1S73,  married  Helen 
Toverson,  is  farming  and  resides  in  Kil- 
bourn;  Guy  Earlscourt,  born  August  24, 
1881.  now  in  Dakota;  his  Imme  is  in  ]\Iinne- 
aj-olis. 

Gilbert  B.  \'an  Alstine  enlisted  in  1861 
(ninety  days'  service)  in  Company  A,  Third 
New  York  Cavalry.  This  regiment  was  re- 
organized and  Mr.  \'an  Alstine  came  west 
to  Wisconsin.  He  re-enlisted,  February  2, 
1864,  in  Company  A,  Forty-ninth  Regi- 
ment Infantry  Volunteers,  and  did  duty  in 
Missouri. 


MRS.   ELECTA  PAGE  LE\\TS. 

Mrs.  Electa  Page  Lewis,  widow  of  Rev. 
John  Lewis,  and  a  highly-esteemed  resi- 
dent of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  is  a  representa- 
tive of  two  families  which  bore  an  active 
and  prominent  part  in  molding  the  character 
and  sentiment  of  the  early  settlers  of  this 
state.  She  was  born  in  Coventry,  Connect- 
icut, and  is  a  daughter  of  Harlan  and  Mary 
(Kingsbury)  Page,  also  natives  of  Cov- 
entry, and  descendants  of  good  old  colonial 
families.  Her  paternal  grandfather,  Capt. 
Gad  Page, commanded  a  company  in  the  Con- 
tinental army  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  she  well  remembers  seeing  him  in  his 
uniform,  as  he  lived  to  a  great  age.  Her 
father,  Harlan  Page,  moved  to  New  York 
city  in  1825,  and  there  did  engraving  for 


the  American  Tract  Society  and  also  took 
charge  of  the  depository  of  that  concern. 
Prior  to  this  he  had  engaged  in  teaching 
school.  He  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  ■ 
forty-three  years,  and  his  wife  passed  away 
in  New  York,  July  23,  1838,  at  the  age  of 
forty-five.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Lieut. 
Joseph  Kingsbury,  of  Coventry,  Connecti- 
cut, who  won  his  title  as  an  officer  in  the 
Continental  army. 

Harlan  Manus  Page,  brother  of  Mrsv 
Lewis,  was  a  graduate  of  Beloit  College  and 
for  many  years  was  employed  on  the  staff 
of  the  "Wisconsin  State  Journal"  at  JNIadi- 
son,  \\'isconsin.  In  1876,  owing  to  failing 
health,  he  resigned  his  position  and  removed 
to  Baraboo,  where  he  died  June  15,  1886,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  his  remains 
being  interred  in  Platteville,  Wisconsin. 
His  widow,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Sarah  Eliza  Turner,  still  survives.  One 
daughter,  Mrs.  Josie  E.  Hildebrandt,  is  now 
in  Balize,  British  Honduras,  and  a  son,  Har- 
lan K.  Page,  makes  his  home  in  Chicago 
and  is  connected  with  the  "Chicago  Trib- 
une." '5 

Mrs.  Lewis  was  reared  and  educated  in' 
New  York  City,  and  there  she  gave  her  hand 
in.  marriage,  July  18,  1843,  to  Rev.  John 
Lewis,  a  Congregational  minister,  who  was 
born  in  Walpole,  ]\Iassachusetts,  and  was 
graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  and  also 
the  New  York  Theological  Seminary.  In 
1843  he  came  to  W'isconsin  as  a  home  mis- 
sionary and  located  at  New  Diggings,  la- 
boring among  the  mining  towns  of  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  state  until  1847, 
when  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Platteville.  He  continued 
in  charge  at  that  place  until  called  from  this 
life  September  2,  i860,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
three  years.  He  worked  untiringly  in  the 
Master's  vineyard,  and  was  loved  and  re- 
spected not  only  by  the  people  of  his  own  con- 
gregation but  by  all  who  knew   him  and 


692 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


witnessed  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 
After  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  Lewis  spent 
a  few  years  in  Chicago,  but  since  1876  has 
made  her  home  in  Baraboo.  Here  she  is 
surrounded  1i>-  a  large  circle  of  friends  and 
acquaintances,  by  whom  she  is  held  in  the 
highest  regard  on  account  of  her  many  acts 
of  kindness  and  deeds  of  charity. 


JOHN  FERRIS,  Deceased. 

John  Ferris,  deceased,  was  for  many 
years  a  prominent  and  influential  farmer  of 
Otsego  township,  Columbia  county,  and  left 
behind  him  an  honorable  name.  He  was 
born  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  INIarch  13, 
1833,  and  was  a  son  of  Alexander  and  Mary 
(Robinson)  Ferris.  The  senior  Ferris  was 
a  farm  laborer  and  came  to  the  United  States, 
dying  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1867,  when  he 
had  reached  the  aee  of  seventy-seven.  He 
served  in  the  British  army  in  the  battle  of 
Waterloo. 

John  Ferris  left  home  when  twenty- 
two  years  old,  and  coming  to  this  country, 
made  his  first  location  at  Dayton,  Ohio. 
From  that  city  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army 
September  3,  1861,  being  enrolled  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  C,  Forty-fourth  Ohio  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  He  re-enlisted  in  Company 
F,  Eighth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  and 
served  throughout  the  war,  being  discharged 
in  August,  1865.  He  was  in  active  duty 
nearly  all  the  time.  He  served  under  Burn- 
side  at  Knoxville,  and  later  became  a  part  of 
the  command  of  General  Sheridan.  He  was 
in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  and  through 
out  the  Shenandoah  campaign.  He  avoided 
wounds  and  capture,  though  his  hat  was 
taken  off  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  he  had  many 
narrow  escapes.  He  attended  many  army 
reunions,  and  greatly  enjoyed  these  meetings. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Ferris  came  to  Wis- 


consin, and  bought  a  farm  on  section  7,  in 
the  town  of  Otsego,  and  here  he  spent  his 
remaining  years.  He  made  many  improve- 
ments on  the  place,  and  owned  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-six  acres  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  May  13,  1900.  He 
gave  some  attention  to  stock  breeding  and 
to  potato  culture.  He  was  well  read,  took 
much  interest  in  the  general  events  of  the 
times,  and  was  able  to  discuss  public  ques- 
tions very  intelligently.  He  was  a  Republi- 
can, but  never  ran  for  office,  and  would 
not  consent  to  any  proposition  in  that  di- 
rection. He  was  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  at  Rio.  He  was  formerly 
a  Methodist,  but  when  that  church  dis- 
banded at  Rio  he  united  with  the  Congre- 
gational. He  belonged  to  the  Henry  C. 
Payne  Post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public at  Pardeeville. 

He  was  united  in  marriage,  March  23, 
1866,  to  Mrs.  Catherine  McKenna,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Mary  Henry.  She  was  born 
in  Dyian,  county  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and  her 
father  was  a  bookkeeper  in  a  flax  factory 
at  Dyian.  He  died  there,  and  his  widow 
came  to  Wisconsin,  bringing  with  her  the 
family.  She  died  in  the  town  of  Otsego, 
October  14,  1893,  aged  eighty-seven,  keep- 
ing her  bodily  activity  and  mental  vigor  to 
the  last.  Ancestors  of  John  Henry  came  to 
Ireland  from  Glasgow,  Scotland.  His  fa- 
ther, Alexander  Henry,  served  in  the  Eng- 
lish army  during  the  Irish  rebellion,  and  as- 
sisted in  quelling  the  Catholic  uprising,  for 
which,  however,  he  received  no  pay.  Mrs. 
Ferris,  who  is  still  living,  is  the  mother  of 
five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living: 
Maggie,  Mrs.  Edward  H.  Hellie,  is  residing 
at  Hanley  Falls,  Minnesota;  Addie,  who  is 
Mrs.  Van  Armen,  has  her  home  in  Rio; 
John  R.  carries  on  the  home  farm.  He  is  a 
graduate  of  the  business  college  at  Rock- 
ford.  There  are  four  grandchildren  in  the 
family. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


G93 


JOHN  WALTON,  Deceased. 

For  many  years  prior  to  his  deatli  the 
gentleman  ahove  named  was  a  leading-  miller 
and  land  owner  of  Adams  county.  He  was 
the  possessor  of  two  of  the  best  farms  in 
the  vicinity  of  Easton,  and  was  also  propri- 
etor of  the  mill  at  that  place. 

Mr.  Walton  was  born  in  Lincolnshire, 
England,  February  28,  1824.  He  emigrat- 
ed to  Hamilton,  Ontario,  when  about  seven 
years  of  age,  and  resided  there  for  some 
time.  He  was  a  milJer  by  trade  and  built 
the  mill  at  Olin,  Springville  township,  and 
liad  previously  purchased  the  mill  at  Easton, 
which  he  owned  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
came  into  possession  of  a  farm  at  White 
Creek  and  the  farm  near  Easton,  on  which 
his  son,  Rufus,  now  resides.  He  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  his  country,  in  Company  K, 
Thirty-second  ^^'isconsin  Lifantry,  and 
served  as  lieutenant  during  the  Civil  war. 

Mr.  Walton  was  married  July  11,  1846, 
tc  Miss  Mary  Wells,  of  Hamilton,  Ontario. 
Mrs.  Walton  lived  three  years  after  their 
marriage,  and  left  one  son,  Henry  J.  Mr. 
Walton  married  Julia  A.  Coyne,  of  Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin,  March  22,  1851,  and  her 
death  occurred  September  30,  1881,  and  she 
was  laid  to  rest  at  Fall  River.  Ten  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  six  of  whom  sur- 
vive, as  follows  :  Wallace  B.,  now  in  Alaska; 
Marcus  T.,  employed  by  Great  Northern 
Railroad  in  Hillyard;  Rufus  S.,  residing  on 
the  farm  in  section  30,  Easton  township; 
Franklin  M.,  of  Ellendale,  North  Dakota, 
engaged  in  milling;  Charles  W.,  residing 
in  Milwaukee;  Elgie  J.,  bank  clerk  at  Oakes, 
North  Dakota.  Mr.  Walton  was  married 
to  Mrs.  Emma  Pease,  April  21,  1883,  who 
is  now  residing  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Walton  died  at  Easton,  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin.  March  25,  1895,  and 
was  laid  to  rest  at  Fall  River,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  formerly  resided,  and  where  sev- 


eral members  of  his  family  are  buried.  He 
was  a  man  respected  by  all  who  knew  him, 
and  whose  words  and  deeds  were  of  the 
highest  character.  He  was  a  member  of 
Friendship  Post,  No.  122,  G.  A.  R.  He 
voted  in  accordance  with  his  views  of  right 
and  for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  man,  and 
stood  stanchly  for  the  Republican  party. 

Rufus  S.  was  the  fourth  son,  and  was 
born  in  Elkhart,  Lidiana,  September  9, 
1865,  and  came  to  Easton  when  about  six 
years  of  age.  He  attended  school  until  he 
reached  his  majority,  and  assisted  his  father 
in  the  mill  and  on  the  farm,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  do  until  his  father's  death.  He 
moved  onto  the  homestead  in  the  fall  of 
1898,  and  has  since  engaged  in  the  pursuit 
of  farming. 

Rufus  S.  Walton  was  married  Novem- 
ber 23,  1890,  to  Etta  Henry,  daughter  of 
J.  A.  and  Augusta  (Stowell)  Henry,  of 
Easton.  Three  children  have  been  born  to 
bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walton,  as 
follows:  Winifred,  born  June  16,  1893; 
Margie  Belle,  born  October  12,  1897;  and 
John  Lester,  October  9,  1899.  Mr.  Walton 
is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  White  Creek  lodge.  In  political 
faith  he  is  a  Republican.  He  has  been  called 
upon  to  serve  in  various  township  offices,  and' 
is  ever  willing  to  perform  his  duty  faith- 
fully and  for  the  benefit  of  his  community. 
His  home  is  one  of  refinement  and  his  fam- 
ily circle  is  a  pleasant  one.  He  is  one  of 
the  rising  young  men  of  his  county  and  al- 
ready enjoys  popularity  and  esteem. 


CHARLES  ALBERT  NUTTING. 

Charles  Albert  Nutting,  one  of  the  prom- 
inent citizens  of  Randolph,  Columbia  coun- 
t}',  operates  a  machine  shop  and  has  won 
considerable  distinction  in  his  line  of  work. 


694 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


He  was  born  in  Randolph,  Vermont,  Octo- 
ber 15,  1847,  and  was  a  son  of  Charles  and 
Cordelia  M.   (Gilman)  Nutting. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native 
of  Randolph,  Vermont,  where  he  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  law  for  some  years.  He  was 
a  graduate  of  Oberlin  College  and  began  his 
professional  life  with  his  father,  William 
R.  Nutting,  who  followed  the  practice  of  law 
in  Randolph  most  of  his  life.  He  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  The 
father  of  our  subject  came  to  Wisconsin  in 
1853  and  purchased  a  farm  near  Randolph, 
in  Dodge  county,  and  resided  thereon  during 
the  remainder  of  his  career.  He  abandoned 
the  practice  of  law  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. He  died  about  1895,  aged  seventy-six 
years.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace  for  many 
years  and  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
church  at  Fox  Lake,  but  in  his  later  life  he 
attended  the  Methodist  church  at  Randolph, 
which  was  more  convenient  to  his  home.  He 
was  an  influential  and  exemplary  citizen. 
His  brothers,  George  and  David,  were  mis- 
sionaries to  Turkey  for  some  years.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  born  at  Tam- 
worth,  New  Hampshire,  and  died  some  years 
before  her  husband.  Her  father  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation.  Rev.  Hidden,  a 
prominent  minister  of  Tamworth,  was  a 
relative  of  Mrs.  Nutting.  Our  subject  was 
one  of  eleven  children,  three  of  whom  are 
deceased.  The  surviving  children  are  as 
follows:  Charles  Albert,  our  subject;  Sam- 
uel Edward,  residing  in  Everett,  Washing- 
ton. The  latter  is  the  inventor  of  a  wax 
wheel  arc  light,  which  is  manufactured  ex- 
tensively; Maria  Gihnan,  now  residing  in 
Stillwater,  Minnesota,  was  educated  at  Rock- 
ford  Seminary,  Rockford,  Illinois,  and  spent 
seven  years  as  a  missionary  in  Turkey;  Lil- 
lian, who  became  the  wife  of  George  Part- 
ner, and  died  in  Clark  county,  Wisconsin; 
Clarence  foreman  of  a  jewelry  manufactur- 
ing establishment    at    Minneapolis,  Minne- 


sota; Harlan  T.  K.,  residing  on  the  home 
farm ;  Perley,  professor  in  Stanford  Univer- 
sity, California ;  Cora,  now  Mrs.  Bennett, 
residing  near  Moscow,  Minnesota ;  and- 
Mabel,  now  Mrs.  Hopkins,  of  Red  Cliff, 
^Visconsin. 

Charles  Albert  Nutting  was  about  six 
years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  }-ears  he  enlisted, 
December  2t„  1863,  in  Company  E,  Twenty- 
ninth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry.  After 
Lee's  surrender  he  was  transferred  to  Com- 
pany I,  Fourteenth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. He  was  stationed  at  Montgomery, 
Mobile,  and  other  places  in  Alabama,  and 
took  part  in  Banks'  Red  river  expedition. 
He  was  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads  and  partici- 
pated in  a  three-days  march,  which  caused 
his  illness  and  he  was  confined  to  the  hos- 
pital for  some  time.  He  took  part  in  a 
number  of  skirmishes  and  scouting  expedi- 
tions until  the  siege  of  Mobile,  at  which  place 
he  remained  until  he  was  discharged  from 
the  service  in  October,  1865.  He  returned 
tij  Wisconsin  after  the  war  and  in  1866  be- 
gan to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he 
has  followed  more  or  less  since  that  time. 
Since  1880  he  has  operated  a  wagon  shop, 
v.'ith  which  he  combines  general  jobbing,  a 
feed  mill,  etc.  He  has  added  a  general  ma- 
chine shop  and  does  a  variety  of  machine 
v.ork  and  has  one  of  the  best  equipped  shops 
for  wood  or  iron  work  in  the  state.  He  is 
a  natural  genius  for  mechanical  work  and 
has  made  a  success. 

Our  subject  was  married,  in  1873,  to 
Elizabeth  Bryant,  of  Westford  township, 
daughter  of  John  Bryant,  a  farmer  of  that 
locality.  Mrs.  Nutting  died  in  1888,  aged 
thirty-four  years.  Four  children  were  born 
to  this  union,  as  follows :  Lloyd  Oliver,  in 
business  with  his  father;  Clinton  Albert,  of 
Vancouver,  British  Columbia;  Isabel 
Maude,  now  Mrs.  Henry  Tuttle;  of  Milwau- 
kee; Sadie,  now  Mrs.  R.  Teela,  of  Randolph. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


695 


Mr.  Nutting  was  married  to  Josephine  Bry- 
ant, a  sister  of  tlie  first  wife,  in  1893.  Mrs. 
Nutting-  was  born  in  Westford  township, 
Dodge  county.  Two  children  iia\e  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nutting,  who  are 
named  as  follows :  Leroy  W.  and  Clarence. 
Mr.  Nutting  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  has  filled  the  principal  ofifices 
in  the  local  lodge  and  is  a  member  of  the 
grand  lodge.  He  is  a  member  of  George 
H.  Stevens  Post,  No.  100,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Fox- 
Lake.  He  was  a  member  of  the  village 
board  for  several  years  and  is  identified 
with  the  Repnlilican  party  politically. 


PLINY  HAYES  GUNNISON. 

Pliny  Hayes  Gunnison,  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen  of  the  village  of  North 
Freedom,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  who  is 
now  living  retired  from  active  business  cares, 
was  born  in  Canandaigua,  Ontario  county. 
New  York,  May  3,  1832,  and  is  a  son  of 
Levi  B.  and  Rhoda  (Hurd)  Gunnison,  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire,  who  located  in 
Canandaigua  about  1822.  The  father  was 
born  in  Goshen,  New  Hampshire,  and  was 
fi\-e  years  okl  when  his  parents  died  of 
spotted  fever  at  that  place.  His  great-grand- 
father was  a  native  of  Norway  and  founded 
the  family  in  New  Hampshire  about  two 
hundred  years  ago.  On  the  maternal  side 
our  subject  is  of  English  descent.  His 
grandfather  lived  and  died  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. The  fathe*-  of  our  subject  died  on  his 
farm  in  Canandaigua,  New  York,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four  years,  the  mother  at  the  age 
o'  eighty-six. 

In  his  native  state  Pliny  FI.  Gunnison 
spent  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  in  1856 
came  to  Wisconsin,  locating  in  Lodi,  Co- 
lumbia county,  where  he  owned  and  operated 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixtv  acres  on 


the  line  of  the  old  military  road  1)etween 
Mineral  Point  and  Fort  Winnebago,  where 
a  tavern  was  conducted  for  several  years. 
He  also  purchased  a  forty-acre  tract  of  tim- 
ber land  in  Dane  county.  On  leaving  the 
farm,  in  1883,  b.e  removed  to  Lodi,  where  he 
successfully  engaged  in  the  agricultural  im- 
plement business  for  four  years,  and  then 
came  to  North  Freedom,  where  for  five  years 
lie  dealt  in  lumber  with  good  success,  but 
since  then  has  lived  retired,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  former  toil. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1855,  Mr.  Gunni- 
son married  Miss  Frances  M.  Moore,  who 
was  born  in  Medina,  Ohio,  a  daughter  of 
William  and  Edna  (Castle)  Moore,  both 
natives  of  Canandaigua,  New  York.  Her 
father  went  to  California  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus  and  died  there  in  185 1  at  the  age 
of  fifty-one  years.  The  mother  died  in 
Lodi,  Wisconsin,  in  1878,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-four  years.  Her  father.  Dyer  Cas- 
tle, removed  from  New  England  to  Nevyf 
York  at  an  early  day  and  endured  many 
hardships  en  route.  His  wife,  Margaret 
Jones,  of  Welsh  lineage,  was  a  devout  Quak- 
eress, and  in  remembrance  of  her  deliver- 
ance from  the  dangers  of  this  journey  al- 
ways kept  a  memorial,  to  the  Lord  upon  her 
mantel.  'Her  father  was  Myron  Jones,  a  sea 
captain. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gunnison  were  born 
eight  children,  namely:  Edna  M.,  widow  of 
A .  Hawley,  of  Eden,  Michigan,  is  a  woman 
of  considerable  ability  and  talent,  and  is 
now  acting  secretary  of  the- Bay  View  Read- 
ing Circle;  Irwin  L.  is  a  resident  of  Lake 
Preston,  South  Dakota;  Charles  N.  is  sec- 
retary of  a  packing  company  at  Sioux  Falls, 
South  Dakota;  George  H.  is  also  a  resident 
of  Lake  Preston,  South  Dakota;  Emma  A. 
is  the  wife  of  F.  Peers,  of  McMinnville, 
Tennessee;  William  M.  and  John  H.  are 
both  living  in  North  Freedom,  Wisconsin; 
and  Alice  F.  is  a  teacher  of  Tomah,  Wis- 


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COilPEXDK'M    OF  BIOGRAPHY. 


t.97 


Trmit\-  E\-angeItcal  church  at  Portage  and 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  business  and 
social  circles.  Throughout  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  Mr.  Epstein  has  supported  the 
Democratic  part}-,  bat  in  1S96  \x>ted  for 
William  McKinley  for  president.  He  takes 
no  active  part  in  political  agitation,  but  has 
beai  a  liberal  contributor  to  public  eiter- 
prises.  and  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the 
m-jst  public-spirited  and  \-aIued  citizens  of 
his  adopted  county.  He  has  accumulated  a 
handsome  propeny.  and  his  life  illustrates 
what  can  be  accomplished  through  mdustn,-. 
perseverance,  good  management  and  a  de- 
termination to  succeed. 


PETER  DAXGEL. 

Peter  Dangel  is  a  well-known  citizen  of 
Reedsburg.  who  has  achieved  success  in 
business  through  his  own  industry,  perse- 
verance and  int^rity  of  character.  Ehiring 
his  residence  of  over  thirty  years  in  that 
place  he  has  established  a  reputation  among 
his  associates,  which  justly  entitles  hizn  to 
honorable  mention  in  the  annals  of  Sauk 
cjtmty.  He  15  a  native  of  Germany,  bom  at 
Moriheim.  Rhine  pro\-ince.  October  28, 
1834.  His  parents.  Peter  George  and  Bar- 
bara (T.rnd)  Dangel.  were  in  humble  cir- 
cumsrances  and  bequeathed  him  little  more 
than  a  rugged  oDnstitution  and  an  honest 
purpose  to  better  his  condition  in  Hfe.  They 
lived  and  6i&i  in  the  Fatherland,  the  former 
passing  away  in  1S46,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two  years,  while  Mrs.  Dangel  survived  to 
the  age  of  siicty  years. 

While  a  boy  Peter  Dangel  b^an  to  learn 

the  miller's  trade,  at  which  he  was  employed 

in  his  native  land  about  eleven  years.     In 

the  meantime  be  spent  two    and    (xnt-baii 

-  in  the  German  amnr,  bat  as  peace  pre- 

'.  dtiring  that  period  he  was  not  callefi 


into  accoal  hostilities.  Belie\-ing  that  the 
United  States  offered  better  opportunities 
for  capable  and  ambitious  men,  in  1S60  he 
came  to  this  cotrntrv".  He  spent  the  next 
five  or  six  years  in  the  state  of  Xew  \ork, 
being  emplo>-ed  at  his  trade  most  of  that 
dme  in  Oswego  and  Sj-racuse.  He  then  \ 
came  to  Reedsburg  and  for  a  dozen  years 
operated  the  grist  mill  at  that  place,  which 
was  then  owned  by  S.  Mackev-  &  Company. 
For  the  next  three  years  he  carried  on  a  shoe" 
store  in  conjunction  with  Paul  Bishop,  to 
whom  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  business  at 
the  end  of  that  period.  In  1S80  he  opened 
a  meat  market,  which  he  has  since  conducted 
with  the  exception  of  three  years,  during 
which  time  he  rented  the  establishment. 
For  a  part  of  this  interval  he  was  employed 
as  bookkeeper  and  collector  in  the  Reeds- 
burg Brewer*-.  The  name  of  the  present 
firm  is  Peter  Dangel  &:  Son,  and  the  pro- 
cession of  customers  which  is  constantly  fil- 
ing in  and  out  of  their  shop  attests  the  ex- 
cellent qualitv-  of  the  goods  sold  as  well  as 
the  personal  popularity  of  the  proprietors. 
Mr.  Dangel  was  married  Februarj-  24, 
1865,  to  Dora  Parau,  daughter  of  ilrs. 
Catharina  Parau,  of  Oswego,  Xew  York. 
Mrs.  Dangel  was  bom  at  Barum,  pro\ince 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  came  to  this 
countrv-  in  1864,  her  father  having  died  in 
Germany.  She  6x&i  October  i,  1892,  at  the 
age  of  forty-four  years  and  was  buried  from 
St.  Peter's  Lutheran  church,  of  which  she 
was  a  de\-out  member.  She  was  the  mother 
of  five  children,  tliree  of  whom  5un.-ive  to 
revere  her  memory-.  Following  is  the  rec- 
ord: Louise  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years;  William  died  when  an  infant:  Loui 
is  one  of  the  partners  composing  the  Stolte, 
Dangel  &  Foss  Company,  one  of  the  leading 
mercantile  establishments  of  Sauk  ojunty; 
Peter  H.  is  his  father's  partner ;  and  Gustave 
E.  is  a  member  of  the  drug  firm  of  ilueller 
&  Dangel,  Reedsburg.    July  ir.  1896.  Mr. 


698 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Dangel  was  married  to  Mrs.  Hannah  Briggs, 
widow  of  Oscar  Briggs,  of  Reedsburg,  and  a 
native  of  province  of  Hanover,  Germany. 

Since  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  Mr.  Dangel  has  affiliated  with  the 
Democratic  party.  In  recognition  of  his  in- 
terest in  the  affairs  of  the  city  he  has  re- 
peatedly been  chosen  to  fill  responsible  pub- 
lic positions.  For  two  years  he  was  assessor 
of  the  city  and  served  fifteen  years  as  alder- 
man of  the  first  ward,  being  a  member  of 
the  city  council  longer  than  any  other  citi- 
zen. He  took  an  active  interest  in  securing 
the  incorporation  of  the  city  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  its  admirable  system  of  water 
works,  which  has  been  the  source  of  envy 
and  emulation  on  the  part  of  many  neighbor- 
ing towns. 


HOLTOX  BRADLEY  METCALF. 

Springville  tuwnshii).  Adams  county,  has 
few  men  who  have  passed  as  eventful  a  ca- 
reer as  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  this  gentle- 
man, and  who  ha\-e  met  with  the  same  suc- 
cess in  e\-ery  undertaking.  His  progressive 
spirit  and  earnest  efforts,  supplemented  by 
the  strictest  honesty  and  sound  judgment, 
have  placed  him  among  the  foremost  agri- 
culturists of  his  community.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  ^^'isconsin,  and  it  is  but  natural  to 
take  special  interest  in  the  welfare  of  her 
people,  but  wherever  he  has  resided  he  has 
shown  a  public  spirit  and  acti\-e  interest  in 
every  enterprise  for  the  public  good.  He 
has  a  fine  estate  in  Springville  township, 
and  is  surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of 
rural  life. 

]Mr.  ]Metcalf  was  born  in  Oconomowoc, 
Waukesha  county,  Wisconsin,  April  9,  1863, 
and  was  the  son  of  John  and  Mahala 
(Mead)  Metcalf.  His  father  was  born  at 
Corinth,  Orange  county,  Vermont,  in  1805, 
and   resided   there  until  ten  years  of  age. 


when  he  mo\-ed  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  where 
h.'  li\'ed  twenty-five  years,  anfl  was  engaged 
in  farming  and  lumbering.  He  lost  con- 
siderable money  and  in  1S40  moved  to 
Oconomowoc,  Waukesha  county,  where  his 
death  occurred  February  22,  1884,  after  be- 
ing a  resident  of  that  county  forty-four 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the 
county  and  for  many  years  followed  farm- 
ing, and  later  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness, and  accumulated  considerable  property. 
He  was  the  first  president  of  the  village,  and 
was  highly  respected.  He  was  a  Univer- 
salist  in  religious  belief,  and  a  Republican 
in  politics.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  Dutchess  county,  Xew  York,  where 
the  family  had  resided  many  years,  and  in 
1855  the  family  moved  to  Washington  coun- 
ty, Wisconsin.  The  parents  of  our  subject 
were  married  in  1859,  and  two  children  were 
born  to  them,  as  follows :  Holton,  our  sub- 
ject, and  Blenne,  now  Mrs.  E.  C.  Morse, 
of  Chicago,  Illinois.  Mr.  Morse  was  for  a 
number  of  years  county  superintendent  of 
schools  of  Adams  county,  Wisconsin. 

Our  subject  passed  his  boyhood  at  home 
and  had  every  opportunity  to  obtain  an  ex- 
cellent education.  Ai  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  he  went  to  Xew  Mexico  and  engaged 
in  stock  raising,  and  made  a  success  of  sheep 
raising,  but  he  afterward  became  interested 
in  the  raising  of  horses  and  lost  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  money.  After  five  years' 
stay  in  X"ew  Mexico  he  returned  to  Adams 
county,  where  his  mother  had  land.  He  now 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  tillable 
land,  well  equipped  with  good  buildings  and 
machinery,  and  is  one  of  the  first  farmers  of 
the  vicinity.  He  taught  school  while  in  New 
Mexico  and  has  also  taught  three  winters  in 
the  district  in  which  he  lives.  He  was  a 
stage  coach  driver  over  the  Raton  moun- 
tains in  Colorado  for  a  time,  and  on  account 
of  the  rugged  roads  the  trips  were  filled  with 
excitement.     At  various   times   he   has  en- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


699 


gaged  in  the  jewelry  business,  been  con- 
ductor tor  a  raih-dail,  _I)(>okkeeper.  teacher, 
stock  raiser  and  driver  of  stage  coach,  and 
has  gained  a  competence  as  well  as  an  en- 
viable name.  Mr.  IMetcalf  was  married 
January  25,  1888,  to  ]\Iary  Reese,  daughter 
0/  John  and  Mary  Reese,  natives  of  \Vales, 
who  located  in  Jefferson  county.  \\'isc(insin, 
v.-here  Mrs.  Metcalf  was  born.  Four  chil- 
dren have  blessed  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
]\Ietcalf,  named  as  follows:  George,  born 
April  30,  1890;  John,  born  No\-ember  27, 
1892;  Lorna,  born  April  25,  1894;  and  Hala, 
born  jNIarch  7,  1897.  Mr.  Metcalf  is  a  Re- 
publican in  pohtical  sentiment.  Imt  has  not 
aspired  to  public  office.  He  has  been  as- 
sessor for  his  township  for  a  numljer  of 
terms,  and  is  otherwise  interested  in  the 
welfare  (if  his  community.  He  is  pro- 
gressive, well  educated  and  keeps  pace  with 
the  current  events.  He  has  one  of  the  finest 
libraries  in  the  county,  and  culture  and  re- 
finement are  everywhere  present  at  his  home. 
He  is  a  gentleman  of  good  address,  and  one 
whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to  meet. 


OLIVER  MARTI X  YORK. 

The  early  settlers  of  a  country  are  the 
ones  who  monk!  her  destinv,  and  in  Adams 
county,  W'isconsin,^  many  of  the  pioneers 
who  did  so  much  for  that  region  still  reside. 
Foremost  among  this  class  stands  the  gen- 
tleman whose  name  heads  this  review. 
Adams  county  has  been  his  home  for  many 
years,  hut  he  has  not  resided  long  in  Monroe 
township.  However,  he  has  found  a  high 
place  in  the  minds  of  his  associates,  and  is 
a  respected  member  of  his  community. 

iNIr.  York  was  born  February  8,  1827, 
at  Adams,  Jefferson  county,  Xew  York,  and 
v,-as  the  son  of  Erastus  and  Elizabeth  (Til- 
den)    York.     Hig  father  was  a  shoemaker 


by  trade,  and  came  to  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, from  Jefferson  county.  New  York,  in 
1892.  He  was  eighty-five  years  of  age  at 
the  time  and  came  to  reside  with  his  children 
aiul  his  death  occurred  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  of  Vanceburg, 
Dunn  county,  Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  The  mother  died  in  Jef- 
ferson county,  New  York,  June  24,  1843, 
aged  forty-one  years. 

At  a  very  early  age  our  subject  went  to 
work  on  a  farm  at  three  dollars  per  month. 
At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  began  sailing 
on  the  lakes,  .going  as  far  west  as  Chicago, 
at  which  he  continued  about  three  years, 
when  he  went  to  Spring  Prairie,  Walworth 
countv,  Wisconsin,  and  engaged  at  work  on 
a  farm.  After  three  years  spent  at  farm  w^ork 
he  learned  the  mason's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed about  three  years  there,  and  then  two 
years  in  Poynette,  Columbia  county.  He 
later  moved  to  Easton,  Adams  county,  and 
took  up  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  all  of  which  was  wild.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers,  and  neighbors  were  few  and 
far  away.  He  improved  the  land  and  erect- 
ed good  buildings,  and  occupied  the  place 
until  1873,  when  he  disposed  of  the  farm  for 
one  in  Rome  township,  and  in  1893  sold  that 
farm  and  ]3urchased  his  present  estate  in 
]Monroe  tnwnship.  He  has  a  well  improved 
farm  antl  the  appearance  of  the  place  evi- 
dences care  in  every  detail. 

Mr.  York  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Twen- 
ty-fifth Wisconsin  Volunteers,  August  15, 
1862,  and  was  in  all  of  Sherman's  campaigns 
and  on  his  march  to  the  sea.  He  was  a  spec- 
tator of  the  grand  review  at  Washington, 
but  did  not  jjarticipate  in  the  march,  owino- 
to  his  being  on  detached  .service,  and  sec- 
ond lieutenant  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Wiscon- 
sin, under  Rusk.  He  was  mustered  out  at 
Washington,  in  1865.  and  received  his  dis- 
charge at  Madison.,  Wisconsin,  June  7th. 

Mr.  York  was  married,  in  Honey  Creek, 


700 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


Walworth  county,  \\'isconsin,  October  8, 
1848,  to  Lydia  Ackernian,  of  Poynette. 
Mrs.  York  died  December  30,  1894,  and  was 
buried  in  Rome,  Wisconsin.  Seven  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  are  hving-,  were  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  York,  as  follows :  Frank  E., 
an  agriculturist,  of  Monroe  township;  Laura 
E.,  now  Mrs.  C.  H.  Snyder,  of  Monroe; 
Robert  N.,  now  residing  at  Tomah;  and 
Erastus  V.,  residing  at  Friendship.  Mr. 
York  married  Mrs.  Alice  M.  AValker,  of  Big 
Fiats,  January  14,  1896.  Mrs.  York  was  the 
widow  of  Philo  D.  Walker,  who  during  the 
Civil  war  was  orderly  sergeant  of  Company 
K,  Twenty-fifth  Wisconsin  Infantry.  He 
died  October  5,  1895,  'i"d  was  buried  at  Big 
Flats.  Mr.  York  is  a  member  of  Badger 
Post,  No.  122,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Friendship.  In 
religious  faith  he  is  a  member  of  the  United 
Brethren  church.  He  takes  an  active  part  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Republican  party,  and  has 
attended  as  delegate  numerous  county  con- 
ventions. He  is  a  true  and  highly  respected 
citizen. 


FOULK  ROBERT  ROBERTS. 

Foulk  Robert  Roberts,  one  of  the  earliest 
pioneer  settlers  of  Columbia  county,  Wis- 
consin, entered  claim  to  his  land  in  Ran- 
dolph township,  in  1844.  He  settled  there 
on  the  1st  day  of  November  of  the  same 
year,  and  has  since  made  that  his  home,  but 
is  now  retired  from  active  pursuits  and  en- 
joys the  competence  which  comes  to  him  as 
the  result  of  many  years  of  industry  and 
faithful  efforts.  The  farm  is  located  in  sec- 
tions I  and  12,  of  Randolph  township,  con- 
sisting of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  and 
was  the  first  land  entered  in  the  county  by  a 
\\'elshman. 

Our  subject  was  born  on  a  farm  named 
Blaen-y-Cs,  in  the  ])arish  of  Llanddeiniolan, 
Caernarvonshire,  North  \\'ales,  February 
14,   1820,  and  was  a  son    of    Robert    and 


Catherine  Roberts.  His  grandfather,  Robert 
Roberts,  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  the 
father  of  our  subject  was  a  Cjuarryman  dur- 
ing his  younger  days  and  was  one  of  three 
men  who  opened  the  quarry  of  Llanberis, 
in  Cjernarvonshire,  and  later  in  life  followed 
farming  on  the  estate  where  our  subject  was 
born,  living  there  until  his  demise.  Our  sub- 
ject's maternal  grandparents  were  Foulk 
and  Ann  (Morris)  Jones,  and  the  grand- 
father was  a  laborer  and  tiller  of  a  small 
farm. 

Foulk  Robert  Roberts  remained  in  his 
native  land  until  1844,  when,  with  his  britle, 
his  widowed  mother  and  his  two  brothers, 
David  and  Thomas,  and  other  families,  he 
came  to  America.  They  sailed  from  Liver- 
pool and  after  three  weeks  landed  at  New 
York,  and  from  there  proceeded  by  boat  to 
Racine,  ^^'isconsin,  reaching  their  destina- 
tion about  six  weeks  after  leaving  their  na- 
ti\'e  land.  Our  subject,  his  two  brothers  and 
a  companion  left  the  others  of  the  family 
at  Racine  and  went  in  search  of  a  suitable 
location.  The}-  foimd  some  of  their  nation- 
ality settletl  at  Janesville,  but  no  available 
land  near  there,  although  a  small  tract  of 
eighty  acres  was  offered  our  subject  at  a 
price  that  was  ^•ery  reasonable,  but  he  re- 
fused, owing  to  the  scarcity  of  land  for  the 
other  settlers,  who  contemplated  forming  a 
colony.  That  eighty-acre  tract  was  after- 
ward the  town  site  of  Janesville.  They  trav- 
eled to  \\'atertown  afoot,  but  found  most  of 
the  land  taken  or  pre-empted,  and  they  then 
proceeded  to  Lake  Emily,  where  the  go\ern- 
ment  l.and  agent  ga\'e  them  all  necessary  in- 
formation and  they  soon  selected  locations. 
The  brother,  David,  had  traveled  extensively 
and  had  a  good  knowledge  of  English,  and 
was  employed  by  the  land  agent  to  assist  in 
locating  settlers  from  his  nati\'e  land,  and 
he  assisted  in  selecting  homes  for  the  first 
settlers  of  Welsh  Prairie,  in  the  town  of 
Springvale.     David   Roberts   left   for   Call- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


roi 


foniia  with  his  hrother,  Thomas,  during  the 
gold  excitement,  and  they  made  tlieir  way 
across  the  phiins.  He  died  soon  after  ar- 
riving there.  After  locating  land  in  section 
12.  in  Randolph  township,  Columbia  county, 
and  section  7,  Fox  Lake  township,  Dodge 
county,  in  October,  1844,  our  subject  and 
his  brothers  returned  to  Racine,  Wisconsin, 
for  their  mother  and  wives,  and  November 
I,  of  that  year,  located  permanently  on  their 
farms.  There  being  on  land  bought  by 
Thomas  a  small  house,  in  this  they  installed 
their  mother  and  families.  Our  subject  on 
his  own  land  built  a  small  shanty  for  him- 
self and  wife.  Some  years  afterward  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  adjoining  his  original  farm  in  section 
I;  in  Randolph  county.  His  mother  died  in 
1 871 .  Our  suliject  prospered  at  farming  and 
conducted  the  estate  until  recent  years,  when 
he  sold  the  farm  to  his  son  and  is  now  liv- 
ing on  the  old  homestead  farm,  retired  from 
active  pursuits. 

Mr.  Roberts  was  married,  August  18, 
1844,  to  Catherine  Owen,  a  daughter  of 
Griffith  and  Elizabeth  (Rowlands)  Owen. 
Her  grandparents  on  the  paternal  side  were 
Owen  Thomas  and  Jane  (Griffith)  Evans, 
and  were  1)y  occupation  farmers,  and  their 
home  was  in  Lhn,  Caernarvonshire.  Mrs. 
Roberts'  father  was  a  farm  laborer.  Her 
maternal  grandparents  were  Rowland  Hum- 
phrey and  Sarah  Thomas  Pritchart  Pryse, 
of  Llanfalrus.  Mrs.  Roberts'  parents  came 
to  America  in  1846  with  three  of  their  chil- 
dren, Mary,  Eleanor  and  Griffith,  and  in 
1847  Samuel  and  Jane  and  the  latter's  hus- 
band came  to  America.  Two  sisters  re- 
mained in  Wales.  The  mother  died  four 
years  after  her  arrixal  here,  in  1850. 

Mr.  and  ^Irs.  Roberts  are  the  parents  of 
five  children,  as  follows :  Catherine,  now 
Mrs.  William  Parry,  of  Milwaukee;, Eliza- 
beth, now  Mrs.  John  R.  Owens,  of  Columbus; 
Sarali,  who  became  the  wife  of  R.  P.  Wynne, 


of  Milwaukee,  and  died  in  April,  1899; 
Eleanor,  now  ]Mrs.  Richard  Williams,  living 
at  the  old  home;  and  Robert  P.,  married 
and  living  at  Randolph.  All  the  children  are 
natives  of  Randolph  township,  and  were  born 
on  the  homestead  farm.  Mr.  Roberts  is  a 
gentleman  of  intelligence,  and  has  contrib- 
uted valuable  articles  to  the  press  in  his  own 
language.  He  is  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Welsh  C.  M.  church,  and  has  held  the 
office  of  deacon  in  the  church  since  1854. 
He  was  one  of  four  who  established  the  first 
Sabbath  school,  the  first  meeting  being  held 
the  first  Sunday  in  November,  1844.  He 
and  his  two  brothers,  Da\-id  and  Tliomas, 
and  a  companion,  John  Evans,  felt  the  need 
of  religious  services  and  with  their  Bibles 
went  to  a  roofless  shed  and  held  services, 
reading  alternately  and  discussing  the  scrip- 
tures and  after  their  meeting  decided  to 
found  a  Sunday  school.  They  gave  notice 
to  the  surrounding  neighbors  of  their  reso- 
lution and  the  next  services  were  held  the 
following  Sabbath  at  the  home  of  our  sub- 
ject's mother,  and  met  there  for  some  years 
afterward  until  a  suitable  place  could  be 
provided.  A  church  was  built  some  years 
later  on  the  southwest  corner  of  his  home- 
stead, which  is  known  as  Engedi,  and  still 
remains.  Our  subject  voted  the  first  ticket 
placed  before  the  electors  of  Wisconsin  by 
the  Republican  party  in  1855,  and  has  since 
been  identified  with  that  party.  He  was 
present  at  the  first  meeting  of  his  township 
for  its  organization  and  is  the  only  mem- 
ber present  who  is  still  living.  He  is  fore- 
most in  his  labors  for  the  common  people 
and  left  his  native  land  on  account  of  the 
oppression  existing  there. 


JAMES  PARSON  PALMER. 

James  Parson  Palmer,  a  well-kn<nvn 
farmer  and  highly-esteemed  citizen  of  h^air- 
field  township,  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  was 


702 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


born  on  the  i6th  of  October,  1.826,  in  Ahia 
township,  Lincoln  county,  Maine,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Malinda  (Fisher)  Palmer. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  Simon  Pahner, 
a  native  of  England,  who  was  born  in  1 746, 
and  lacked  only  six  months  of  being  one 
hundred  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death 
His  wife  was  killed  by  the  Indians  during 
the  French  and  Indian  war.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Peter  Fish- 
er, who  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and 
came  to  this  country  as  a  soldier  in  the  Brit- 
ish army  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  and  held  in  captivity  un- 
til hostilities  ceased,  after  which  he  married 
and  located  in  x\merica.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  born  in  Maine,  in  1788,  and  in 
early  life  followed  the  sea,  but  later  gave  his 
attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was 
one  of  a  family  of  four  cliiklren,  John,  Jona- 
than, Elisha  and  ^^■illiam,  all  of  whom  set- 
tled in  Maine  with  the  exception  of  one  who 
v.ent  to  Iowa. 

The  subject  of  this  sketcli  is  also  one  of 
a  family  of  four  children,  the  others  being 
Emily,  Anna  Eliza  and  Louisa.  His  early 
life  was  passed  in  the  county  of  his  nativity, 
attending  the  public  schools  in  winter,  while 
during  the  summer  months  he  served  in  the 
capacity  of  cabin  boy  on  packets  plying  be- 
tween Boston  and  Wiscasset,  Maine.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  went  to  Boston  to  learn 
the  machinist's  trade,  spending  two  years  at 
tliat  place.  He  continued  to  work  at  the 
trade,  however,  for  eight  years,  ser\-ing  as 
foreman  of  a  shop  in  Augusta,  Maine,  for 
two  years  of  the  time.  In  April,  1849,  '^^ 
came  west,  and  landed-in  Sauk  county,  Wis- 
consin, on  the  2d  of  May,  since  which  time 
he  has  made  his  home  here.  For  about  four 
years  he  engaged  in  lumbering  and  running 
on  the  Wisconsin  river,  and  later  accepted 
the  position  of  overseer  on  what  is  known 
as  the  Wells  farm.  About  1864  he  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  land  in  Fairfield  town- 


ship, upon  which  he  has  made  his  home  since 
1875,  his  time  and  attention  being  devoted  to 
agricultural  pursuits. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1856,  Mr. 
Palmer  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Permelia  P.  Plummer,  also  a  native  of  Lin- 
coln county,  Maine,  born  in  the  town  of 
Pittston,  April  9.  1838.  In  1848  she  came  to 
Wisconsin  with  her  parents.  Riel  and  Ro- 
saanna  (Collsy)  Plummer,  who  settled  in 
Sauk  county  on  the  \\'isconsin  ri\-er,  when 
Fairfield  township  contained  only  ten  or 
twelve  families,  and  most  of  the  land  was  in 
its  primitive  condition.  Her  father  was  born 
in  Alna  township,  Lincoln  count}',  Maine, 
September  10,  1802,  and  her  mother  was 
born  on  Westport  Island,  Maine,  November 
27,  1806.  Colby's  Grove  was  named  for  her 
parents.  To  our  subject  and  his  wife  were 
born  six  children,  namely:  Lester  Eugene; 
Marion :  James ;  Frank ;  Louis,  tleceased  ; 
and  Erving.  Politically  Air.  Palmer  is  a 
stanch  supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
he  takes  a  deep  and  commendable  interest 
in  public  affairs,  never  withholding  his  aid 
from  any  enterprise  calculated  to  prove  of 
public  benefit. 


ISAAC  BEACH. 

More  than  half  a  century  ago  this  gentle- 
man came  to  Columbia  county,  and  during 
this  long  period,  which  covers  nearly  the 
whole  span  of  the  county's  development 
from  a  primitive  state  to  its  present  flourish- 
ing condition,  he  has  been  actively  interested 
in  its  progress.  Throughout  life  he  has  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  prosperous  and  substantial  citi- 
zens of  Marcellon  township. 

Mr.  Beach  is  a  native  of  New  York 
state,  and  a  son  of  Nathan  and  Sally  (Wil- 
cox) Beach.  The  father  was  born  in  War- 
ren county,  that    state,    and  in    earlv    life 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


708 


learned  tlie  lilacksmith's  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  near  Little  Falls,  New  York,  until 
1 846,  when  he  came  west  and  settled  in  Wal- 
worth county,  Wisconsin.  A  year  later  he 
came  to  Columbia  county,  locating  in  the 
town  of  Marcellon,  where  he  opened  the  first 
blacksmith  shop.  At  the  same  time  he  pur- 
chased forty  acres  of  land,  but  devoted  his 
time  principally  to  his  trade  until  1851,  when 
he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  more, 
and  then  followeil  farming  cjuite  extensive- 
ly. In  1854  he  went  to  California,  engag- 
ing in  the  mining  stock  business  at  San  Jose 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  iiT  1889.  He 
was  a  very  prominent  and  successful  man. 
one  looked  up  to  b}-  all  who  knew  him.  As  a 
Democrat  he  took  a  leading  part  in  local 
politics  and  was  called  upon  to  fill  all  of  the 
town  offices. 

In  1829  Nathan  Beach  married  Sally 
Wilcox,  also  a  nati\e  of  the  Empire  state, 
who  died  in  Marcellon,  Wisconsin,  in  1881. 
Tu  them  were  Ixjrn  thirteen  children,  of 
whom  twelve  reached  years  of  maturity, 
namely :  Tyler,  a  resident  of  San  Jose,  Cali- 
fornia ;  Sabina,  deceased  wife  of  William 
Stebbins;  Henry,  deceased;  Isaac,  our  sub- 
ject; Sylva,  deceased  wife  of  E.  Wood- 
ard;  Jane,  wife  of  George  Sadler,  of  Green 
county,  Wisconsin;  Caroline,  wife  of  Math- 
ew  RIcEwen,  of  Portland,  Oregon;  Carmi. 
a  twin  of  Caroline,  deceased;  Daniel,  a  resi- 
dent of  Oakland,  California;  Sarah,  wife  of 
John  Ule,  of  Oakland;  Ellen,  a  resident  of 
Pardeevill.e,  Wisconsin :  and  Frank,  a  resi- 
dent of  Portland,  Oregon. 

Isaac  Beach,  our  subject,  remained  at 
his  home  until  eleven  years  of  age,  or  until 
his  father's  removal  to  Wisconsin,  and  then, 
as  the  family  was  large,  he  commenced 
working  at  farm  labor  for  others  during  the 
summer  months,  and  as  a  day  laborer  in  the 
woods  until  twenty-three.  He  was  then 
married  to  Miss  Clarissa  Lipe,  who  was  born 


in  New  York  state,  February  22,  1835.  Her 
parents,  Abram  and  Clarissa  (Richmond) 
Lipe,  were  originally  from  Vermont,  and 
came  to  Wisconsin  in  1854,  locating  in  Mar- 
cellon  township,  Columbia  county.  The  fa- 
ther, who  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  died 
July  20,  1 87 1,  aged  sixty- four  years,  and 
the  mother  passed  away  August  21,  1867, 
aged  fifty-eight  years.  Our  sulaject  and  his 
wife  had  two  cliildren :  Marion,  who  was 
born  April  22,  1859,  and  died  in  January, 
1868;  and  Roland,  wdio  was  born  October 
31,  1856,  and  died  in  January,  1872.  The 
wife  and  mother  departed  this  life  July  3, 
1880. 

For  a  year  after  his  marriage  !Mr.  Beach 
operated  Samuel  Stebbin's  farm,  in  Scott 
township,  on  the  shares,  and  then  purchased 
forty  acres  of  wild  land  in  the  same  town- 
ship, whicli  he  improved  by  the  erection  of 
a  house  and  other  farm  buildings,  and  by 
clearing  and  placing  the  land  under  cultiva- 
tion. While  thus  employed  he  also  operated 
other  tracts  of  land  on  shares  for  different 
parties  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  bought  another  forty-acre  tract, 
which  he  partially  cleared.  In  1866  he  re- 
moved to  Marcellon  township  and  located 
upon  his  present  farm,  a  portion  of  which 
had  at  one  time  belonged  to  his  father,  whose 
land  was  mostly  divided  into  town  lots.  One 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  were  sold  to  Carmi 
Beach,  and  are  now  owned  by  Henry  Rich- 
mond. In  1866  Mr.  Beach  bought  ten  acres 
and  erected  thereon  his  present  comfortable 
residence  and  good  outbuildings,  and  from 
time  to  time  added  to  the  place  until  he  now 
owns  three  hundred  acres  of  fine  land  on  sec- 
tions 25,  26  and  36,  Marcellon  township. 
At  one  time  in  connection  with  his  farming 
operations,  he  was  engaged  in  dealing  in  cat- 
tle and  hogs  for  six  years,  and  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings has  been  very  successful.  His 
upright  course  in  life  commands  the  respect 


ro4 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ai!d  commendation  of  all.  and  he  is  justly 
entitled  to  a  prominent  place  in  his  county's 
history.  He  usually  supnorts  the  Republican 
party  but  is  rather  independent  in  politics. 


JAMES  STONE,  Deceased. 

For  many  years  prior  to  his  de^ith  this 
gentleman  was  a  resident  of  Spring-ville 
township,  Adams  county,  where  he  operated 
an  extensive  tract  of  land  and  was  remarka- 
bly successful.  He  left  a  fine  estate  of  sev- 
en hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  is  now 
under  the  management  of  his  widow  and 
three  sons,  and  bears  every  evidence  of 
painstaking  care  in  the  labors  about  the 
place.  Mr.  Stone  was  a  striking  example 
of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  persistent 
industry,  and  strict  attention  to  business  de- 
tails, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  one 
of  the  substantial  men  of  his  community, 
and  respected  by  his  large  circle  of  acquaint- 
ances. 

James  Stone  was  born  at  Bridgewater, 
Lincolnshire,  England,  February  24,  1848, 
and  was  the  son  of  a  farmer.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years  he  came  to  America  and 
located  at  Waukegan,  Illinois,  where  he 
worked  on  a  farm  on  shares.  He  stayed 
about  two  years,  and  then  moved  to  Spring- 
ville  township,  Adams  county,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  or.e  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  and  by  hard  work  and  good  manage- 
ment added  to  his  possessions  until  he  was 
the  fortunate  owner  of  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  about  three  hundred  acres  of 
which  is  under  cultivation.  He  was  a  cheese 
maker  in  his  native  land  and  had  always 
cherished  the  idea  of  establishing  a  business 
in  this  country,  but  his  untimely  death  frus- 
trated his  plans.  Mrs.  Stone,  assisted  by 
her  three  sons,  now  makes  a  specialty  of  stock 
raising,  including  hogs  and  horses,  and  the 
estate  furnishes  a  comfortable  income. 


Mr.  Stone  was  married,  November  13, 
1876,  to  Louisa  Knutsen,  daughter  of  Knut- 
sen  and  Carrie  (Anderson)  Knutsen,  of 
Sken,  Norway.  Mrs.  Stone  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1871,  some  years  before  her 
parents,  who  came  after  her  marriage  and 
made  their  home  with  her  for  about  one 
}ear,  when  they  moved  to  New  Chester, 
Adams  county.  Her  father  died  in  March, 
1892,  and  is  buried  at  New  Chester,  and  the 
mother  survives  him. 

Six  children,  all  of  whom  are  at  home, 
were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone,  as  fol- 
lows:  Henry,  born  September  15,  1876; 
Carrie,  born  August  27,  1878;  Frank,  born 
October  11,  1880;  Lizzie,  born  August  21, 
1882;  Samuel,  born  December  7,  1884;  and 
Mary,  born  June  12,  1888. 

Mr.  Stone  passed  from  this  life  in 
Springville  township,  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, May  30,  1890.  His  exemplary  life 
and  ability  are  well  known  to  the  people  of 
Adams  county,  where  he  spent  so  many 
years,  and  they  recognize  in  his  name  a 
gentleman  whose  unbiased  mind  and  public 
spirit  entitle  him  to  more  than  passing  men- 
tion. He  was  progressive  and  his  ideas  were 
attended  by  a  oneness  of  purpose  which 
made  him  every  man's  friend,  and  he  wield- 
ed an  influence  for  good  which  was  felt  not 
only  in  his  own  township  l)ut  throughout 
the  county. 


IRA  C.  LUCE. 


The  Luce  livery,  feed  and  sale  stable, 
of  Poynette,  is  well  known  throughout  Co- 
lumbia county,  and  the  proprietor  of  that 
establfshment  has  spared  no  pains  to  make 
his  business  one  of  the  first  in  the  village. 
He  is  a  gentleman  who  commands  respect 
and  his  genial  nature  and  pleasant  manner 
makes  every  man  his  friend. 

Mr.  Luce  was  born  in  Chautauqua  conn- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


705 


ty,  New  York,  November  i,  i860,  and  is  the 
son  of  Charles  and  Mary  (Barnard)  Luce, 
v'ho  were  natives  of  the  same  county.  His 
father  was  l>orn  December  14,  1838,  and 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  the  motlier 
was  born  October  22,  1840.  Our  subject  is 
tlieir  only  son  now  living,  and  the  family 
came  to  Wisconsin  and  settled  in  Columbia 
county,  in  1868,  and  purchased  a  farm  two 
miles  east  of  Poynette,  where  they  remained 
until  1881,  when  they  removed  to  the  village 
of  Poynette,  where  they  still  reside. 

Our  subject  received  a  good  education, 
and  in  1884  engaged  in  the  hardware  busi- 
ness. He  disposed  of  his  business  in  1890 
and  erected  a  fine  livery  barn,  and  stocked  it 
with  a  full  outlay  of  livery,  and  now  enjoys 
a  good  patronage.  He  handles  some  fine 
fast  horses,  and  is  one  of  the  wide  awake 
men  of  his  calling.  His  father  has  been  en- 
gaged for  some  years  in  the  business  of  mov- 
ing buildings,  and  is  well  equipped  for  that 
trade. 

Mr.  Luce  was  married,  February  20, 
1888,  to  Ella  Price,  daughter  of  James 
Price,  of  Poynette.  Three  children  have  been 
born  to  bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luce, 
upon  whom  the}^  have  bestowed  the  names 
of  Mary,  Jasper  and  Luena.  Mrs.  Luce  is 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  chuch,  and  the 
father  and  mother  of  Mr.  Luce  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Luce 
holds  membership  in  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America.  He  was  constable  for  nine 
years,  and  has  also  served  as  city  marshal. 
He  is  a  Democrat  in  political  sentiment,  and 
takes  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  his  par- 
ty. He  is  prominent,  and  in  all  public  mat- 
ters is  ready  to  wield  his  influence  for  the 
welfare  of  his  community.  He  is  yet  in  the 
prime  of  vigorous  manhood,  and  is  destined 
to  become  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his 
county.  He  has  known  this  state  as  his 
home  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  his 
career  has  been  one  of  uprightness  and  hon- 


or, and  his  character  is  Ijeyi^nd  reproach. 
Practical  business  sense  has  placed  him 
among  the  substantial  men  of  the  commu- 
nity and  his  energy  and  enterprise  are  ap- 
parent in  the  management  of  his  establish- 
ment. 


PAUL  LACHMUND. 

Paul  Lachmund,  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  business  interests  of  Sauk  City,  and 
a  prominent  citizen  of  that  place,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Muenden,  province  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, and  came  to  this  country  in  1854  with 
his  parents.  Dr.  Henrich  G.  and  Bertha  (Do- 
cile) Lachmund.  The  father  was  a  well  edu- 
cated man  of  literary  tastes  and  was  a  skilled 
physician  and  surgeon.  For  a  year  and  a 
half  the  family  made  their  home  in  Burling- 
ton, Iowa,  and  for  the  same  length  of  time 
in  Sigourney,  Iowa,  after  which  they  came  to 
Sauk  City.  For  many  years  the  father  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  and  successful  phy- 
sicians of  this  part  of  the  country,  his  prac- 
tice extending  over  a  wide  range  of  territory. 
In  1 88 1  he  retired  from  active  life  and  made  ' 
his  home  for  a  time  in  St.  LouiS;  ^lissouri, 
but  finally  returned  to  Sauk  City,  where  he 
died  in  1890.  The  mother  of  our  subject 
had  passed  away  in  1871.  Of  the  four  chil- 
dren born  to  them,  three  are  still  living, 
namely:  Karl  S.,  a  resident  of  New  York 
city;  Agnes;  and  Paul. 

Paul  Lachmund,  of  this  review,  ob- 
tained his  education  principally  under  the  di- 
rection of  a  private  tutor  in  the  family,  and 
through  the  excellent  instruction  of  his  fa- 
ther, only  attending  the  public  schools  for 
one  term  in  Sigourney.  In  1859  he  com- 
menced his  business  life  with  a  man  who 
was  engaged  in  tailoring  and  conducting  a 
general  store,  and  he  obtained  a  knowledge 
of  both  occupations.  Later  he  clerked  for 
George  Pratt,    in    Mazomanie,    Wisconsin, 


706 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


for  one  year,  and  for  the  same  length  of  time 
assisted  his  father,  who  had  opened  an  apoth- 
ecary shop  in  Sauk  City,  where  he  gained 
a  good  knowledge  of  drugs  and  chemicals 
and  also  Latin.  The  following  two  years  he 
engaged  in  clerking  in  a  general  store  at 
Cross  Plains,  and  from  there  went  to  Mil- 
waukee, where  he  attended  a  commercial  col- 
lege and  then  entered  a  life  and  fire  insurance 
office,  where  he  was  employed  two  years.  He 
next  accepted  a  position  in  a  dry-goods 
house,  with  which  he  was  connected  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  firm,  being  engaged  in 
clerking  and  traveling  on  the  road  By  this 
time  he  had  gained  a  good  practical  knowl- 
edge of  business  in  general,  and  on  his  re- 
turn to  Sauk  City,  in  1870,  opened  a  general 
store,  which  he  conducted  for  five  years. 
Subsequently  he  accepted  a  position  in  Mil- 
^vaukee  with  the  Mechanics'  Insurance  Com- 
pany, and  in  January,  1878,  returned  to 
Sauk  City,  where  he  has  since  been  engaged 
in  the  lumber  trade  with  most  gratifying 
success,  dealing  in  all  kinds  of  lumber,  sash, 
doors,  blinds,  etc. 

Mr.  Lachmund  married  Miss  Bertha 
Hallazs,  by  whom  he  has  seven  children, 
namely:  Victor,  Edwin,  Irnia,  Herman, 
Robert,  Bruno  and  Clara.  In  religious  be- 
lief he  is  liberal  and  is  connected  with  the 
Free  Congregational  society  of  Sauk  City. 
His  political  support  is  always  given  the  men 
and  measures  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
he  has  served  as  a  -delegate  to  county  and 
state  conventions,  has  been  a  member  of  the 
state  central  committee,  and  in  1896  was 
an  elector-at-large  on  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  has  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace, 
was  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  a 
member  of  the  county  board,  and  chairman 
of  the  latter  board.  He  also  has  been  connect- 
ed with  the  school  board  twelve  years,  of 
which  he  was  secretary  and  treasurer  a  part 
of  the  time,  and  his  advice  and  judgment 
are  often  sought  in  public  affairs.    He  is  a 


modest  and  unassuming  man,  but  is  widely 
and  favoraljly  known,  and  is  ver_v  popular 
with  the  people. 


JOEL  BARRETT  WRIGHT. 

Strength  of  character  and  activity  of 
mind,  two  of  the  characteristics  which  have 
predominated  in  the  life  of  our  subject,  have 
given  to  Adams  county  her  more  influential 
citizens,  and  prominent  among  them  stands 
this  gentleman.  He  has  been  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  history  of  that  region,  and' 
needs  little  introduction  to  those  among 
whom  he  has  passed  nearly  forty-five  years. 
He  was  a  pioneer  of  Adams  county,  and  his 
home  is  now  located  in  New  Chester  town- 
ship, where  he  has  gathered  around  him  a 
pleasant  home  and  fine  estate. 

Mr.  Wright  was  born  in  Mount  Holly, 
Vermont,  October  8,  1829,  and  was  the  son 
of  Elijah  and  Lucy  (Wright)  Spaulding. 
His  father  was  accidentally  killed  when  our 
subject  was  but  a  young  boy,  and -an  uncle, 
Joel  Wright,  adopted  him,  and  he  took  the 
uncle's  sirname  as  his  own.  Joel  Wright 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  died  Jan- 
uary 14,  1867,  at  Chelmsford,  Massachusetts. 
After  her  husband's  death  our  subject's 
mother  married  Calvin  Sargent,  -and  later 
married  Mr.  Taylor.  By  the  second  mar- 
riage she  was  the  mother  of  nine  children. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Zacheus  Wright,  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Chelmsford,  Massa- 
chusetts, probably  of  English  descent.  Her 
death  occurred  in  Vermont,  October  i,  1874, 
aged  sixty-seven  years,  four  months  and 
twenty-seven  days.  Our  subject's  grand- 
father, Zebulon  Spaulding,  was  a  man  of 
great  physical  proportions  and  strength,  and 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  removed 
from  Chelmsford,  Massachusetts,  to  Lud- 
low, Vermont,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death.     Our  subject's  parents  had  four  sons 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ro7 


and  one  daugiiter,  as  fnllows :  One  son  died 
in  infancy;  Calvin  W. ;  Elijah,  who  after- 
wartl  took  the  name  of  Wilder;  Joel  ?>..  onr 
subject;  and  Ahioail,  wjio  married  Mr. 
rJifjelDW,  and  died  in  Connecticut.  Our  sub- 
ject is  the  only  sur\-iving  member  of  the 
family.  Two  of  his  brothers  were  also 
adopted  by  other  families  whose  names  they 
Kiok  as  their  own. 

At  two  years  of  age  our  subject  removed 
with  his  foster-father  to  Chelmsford,  Mas- 
sachusetts, wliere  he  spent  his  boyhood  days 
01!  a  farm.  lie  was  employed  a  part  of  the 
time  in  a  cotton  factory  at  Lowell,  and  was 
also  one  season  in  the  match  factory  at  Bos- 
ton. He  came  to  Wisconsin  in  the  spring  of 
1855,  and  located  in  Adams  county.  In  i860 
he  purchased  his  present  homestead  in  New 
-Chester  township,  and  of  the  wild  land  he 
then  purchased  he  has  made  a  well  impreived 
farm.  His  estate  covers  eighty  acres,  sixty 
acres  of  which  is  under  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. He  has  erectecj  commodious  and  con- 
venient farm  buildings,  and  in  every  manner 
made  it  one  of  the  first  farms  of  the  vicinity. 
For  several  years  he  marketed  his  protluce 
at  Grand  Rapids,  and  spent  one  or  two  sea- 
sons lumbering  on  the  Yellow  river. 

Mr.  Wright  enlisted  in  October,  1861, 
i"ii  Company  H.  Eles'enth  \\'isconsin  \'olun- 
teer  Infantry,  and  served  nearly  four  years. 
Before  leaving  Madison,  Wisconsin,  he  suf- 
fered an  attack  of  pneumonia,  and  upon  his 
recovery  was  appointed  steward  of  the  field 
liospital,  and  was  later  employed  in  the  hos- 
pital at  Mound  City,  Illinois,  for  two  months. 
He  then  went  with  his  regiment  to  Texas, 
where  he  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  in  the  same 
company  and  regiment.  From  boyhood  he 
was  an  adept  at  surgery,  and  was  offered  the 
position  of  assistant  surgeon  in  the  service 
but  declined.  He  accompanied  his  regiment, 
doing  hospital  duty  at  Bayou  Cache,  Port 
Gibson,  Jackson,  Champion  Hill,  Big  Black 
River,   siege  of  Vicksburg,   Fort  Esperan- 

38 


za,  Spanish  Fort,  Blakeley,  and  Mobile. 
Most  of  the  time  he  was  on  tlie  field  in  charge 
of  the  stretcher  bearers. 

Mr.  Wright  was  married,  April  11,  1S50, 
at  Nashua.  New  Hampshire,  to  Ann  Ware, 
daughter  of  Parker  and  Maria  (Cowdry) 
Ware.  Mrs.  Wright  was  born  in  Hillsboro, 
?\ew  Hampshire,  and  spent  most  of  her  child- 
hood at  Billerica,  Massachusetts.  Her  father 
was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  served 
in  the  war  of  1812.  Mrs.  Wright's  grand- 
father, Joseph  Cowdry,  was  a  farmer,  who 
removed  from  New  Hampshire  to  Billerica, 
Massachusetts,  and  his  wife,  Lucy  (Brown) 
Cowdry,  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Brown,  a  farmer  of  Billerica.  Two  chil- 
dren were  born  to  I\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Wright,  as 
follows :  Joel  Jefferson,  postmaster  of  Ox- 
fonl,  Wisconsin,  and  Annetta  S.,  now  Mrs. 
Hon.  Clarence  Pierce,  of  Germania,  Wiscon- 
sin. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  have  eight  grand- 
children and  one  great-grandchild.  Both 
our  subject  and  Mrs.  Weight  are  members, 
of  the  Jonesville  Congregational  church, 
which  they  assisted  in  organizing,  and  Mr. 
Wright  is  a  trustee  and  treasurer  of  the 
cliurch.  They  were  formerly  connected  with 
the  New  Chester  Congregational  church. 
Mr.  Wright  is  a  member  of  J.  C.  Miller  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  at  Oxford,  and  also  the  Masonic 
fraternity.  He  has  been  a  Republican  since 
the  organization  of  that  party,  but  cast  his 
presidential  vote  for  Pierce  in  1852.  Soon 
after  the  Adams  county  poor  house  was 
established,  in  1876,  he  was  appointed  over- 
seer and  spent  two  years  in  charge  of  the  in- 
stitution. Although  he  had  but  few  con- 
veniences on  which  to  depend,  he  conducted 
the  place  satisfactorily  and  declined  appoint- 
ment the  third  year.  He  has  filled  numerous 
township  offices  and  served  as  county  super- 
intendent of  the  poor  for  six  years.  His  act- 
i\-e  public  spirit  and  faithful  service  for  the 
welfare  of  his  community  commend  him  to 
the  respect  of  his  many  friends. 


ros 


COMPUNDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


WILLIAM  T.  KINNEY. 

William  T.  Kinney,  ex-soklier  an:l  prom- 
iiient  citizen  of  Lavalle,  Sauk  cdunty,  will 
readily  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
merchants  of  that  village.  He  is  engaged 
in  the  furniture  business  and  mulertaking, 
and  has  resided  in  Laville  for  over  twenty 
years.  In  that  time  he  has  done  much  to 
promote  the  interests  of  the  A'illage,  and  is 
one  of  the  substantial  men  of  Sauk  county. 
Mr.  Kinney  was  bom  in  Whitby,  Ontario, 
April  I,  1843,  and  was  the  son  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  (Stevens)  Kinney,  natives  of 
Nova  Scotia.  His  father  was  born  August 
8,  1 801,  and  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Kin- 
ney, who  was  in  the  United  States  during 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Thomas  Kinnc}'  was 
a  cooper  by  trade  and  mo\-ed  to  \\'hitb}'. 
Ontario,  in  1837,  and  to  New  Berlin,.  \\'au- 
kesha  county,  Wisconsin,  in  1850,  where  he 
followed  his  trade.  He  moved  to  Richland 
Center  in  1855,  where  he  died  in  yVpril, 
1878. 

Our  subject  stayed  at  hc>n>e  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war  and  then  en- 
listed in  January,  1862,  at  the  age  of  eight- 
een years,  in  Comjiany  F,  Secontl  Wiscon- 
sin Cavalry.  He  saw  service  under  General 
C.  C.  Washburn,  at  the  siege  of  \'icksburg, 
was  in  the  expedition  under  Sherman  at 
Meridian,  and  was  in  numerous  skirmishes, 
and  went  to  Houston  and  Austin,  Texas, 
under  Custer.  He  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
detained  at  Vicksburg  until  paroled  about 
January  i,  1863.  He  was  exchanged  and 
returned  to  the  service  and  was  mustered  out 
at  Austin,  Texas,  December  17,  1865.  For 
nine  years  after  his  return  from  the  war  he 
was  engaged  in  farming  in  Richland  county. 
Wisconsin,  afterward  moving  to  a  farm  one 
mile  fr(.)m  the  x'illage  of  La\'alle,  which  he 
occupied  three  years.  He  moved  to  Lavalle 
in  1878,  and  engaged  in  the  furniture  and 
undertaking  business. 


Mr.  Kinney  was  married  October  9, 
1870,  to  Emma  Potter,  daughter  of  Elisha 
and  A.  (Calkins)  Potter,  natives  of  Madison 
county,  New  York,  who  moved  to  Lavalle 
township  in  1852,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. Two  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kinney,  as  follows;  \Valter  W.,  born 
October  3,  1871,  now  U.  S.  railway  mail 
clerk;  and  Frederic  E.,  born  May  16,  1875. 
He  was  a  tinner  by  trade,  and  enlisted  in  the 
Spanish-American  war  in  Company  B,  One 
Hundred  and  Fifty-seventh  Indiana  \'olun- 
teers,  and  went  to  Fernandina,  Florida, 
where  he  died  of  malarial  fever,  August  15, 
1898,  and  was  laid  to  rest  at  Lavalle.  He 
was  probably  the  first  victim  of  the  war 
from  Sauk  county. 

Mr.  Kinney  has  served  as  member  of  the 
county  board,  and  is  prominent  in  public  af- 
fairs. He  is  a  member  of  A.  A.  Matthews 
I'ost,  No.  49,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Lavalle,  and  has 
lield  all  of  the  offices  connected  with  the 
post,  and  is  present  senior  vice-commander. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  political  sentiment  and 
stands  firmly  for  the  principles  of  his  party. 
He  is  a  man  who  commands  respect  wher- 
ever known.  As  an  old  soldier  he  can  look 
back  over  an  honorable  military  career,  spent 
in  defending  the  L^nion.  During  those  times 
he  was  a  bra\'e  and  true  soldier  and  served 
his  country  faithfully  and  well,  and  tij-day 
ho  is  a  true  and  faithful  citizen,  and  ably 
seconds  all  projects  which  tend  to  the  pro- 
tection and  upbuilding  of  the  interests  of  the 
\'illage  in  which  he  lives. 


EDWARD  MURPHY. 

Edward  Murphy,  a  resident  of  Kilbourn 
City,  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Dell  Prairie,  and  is  a  son  of 
David  and  Mary  (Cusack)  Murphy.  He  has 
won  for  himself  a  good  standing  in  Killiourn 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


709 


City,  and  bids  fair  to  attain  still  more  marked 
success  in  the  not  distant  future  if  health 
and  strength  remain. 

David  Mur]jhv,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  one  of  the  remarkable  men  of  his  time. 
Born  in  humble  circumstances,  oppressed 
with  poverty  and  privation,  he  reared  a  large 
family  to  maturity,  gave  them  a  good  educa- 
tion, and  prepared  them  for  an  active  and 
honorable  career,  and  passed  away  at  last,  full 
of  years  and  honor.  He  was  born  near  Lim- 
erick, Ireland,  November  2y,  1835,  and  died 
September  27,  1898,  leaving  the  priceless 
legacy  of  a  good  name  and  an  upright  char- 
acter. He  came  to  America  in  1841,  when 
his  father,  John  Murphy,  brought  his  fam- 
ily across  the  ocean  and  settled  near  Mont- 
real. He  was  a  shoemaker,  and  worked  at 
his  trade.  In  1848  the  family  came  to  Wis- 
consin, and  settled  on  a  large  farm  near 
Madison.  Here  John  Murphy  was  very  suc- 
cessful. He  worked  hard,  managed  wisely, 
and  became  c^uite  prosperous.  ^Vhen  his  wife 
died  he  came  into  Madison  and  retired  from 
active  life.  He  died  in  Duluth  at  the  home 
of  a  "son  in  1880. 

David  Murphy  was  well  educated,  receiv- 
ing instruction  in  the  public  schools  of  Can- 
ada and  Wisconsin,  and  finishing  in  the  high 
school  at  Madison.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  began  life  for  himself,  and  for  a  time 
worked  in  the  lumber  woods.  He  Ijecame 
foreman  of  the  ^^'.  H.  Knox  Luml)er  Com- 
pany, and  by  strict  attention  to  business 
gained  a  very  good  position.  In  1857  he 
located  in  the  town  of  Dell  Prairie,  where  he 
had  secured  one  hundred  acres  of  choice 
farm  land.  Upon  this  he  made  substantial 
improvements,  including  a  fine  residence,  and 
it  is  now  one  of  the  choicest  farms  in  this 
highly  cultivated  region.  Seventy-five  acres 
are  under  cultivation,  and  the  place  is  very 
attractive.  He  was  an  honored  member  of 
the  Catholic  church,  and  a  trusted  ofificer  of 
the  town.     He  possessed  a  genial  spirit  and 


a  social  disposition,  and  was  a  popular  char- 
acter. He  was  not  an  active  party  man. 
though  interested  in  public  affairs,  and  ever 
free  to  express  himself.  He  was  a  great 
reader,  fond  of  the  best  literature,  and  fully 
informed  on  current  affairs. 

David  Murphy  and  Mary  Cussack  were 
married,  in  July,  1861.  She  is  a  daughter 
01"  Edniond  and  Katherine  Cusack,  pioneer 
settlers  in  the  town  of  New  Haven,  Wiscon- 
sin, who  did  much  to  improve  the  country. 
Mrs.  Murphy  was  born  in  August,  1845, 
and  is  the  mother  of  ten  children,  nine  of 
whom  are  still  li\-ing:  Jnhn  A.,  born  May 
5,  1863,  is  an  engineer  and  a  resident  of 
Dakota.  Edward,  born  July  29,  1865,  is  the 
subject  of  this  article,  and  a  resident  of  Kil- 
bourn  City.  Margaret  E.,  born  August  10, 
1868,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  the  Kilbourn  high  school.  She  was  a 
successful  school  teacher  for  ten  years,  and 
is  now  the  wife  of  Juseph  Donahue,  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  in  New  Haven,  Adams  coun- 
t}',  Wisconsin.  David  J.,  liorn  April  2, 
1871,  li\-es  in  Winton,  Alinnesota,  where  he 
is  working  for  a  lumber  company.  Mary, 
born  January  i,  1873,  ^^''^s  educated  in  Kil- 
bourn, where  she  graduated  from  the  high 
school,  and  began  teaching  when  seventeen 
years  old.  She  was  a  successful  teacher  for 
five  years,  and  in  1895  became  a  student  of 
the  Caton  Business  College  at  Minneapolis, 
from  which  she  graduated  in  two  years.  She 
took  a  position  as  stenographer  with  the  N. 
A.  Publishing  Company,  which  she  held  a 
year.  When  her  father  died  she  returned 
home,  and  resumed  teaching  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Celia  R.,  born  December  6,  1875, 
graduated  from  the  Kilbourn  high  school, 
and  taught  school  a  year.  She  went  to  the 
College  of  Journalism  a  year,  received  a  di- 
ploma, and  is  now  employed  in  New  York 
city  where  she  is  very  popular.  Thomas  P., 
born  February  2,  1878,  lives  at  home  and 
has  charge  of  the  old  homestead.     William 


710 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


C,  born  June  i,  1880,  works  at  liome.  Eliza- 
beth, born  October  i,  1882,  is  a  student  at  the 
Kilbourn  hig-Ji  school.  Harry,  born  April 
8,  1885,  died  October  4  1893. 

Edward  Murphy  was  educated  in  the 
common  school,  and  when  fifteen  years  of 
age  struck  out  for  himself.  He  worked  first 
as  a  lumberman  along  the  Green  Bay  Rail- 
road for  a  year,  and  then  went  west  for 
some  months.  He  came  back  to  Wisconsin 
again,  and  resumed  his  work  in  the  lumber 
trade.  He  was  with  the  same  company  ten 
years,  and  by  close  application  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  company  gained  a  responsible  po- 
sition at  Auburndal.e.  He  kept  a  boarding 
house  at  Sherry,  for  the  Sherry  Lumber 
Company,  at  Sherry,  Wisconsin,  four  years, 
and  in  1894  located  on  a  farm  in  the  town 
of  Newport,  Columbia  county.  It  consist- 
ed of  eighty-six  acres,  and  received  substan- 
tial improvements  at  his  hands.  He  sold  it 
out  after  a  time  arid  moved  to  Kilbourn, 
where  he  was  engagefl  in  business  for  a 
year,  when  he  sold  out. 

He  was  married,  October  2,  1888,  to 
Miss  Maggie  Holihan.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  Michael  and  Margaret  (Nugent)  Holi- 
han. Her  parents  were  pioneer  settlers  in 
the  town  of  Dell  Prairie,  where  she  was 
born,  and  where  her  father  was  widely 
known  as  a  successful  farmer.  She  was  ed- 
ucated in  the  common  schools  of  Adams 
county,  and  is  a  lady  of  many  excellent 
traits  of  character.  They  are  the  parents  of 
one  child,  Mary  E.,  who  was  born  May  27, 
1899. 


URBAN  HUBER. 

Urban  Huber,  an  industrious  and  pa- 
triotic citizen  of  Jackson  township,  Adams 
county,  is  one  of  the  first  farmers  of  that 
vicinity,  and  he  has  pushed  Steadily  forward 
to  success.     He  is  now  enjoying  his  declin- 


ing years,  surrounded  by  more    than    usual 
comforts,  and  is  a  respected  citizen. 

Mr.  Huber  was  born  in  Nesselwangen, 
Uberlingen,  Baden,  Germany,  May  25,  1832, 
and  was  the  son  of  Peter  and  Josepha  (My- 
ers) Huber.  His  father  served  in  the  Ger- 
man army  and  was  a  prisoner  in  France  for 
several  years.  He  was  afterward  employed 
as  a  drix'er  for  an  English  missionarv  for 
many  years,  and  died  during  the  earl_\-  child- 
liood  of  our  subject.  The  mother  came  to 
America  in  1848,  and  died  at  Killjourn, 
Wisconsin,  'about  1880,  aged  nearly  sixty 
years. 

Our  subject  accompanied  his  mother  to 
America  and  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade 
in  New  York  City,  where  he  remained  for 
aljout  six  years,  and  then  went  to  \\'iscon- 
sin  and  located  at  Sharon,  Walworth  coun- 
ty, and  engaged  at  farming  and  plied  his 
trade.  He  came  to  Adams  county  in  1858, 
and  settled  in  Jackson  township,  where  he 
now  resides.  He  owns  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  and  has  cleared  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  and  added  substan- 
tial improvements.  He  has  a  shop  at  his 
home  and  works  at  his  trade  more  or  less. 
He  operated  a  shop  at  Kilbourn  for  several 
years,  but  later  returned  to  his  farm.  He 
has  witnessed  the  development  of  that  re- 
gion anil  rode  on  the  first  train  e\er  run  be- 
tween Shar(_in  and  Janesville,  Wisconsin. 
Mr.  Hulier  enlisted  in  Company  B,  Forty- 
fifth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantr}-,  in  the 
fall  of  "1864,  and  served  in  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  under  General  Thomas,  and 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville.  He  be- 
came a  sufferer  from  chronic  diarrhea,  while 
in  the  service,  from  which  he  has  never  re- 
covered. He  was  discharged  in  July,  1865. 
Mr.  Huber  was  married,  in  1854,  to  Mar- 
garitta  Hoffman,  a  native  of  Bayem,  Ger- 
many. Mrs.  Huber  died  September  9,  1887, 
leaving  eight  children,  as  follows :  Minea, 
now  Mrs.  Frank  Whaley;  Frank;  Andrew; 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


711 


lulward;  Jacob,  of  Minocqua,  Wisconsin; 
Tuhii;  Kate;  and  Richard.  AH  are  residents 
ot"  Adams  county,  with  the  exception  of  Ja- 
cob. ]\Ir.  IIu1)er  was  married,  January  5, 
1890,  to  Mrs.  Lizzie  Larson,  daughter  of 
Evan  and  Jolianna  Larson,  of  Kilbourn. 
Mrs.  Huber  was  born  in  Nies  Prestsegjel, 
Hedemarken,  Norway.  She  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1868.  Her  father  cHed  in  Norway, 
and  lier  mother  came  to  America  in  1871, 
and  died  in  Kilbourn  in  1889,  aged  seventy- 
one  years.  Mrs.  Hnl)er,  by  her  previous 
marriage  to  Daniel  Larson,  was  the  mother 
of  one  child,  Emil  Julius.  i\Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Muber  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  a  daugh- 
ter, upon  whom  they  have  bestowed  the  name 
of  Dina.  Mr.  Huber  was  reared  in  the  Cath- 
olic faith  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  and  the  family  attend  the 
Jonesville  Congregational  church.  He  is  a 
member  of  John  Gillespie  Post,  G.  A.  R.  He 
has  always  been  a  public-spirited  man,  but 
not  an  aspirant  for  public  office,  antl  in  po- 
litical faith  is  independent. 


WILLLXM  A.  HUME 

William  A.  Hume  is  one  of  Cnlumljia 
county's  native  sons,  and  a  represeniati\-e  of 
one  of  the  most  highly  respected  and  hon- 
ored families,  whose  identification  with  her 
history  dates  from  an  early  period  in  the 
development  of  the  count\'.  He  was  bom  in 
Fort  Winnebago  township,  September  to, 
1863,  a  son  of  James  and  Jane  ( Leagel ) 
Hume.  The  father  was  born  in  Scotland, 
November  23,  1822,  and  in  1841  crossed  the 
broad  i\tlantic  with  his  father,  James  Hume. 
They  located  at  w  hat  was  known  as  Twiggs 
Ferry,  in  Fort  Winnebago  township,  Colum- 
bia county,  W^isconsin,  where  the  father  of 
our  subject  bought  one  [lundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  wild  land,  upon  which  he  erected  a 


log  cabin,  and  then  set  to  work  to  improve 
his  place.  He  cleared  away  the  timber  and 
broke  sixty  acres  of  his  land,  and  later 
erected  a  good  frame  house  upon  the  farm. 
He  was  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his  town- 
ship, was  public-spirited  and  progressive  and 
served  the  town  in  almost  every  official  ca- 
pacity. On  first  locating  here  he  attended 
church  in  Oxford,  was  one  of  the  main  sup- 
porters of  the  church,  and  was  a  member 
of  its  official  board.  He  helped  organize  the 
school  district  and  ever  bore  his  part  in  ad- 
vancing the  interests  of  his  adopted  county 
and  state.  At  one  time  he  and  his  father 
served  as  bridge  tender  of  the  float  bridge  in 
Fort  Winnebago  township.  He  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil  war 
and  i)articipated  in  many  skirmishes.  In 
1897  he  removed  to  Portage,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  is  now  living  a  retired  life,  enjoy- 
ing a  well  earned  rest,  free  frdui  the  cares 
and  responsibilities  of  business  life. 

William  A.  Hume  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  of  Columbia  county,  and 
during  his  boyhood  and  youth  he  aided  his 
father  in  the  improvement  and  cultivation  of 
the  home  farm.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  years 
he  started  out  in  lii'e  for  himself  as  an  ag- 
riculturist, and  meeting  with  excellent  suc- 
cess in  his  undertakings,  he  was  able,  in 
1 89 1,  to  purchase  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  acres,  kncjwn  as  the  Van 
Brunt  farm,  upon  which  he  made  many  sub- 
stantial improvements.  In  1894  he  sold  that 
place  and  bought  his  father's  old  homestead 
at  Hume's  Grove,  which  originally  belonged 
to  his  grandfather,  and  there  he  is  now  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  general  farming.  He 
casts  his  ballot  for  the  men  and  measures  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  gi\-es  his  support 
to  every  enterprise  which  he  belie\es  will 
prove  of  public  benefit  or  will  in  any  way  ad- 
vance the  interests  of  his  town  and  county. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1890,  Mr.  Hume 
led  to  the  marriage  altar  Miss  Emma  Tip- 


Hi 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ler,  who  was  born  in  Winchester,  Winne- 
bago county,  Wisconsin,  December  9,  1869, 
but  she  was  reared  and  educated  in  Adams 
county.  Her  parents,  Mills  and  Caroline 
(Wise)  Tipler,  were  natives  of  Lincolnshire, 
England,  and  on  their  emigration  to  Amer- 
ica, in  1857,  located  in  N^eenah,  Wisconsin, 
but  in  1877  removed  to  Easton  township, 
Adams  county,  where  they  are  now  highly 
esteemed  and  prominent  citizens.  Our  sub- 
ject and  his  wife  have  four  children:  Willis 
M.,  born  April  16,  1891  ;  Blanche  E.,  born 
June  21,  1893;  Gladys  C,  born  August  12, 
1897,  and  Jessie  Irene,  born  May  22,  1900. 
Mr.  Hume  is  a  member  of  Sil\-er  Lake 
Lodge,  No.  19,  A.  O.  L'.  W.,  at  Portage. 


IRA  McWILLIAMS. 

Ira  McWilliams  has  for  nearly  twenty 
years  been  closely  identified  with  the  business 
interests  of  La\-alle,  Sauk  county,  as  notary 
public,  justice  of  the  peace,  United  States 
pension  agent,  and  also  does  conveyancing. 
He  has  resided  in  Wisconsin  since  the  close 
of  the  Civil  war,  and  is  one  of  the  loyal  men 
of  this  state. 

Mr.  McWilliams  was  born  in  Pamelia 
Corners,  Jefferson  county.  New  York,  Sep- 
tember 13,  1842,  and  was  the  son  of  Ste- 
phen and  Mary  (Gardner)  McWilliams.  His 
father  came  from  Canada  in  1835  and  went 
to  Lake  \\t\\\  Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  in 
1855,  removing  to  Richland  county  in  1859, 
where  he  resided  on  a  farm  until  1882.  He 
then  moved  to  the  village  of  Lavalle,  Sauk 
county,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1884. 
He  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Method- 
ist church,  and  in  political  sentiment  was  a 
Republican  after  the  close  of  the  war.  The 
mother  was  born  in  Canada  in  1814. 

Our  subject  was  not  afforded  opportunity 
for  attending  school,  but  by  working  hard 


on  the  farm  in  the  summer  he  was  enabletl 
to  spend  part  of  the  winter  months  at  school, 
and  taking  ad\-antage  of  every  opportunity 
gained  a  lilieral  education  and  taught  school 
for  several  years  after  leaving  the  army.  He 
enlisted  August  18.  1862,  in  Company  E, 
Eighth  Regiment  Wisconsin  V'olunteers,  the 
famous  "live  eagle  regiment,"  and  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  being  discharged 
September  5,  1865,  at  Demopolis,  Alabama. 
He  saw  hea\"v  ser\ice  under  Sherman,  Grant 
and  A.  J.  Smith,  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Arkansas, 
and  Missouri.  The  first  battle  was  at  Fred- 
ricktown,  Mississippi,  then  followed  the 
siege  of  New  Madrid ;  Farmington ;  first 
siege  of  Corinth,  ]\Iay  2%,  1862;  luka; 
Corinth,  October  3d  and  4th,  1862;  the 
important  battle  at  that  place;  Jackson,  I\Iis- 
sissippi,  Alay  14,  1863;  attack  on  \'icks- 
burg.  Ma)'  22,  1863;  Richmond,  Louisi- 
ana, June  16,  1863;  second  battle  of  luka; 
Mississippi ;  Barns\'ille,  Mississippi :  third 
battle  of  luka:  Mississippi  Springs.  Mis- 
sissippi: V'icksburg.  June  24,  1863.  He 
engaged  in  all  the  important  engagements  of 
the  Western  department,  and  the  last  battle 
was  Spanish  Fort,  Louisiana.  The  service 
Avas  long  and  hard,  but  he  did  his  duty  man- 
fully for  the  preseTN'ation  of  the  Lhiion. 

After  leaving  the  army  our  suliject  lo- 
cated in  Forestxille,  Door  count)',  Wiscon- 
sin, and  engaged  in  farming  and  taught 
scIkioI  during  the  winter  months,  and  in 
January,  i867,rem(jved  to  Richland  county, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  same  calling. 
He  remained  there  until  November  20,  1880, 
when  he  removed  to  his  present  home  in 
the  village  of  Lavalle,  Sauk  county,  and  has 
lield  continuous  r-esidence  there  since. 

Mr.  McWilliams  bad  four  sisters  who 
died  in  infancy,  and  four  brothers,  as  fol- 
lows: Edward:  John  died  July  4,  1^94,  in 
\  ernon  county ;  George,  residing  in  New- 
ton,    \'ernon     count\' :     and     James,     em- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ri3 


ploved  in  the  flnur  mill  in  La\alle.  Ira  Mc- 
W'illiams  was  married  at  Anna]:)ee,  Ke- 
waunee county,  Wisconsin,  December  i, 
1867, to  Mrs.  Eliza  Greeley  Hartman,  daugh- 
ter of  Ephraim  and  Catharine  Greeley. 
Mrs.  McWilliams'  father  was  born  July 
4,  1787,  and  died  in  Racine,  Wisconsin, 
!May  28,  1846.  Her  mother  was  borii 
in  Canada,  March  22,  1812,  and  died 
in  Richland  county,  W'iscdusin,  June  10, 
1879.  Ephraim  Greeley  was  a  nephew  of 
Horace  Greeley,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent.  Mrs.  McWilliams  was  born  in 
AJendon,  New  York,  April  22,  1843,  and 
went  with  her  parents  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
in  1844,  antl  to  Racine  county,  Wisconsin, 
in  1845.  ^J^r.  McWilliams  is  a  member  of 
the  G.  A.  R.,  and  is  commander  of  the  local 
post.  No.  49.  He  served  as  postmaster  of 
Lavalle  under  Harrison's  administraticju, 
and  was  \illage  clerk  f(jr  a  number  of  years. 
He  is  a  stanch  Republican  in  political  faith, 
and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln. 
He  is  efficient  in  business,  honest  in  his  deal- 
ings and  respected  by  his  fellow  men. 


EDMUND  N.  SARGENT,  Deceased. 

Edmund  N.  Sargent,  deceased,  for  many 
years  a  prosperous  farmer  of  New  Haven 
township,  who  resided  later  in  the  village 
of  Big"  Spring,  was  one  of  the  pn^minent 
settlers  of  Adams  county,  and  did  much  to 
further  the  interests  of  his  community.  He 
was  the  fortunate  possessor  of  a  fine  estate 
in  New  Haven  township,  and  gained  a  com- 
petence sufficient  to  tide  him  through  life, 
and  gained  for  himself  the  respect  of  those 
who  knew  him  in  a  social  as  well  as  finan- 
cial sense. 

Mr.  Sargent  was  born  in  Madrid,  Maine, 
March  23,  1820,  and  was  the  son  of  John, 
Jr.,  and  Hannah  (Dunham)   Sargent.     His 


f:.ther  was  burn  in  Hubbleston,  INIassachu- 
setts,  and  was  of  luiglish  descent.  He  was 
a  farmer  and  watchmaker  by  occupation,  and 
both  he  and  John  Sargent,  Sr.,  were  pmni- 
inent  citizens  of  Maine,  and  the  latter  served 
as  a  member  of  the  state  legislature.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Maine, 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Abigail 
(  Bates)  Dunham. 

Our  subject  resided  on  a  farm  in  Maine 
until  1857,  when  he  came  to  Adams  coun- 
ty. Wisconsin,  and  located  on  land  in  Xew 
Ha\en  townshij),  where  before  his  death  he 
had  a  well  im])ni\ed  farm.  He  enlisted  in 
Company  V.  Thirty-seventh  Wiscmi'^in 
Volunteer  Infantry,  August  22,  1864,  and 
ser\ed  abmU  ten  months.  He  took  part  in 
numerous  skirmishes  in  the  vicinit}'  of 
Petersburg,  and  although  he  escaped  w  ith- 
out  a  wound,  was  broken  in  health,  from 
wdiich  he  ne\-er  recovered,  and  during  the 
past  few  years  was  an  invalid.  He  was 
discharged  from  the  service  May  24,  1803. 
.V  few  years  since  Mr.  Sargent  remo\ed  to 
the  village  of  Big  Spring,  and  retired  from 
active  farm  labors. 

Our  subject  was  married,  i\Iarch  2^, 
1843,  to  Sybil  Clough,  daughter  of  Moses 
and  Polly  (Davenport)  Clough,  natives  of 
I\Jaine.  Mrs.  .Sargent's  parents  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  1850,  and  after  spending  one 
summer  in  Walworth  county,  moved  to 
.Adams  county,  and  resided  in  Xew  Haven 
township  <luring  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Mv.  Clough  served  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  his  fatlier,  John  Clough,  was  a 
Revolutionary  veteran.  Mrs.  Sargent's  fa- 
ther lost  his  sight  while  blasting  rock  in 
Maine.  Three  brothers  of  Mrs.  Sargent 
served  in  the  Civil  war:  John,  wdio  died  at 
Afound  Citv,  illinois,  from  the  effect  of 
wounds;  Orrin,  a  prisoner  for  some  time  in 
a  Confederate  prison;  and  Daniel,  wounded 
in  battle.  One  son  was  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.    Sargent,    ( ieorge    S.,    born    March    5. 


714 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


1844,  and  died  FelM-uary  9,  1870.  Mr. 
-Sargent  died  May  16,  1900.  His  remains 
were  accompanied  to  their  last  resting  place 
by  the  Kilbourn  Post  and  many  friends. 
Mrs.  Sargent  is  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  church  of  Big  Spring,  ]\Ir.  Sar- 
gent was  a  member  of  John  Ciillespie  Post, 
G.  A.  R.,  at  Kilbourn.  In  early  life  he  was 
a  Democrat  and  \-oted  fur  James  K.  Polk, 
in  1844,  but  from  the  organization  of  the 
Repulilican  party  was  identifieil  with  its 
movements.  He  was  a  gentleman  strong  in 
his  convictions,  always  to  be  found  stand- 
ing on  the  side  of  right  and  justice.  He 
risked  his  life  for  the  cause  of  his  coun- 
try, and  at  all  times  displayed  a  public  spirit, 
and  zealously  worked  for  the  upbuilding  of 
tliC  better  enterprises. 


FERNANDO  COUXCELAIAN. 

Fernando  Councelman,  at  the  present 
time  the  mail  carrier  Ijetween  the  railroad 
station  and  the  villag^e  postoftice  in  Fall 
River,  is  one  of  the  older  residents  of  this 
part  of  Columbia  county,  and  has  had  a 
varied  and  eventful  career.  Throughout 
h.is  life  he  has  disphned  manly  and  enter- 
prising qualities  and  cinnmamls  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  all  wIkj  know  him. 
He  was  born  in  [Maine,  Broome  county, 
New  York,  April  22,  18-15,  and  is  a  son 
of  Jacob  and  Sarah  (Howard)  Councelman, 
both  native  New  Yorkers.  Flis  ancestors 
were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  state, 
and  are  said  to  have  broken  the  first  ground 
in  Glen  Aubrey.  They  came  originally  from 
Fiolland  and  there  are  many  people  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Councelman  in  that  part 
of  the  state.  The  parents  of  our  subject 
came  west  and  settled  in  Beloit,  \Viscon- 
sin,  in  1853,  and  here  they  spent  the  next 
ele\-en  years.     In  1864  the}-  removed  to  Co- 


lumbus, and  shortly  afterward  settled  on  a 
farm  in  the  town  of  Otsego.  In  1867  they 
removed  to  ]\Iinnesota,  antl  took  up  land 
near  Pelican  Rapids.  There  the  senior 
Councelman  died  February  2,  1884,  and 
tliere  his  widow  is  still  living,  at  the  age 
of  eighty  years,  and  is  making  her  home 
with  her  daughter.  There  were  seven  chil- 
dren in  the  family,  of  whom  our  subject  is 
the  oldest;  Helen  married  Heath  Harris, 
aivl  fives  in  Pelican  Rapids ;  Adelbert,  an 
engineer,  lives  at  Stevens  Point ;  Chauncey 
died  in  1862;  Edwin  settled  in  Chicago, 
and  was  killed  in  the  service  of  the  Mil- 
waukee Railroad,  while  engaged  as  a  rail- 
road man ;  Lavinia  married  and  died  at 
Brandon,  Wisconsin ;  Clement  li\'es  at  Peli- 
can Rapids. 

Mr.  Councelman  received  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  high  school  at  Beloit,  \\'isc(.)n- 
sin.  He  enlisted  March  22,  1862,  in  Com- 
pany K,  Eighteenth  Wisconsin  \'olunteer 
Infantry,  at  Milwaukee.  Immediately  after 
its  organizatiim  the  regiment  was  sent  to 
Pittsburg  Landing,  and  within  a  week  after 
its  arrival  was  precipitated  into  the  bloody 
battle  of  Shiloh.  Here  he  was  wounded  in 
three  different  places,  in  the  neck,  the  knee 
ai:d  the  ankle.  He  was  taken  to  the  hos- 
pital at  New  Albany,  Indiana,  and  after  he 
liad  somewhat  reco\-ered  was  sent  Imme  im 

i  leave  of  alisence,  but  as  his  health  did  not 
return  to  him  he  was  discharged  in  the  fall 
of  1862.     Thus  the  e\-ents  of  five  minutes 

i  v.-ere  sufficient  to  blight  all  thought  nf  an 
after  career  in  the  army.  Then  came  some 
three  years  of  enforced  idleness  awaiting 
the  slow  return  of  health.  In  1865  he  did 
some  work  in  a  drug  store  in  Beloit,  and 
became  quite  proficient  as  a  druggist.  He 
v.-ent  to  Minnesota  and  spent  some  time  as 
a  prescription  clerk  for  a  drug  firm  in  that 
state.  In  1868  he  came  back  to  Columbia 
county,  and  settled  in  the  village  of  Doyles- 
town,  which  continued  to  be  his  home  for 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


715 


the  next  twenty  years.  Here  lie  married  Miss 
•Jcnnette  Richardson,  a  daughter  <if  Henry 
and  Electa  (Howard)  Richardson.  She  is 
tlie  mother  oi  tive  living  chil(h-en,  and  one 
boy  wiio  died  in  infancy.  Those  who  servive 
are  h^hner  E.,  station  agent  and  telegraph 
operator  at  Hartland,  ^Visconsin;  Howard 
and  May  H\e  at  home;  Henry  J.  is  a  tele- 
grapli  operator  in  Mihvaukee;  Laura  is  at 
home.  In  1890  the  family  removed  to  FaU 
River,  and  our  subject  engaged  in  the  sale  of 
agricultural  implements.  He  is  now  mail 
messenger  between  the  depot  and  the  village. 
He  is  a  Republican,  and  has  ahva^-s  taken 
cjuite  an  active  part  in  politics.  He  is  fre- 
cjuently  sent  to  the  warious  cnn\entii:)ns  as 
a  delegate,  and  his  voict?  cnmniands  atten- 
tion. He  is  justice  of  the  i)eace  and  has 
been  an  occupant  of  that  position  UKjst  of 
the  time  since  residing  in  the  \illage.  He 
belongs  to  the  Grand  Arm)-  of  the  Republic, 
and  is  commander  of  the  local  post.  He  has 
a  decided  reputation  for  honor  and  integrity, 
and  his  famil\-  stand  well  in  the  cunimunitv. 


JOHN    McCULLOUGH   GRAHAM. 

Jnhn  AlcCullough  Ciraliam,  an  influen- 
tial and  leading  citizen  of  Friendship,  Adams 
county,  \\'isconsin,  is  living  in  practical  re- 
tirement, in  th^  enjoyment  of  the  means 
which  he  has  gathered  during  a  career  of 
industry,  business  sagacity,  and  cmiscien- 
tious  integrity  rarely  met  with  in  the  moilern 
business  and  political,  world. 

John  ]\IcCullough  Graham  was  born  in 
Brown  township,  Carroll  cnunt}',  Ohio, 
September  22,  1832,  son  of  James  and 
Elizabeth  (Seaton)  Graham,  both  natives 
of  Ireland,  the  former  born  in  county  Down, 
and  the  latter  in  county  Tyrone.  He  came 
to  America  while  a  boy,  and  lived  for  some 
years  in  Philadelphia,  working  as  a  dray- 


man. He  also  spent  a  few  years  in  the 
manufacture  nf  snuff  in  the  state  of  Dela- 
ware, and  in  1S31  he  remo\'ed  to  Ohio, 
where  he  was  employed  in  a  grist-mill.  He 
died  in  Ohio  in  1856,  aged  si.xty-six  years. 
He  preceded  his  parents  in  coming  to  Amer- 
ica, having  arrived  in  this  country  about  the 
year  1800,  they  fullowing  a  few  years  later 
and  locating  in  Delaware.  James  Graham 
had  accomi^anied  an  uncle,  James  Graham, 
on  his  voyage  to  this  country.  The  mother 
of  our  subject  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1799,  with  her  father,  Ezekiel  Seaton,  who 
lived  a  number  of  years  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  conducted  a  Imtel.  Later  the  fam- 
ily moved  to  Carroll  county,  Ohio.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Graham  died  in  Ohio  in  1837. 

James  AlcCullough  (jraham  left  home 
at  ten  years,  and  l)egan  to  earn  his  own 
living  at  farm  labor.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
years  he  began  to  engage  in  other  occupa- 
tions, and  in  1868  he  came  to  Wisconsin, 
and  the  following  spring  located  in  Jackson 
township,  Adams  county.  There  he  fol- 
lowed farming  until  1892,  when  he  retired 
from  acti\'e  work  and  took  uj)  his  residence 
in  Friendship.  He  performed  the  duties  of 
county  treasurer  for  six  years,  two  years  of 
w  hich  he  acted  as  deputy  treasurer.  He  was 
for  many  x'ears  one  of  the  leading  business 
men  of  Adams  county,  and  still  takes  much 
interest  in  business  and  public  affairs, 
though  his  active  attentions  are  given  chiefly 
to  his  farm.  He  voted  for  Fremont  in  1856 
for  the  presidencv,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  a  consistent  Republican.  He  has  al- 
ways enjoyed  in  a  large  measure  the  con- 
fidence and  esteem  of  the  people  of  his  com- 
munitv  and  county.  He  has  held  most  of  the 
local  public  offices. 

Mr.  Graham  was  married  in  1855  to 
Rebecca  Totten,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Rachel  Totten.  She  was  born  in  Carroll 
county,  Ohio,  and  her  parents  were  orig- 
inally from  Maryland.     To  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


716 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


Craliam  seven  children  were  born,  namely: 
Scott  Totten,  now  conducting  tlie  home- 
stead farm;  Mag-oie  I.,  now  Mrs.  S.  K. 
Bement.  of  Adams  county;  Samuel  R.,  of 
New  Rockf^ird,  X.irth  Dakota;  Eva  R., 
now  :\Irs.  William  A.  Crothers,  of 
Jackson  township;  Frank  R.,  member  of  the 
First  North  Dakota  Volunteers,  recently  re- 
turned from  the  Philippines;  John  Stanton, 
Annette,  Pennsylvania;  and  Clyde,  of 
Friendship,  Wisconsin.  The  last  three 
named  were  all  born  in  Wisconsin.  There 
are  also  five  grandchildren.  Mrs.  Graham 
is  a  member  of  the  Disciples  church. 

Scott  Totten  Graham,  the  eldest 
child  of  John  McCullough  Graham  and  Re- 
becca (Totten)  Graham,  was  born  in  Co- 
lumbiana county,  Ohio,  June  26,  1862.  He 
accompanied  his  parents  to  Wisconsin  in 
1869,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
began  life  for  himself  as  a  farmer.  In  1886 
he  went  to  Macedonia,  Pottawattamie 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  followed  farming 
for  ten  years.  He  then  returned  to  Wiscon- 
sin, ami  has  since  managed  the  old  home 
farm.  This  farm  consists  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty  acres,  substantially  improved 
with  good  farm  Ijuildings  and  conveniences 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  agricult- 
ure, and  he  has  succeeded  admirably  in  gen- 
eral farming  and  stock  raising.  His  atten- 
tion has  been  given  largely  to  the  breeding 
of  better  grades  of  stock.  His  farm  in  all 
parts  shows  evidence  of  thorough  husbandry 
and  a  keen  conception  of  the  needs  of  modern 
farm  life. 

Scott  T.  Graham  was  married  February 
I S,  1 89 1,  to  Miss  Molly  L.  Clayton,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Mary  Clayton,  of  Potta- 
wattamie county,  Iowa.  She  is  a  native  of 
Nicholas  county,  Kentucky.  To  this  union 
two  children  have  been  born,  namely:  E. 
]\Iaud  and  Jolm  Cla_\t(jn. 

Mr.  Graham  is  a  member  of  the  Alace- 
donia  Lodge,  No.  422,  I.  O.  O.  F.     In  po- 


litical views  he  is  a  Republican,  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  all  matters  of  a  public 
nature. 


MONROE  BENTLEY. 

]\Ionroe  Bentley  enjoys  the  distinction  of 
lieing  the  oldest  attorney  in  Baraboo,  meas- 
ured in  }-ears  of  continuous  practice.  He  is 
a  native  of  the  Empire  state,  born  at  Bing- 
hamton,  Ajiril  9,  1836,  to  Ephraim  and 
Philena  (Tinkelpaugh)  Bentley.  The  fam- 
ily has  always  been  distinguished  for  de- 
votion to  patriotic  sentiments,  an  earh-  ex- 
ample being  that  of  the  paternal  grandfa- 
ther, who  was  killed  at  the  l)attle  of  Platts- 
burg  during  the  war  of  181 2.  He  was  a 
native  of  New  England,  but  his  wife,  Jo- 
hanna, was  of  Pennsyh-ania  Dutch  descent. 
She  attained  the  age  of  over  eighty  }'ears, 
expiring  at  Carbondale,  Pennsylvania. 

Ephraim  Bentley  was  born  September 
3,  1812,  at  the  last  named  place,  where  his 
youth  was  spent.  Soon  after  his  marriage 
he  removed  to  Binghamton,  New  York,  and, 
a  few  years  later,  to  Sodus  Bay,  Wayne 
count}-.  He  su])se(juently  li\-e(I  at  William- 
son Corners,  in  the  same  county  and  state, 
following  his  trade  (shoemaking)  in  each 
of  these  places.  In  1848  he  removed  to  La 
Grange  county,  Indiana,  and,  eight  years 
later,  to  Poynette,  Wisconsin,  where  he  pur- 
ch.ased  forty  acres  of  land  and  engaged  in 
farming  to  some  extent,  also  carrying  on  his 
trade.  In  1862  he  enlisted  as  a  recruit  in 
Company  G,  Second  W'isconsin  Infantry, 
but  after  serving  one  year  he  was  discharged 
owing  to  disability  caused  b}-  rheumatism. 
Having  recovered  his  health,  in  January, 
1864,  he  re-enlisted  as  a  recruit  in  the 
Twenty-third  Wisconsin  \'olunteer  Infan- 
try. He  took  ])art  in  General  lianks'  ex- 
pedition  up   the    \\<n\    rix'er,    an<l     while    at 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


il7 


Franklin,  Louisiana,  was  attacked  with 
bloody  dysentery  and  ,  sent  to  the  hospital 
ar  New  Orleans,  where  his  death  ensued 
March  31,  1864.  He  was  a  man  of  ready 
decision  and  pronounced  convictions.  Po- 
liticall}-  he  was  for  many  years  an  ardent 
Whig  and  Abolitionist.  While  li\-ing  in 
La  Grange  county,  Indiana,  he  was  a  neigh- 
bor and  coadjutor  of  the  famous  A.  B. 
Waterhouse.  A  line  of  the  "underground 
railroad"  passed  through  that  county  and 
one  of  the  principal  stations  was  in  the  base- 
ment of  Mr.  Waterhouse's  liarn.  On  several 
different  occasions  Mr.  Bentley  took  his 
team  at  night  and  drove  loads  of  colored 
refugees  from  this  station  to  Sturgis  Prairie, 
Michigan,  where  they  to(_)k  the  train  for 
Detroit  and  thence  were  assisted  across  into 
Canada. 

Mrs.  Philena  Bentley  died  at  Poynette, 
Wisconsin,  Alarch  8,  1864,  at  the  age  of 
forty-seven  years.  She  was  horn  at  Car- 
bondale,  Pennsylvania.  Her  father,  Peter 
Tinkelpaugh,  was  of  German  lineage  and 
became  a  prominent  farmer  of  Milford,  Li- 
diana.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Tinkelpaugh, 
died  at  Ontario,  Indiana,  at  the  age  of  six- 
ty-nine years. 

Monroe  Bentley  graduated  from  La 
Grange  Collegiate  Institute,  at  Ontario,  In- 
diana, in  1853.  Coming  with  his  parents  to 
this  state  a  fev."  years  later,  he  was  engaged 
in  lumbering  on  the  Wisconsin  ri\-er  for 
several  seasons.  He  subsecjuently  learned 
the  carjienter  trade  and  also  taught  for  ten 
winters  in  the  vicinity  of  Poynette.  In 
1865  he  removed  to  Baraboo  and  began  to 
study  law  with  C.  C.  Remington,  though  he 
was  not  admitted  to  practice  until  1878.  In 
the  meantime  he  served  two  years  as  chair- 
man of  the  township  board  of  supervisors 
and  ten  years  as  justice  of  the  peace  in  the 
village  of  Baraboo,  doing  most  of  the  busi- 
ness in  that  line.  For  more  than  a  score 
of  years  he  has  been  engaged   in  general 


practice,  in  addition  to  which  he  does  more 
or  less  insurance  business.  ^  His  professional 
duties  ha\'e  frecjuently  brought  him  before 
the  supreme  court  of  Wisconsin  and  among 
other  important  cases  he  has  handled  may 
l)e  mentioned  the  celebrated  one  of  the 
Slate  of  Wisconsin  vs.  ]\'.  A.  Blackman, 
which  was  tried  at  Portage,  Wisconsin,  in 
1889.  Since  1893  his  son,  F.  R.  Bentley,  has 
been  his  partner.  Like  his  progenitors,  Mr. 
Bentley  responded  to  the  call  of  his  country 
for  aid  in  the  way  of  military  service,  en- 
listing in  the  fall  of  1863  in  Company  K, 
Tenth  New  York  Heavy  Artillery.  During 
his  eight  months'  service  he  was  stationed 
at  Fort  Carroll  on  the  Potomac  river,  suffer- 
ing much  with  chronic  diarrhoea. 

He  was  married,  November  16,  1858,  to 
Susan  A.  Booth,  daughter  of  Calvin  L.  and 
Julia  A.  Booth,  of  Poynette,  Wisconsin. 
This  lady,  who  was  born  near  Cattaraugus, 
New  York,  died  of  consumption  at  Baraboo, 
August  27,  1869.  She  left  four  children: 
Charles  D.,  a  Baptist  minister  of  Freder- 
icksburg, Iowa;  Alice  R.  (Mrs.  John  (h-att), 
of  Cresco,  Iowa;  Frank  R.,  a  well-known 
attorney  of  Baraboo;  and  Carrie  A.  (]Mrs. 
tTiarles  Lamberton  ),  of  Baraboo.  Mr.  Bent- 
ley was  again  married,  April  18,  1871,  to 
Mrs.  Jennie  Jenks,  daughter  of  J.  G. 
Cowles,  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin.  She  was 
born  near  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  and  is  the 
mother  of  one  son,  Ernest  R.  Bentley,  a 
telegraph  operator  at  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Bentley  has  long  been  identified 
with  the  Methodist  church  of  Baraboo,  and 
has  ser\-ed  for  eighteen  years  as  trustee, 
steward  and  chorister.  He  has  likewise 
been  su[)erintendent  of  the  Sabl)ath  school 
for  many  years. 

He  is  a  menilier  of  the  .\merican  Pro- 
tective Association  and  discharges  all  his 
puljlic  duties  in  a  thorough  and  conscien- 
tious manner.  A  Prohibitionist  in  princi- 
ple, he  supports  worthy  men  for  local  po- 


718 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


sitions  Dt"  trust  irrespecti\-e  of  party  fealty. 
He  lias  ne\er  used  toljacco  nor  intDxicatins: 
liquors  in  any  form  and  has  led  a  consistent, 
exemplary  life,  worthy  the  emulation  of  ris- 
ine'  P'enerations. 


FRAXK  L.  RITTER. 

Frank  L.  Ritter,  well  known  throus^'h- 
out  the  eastern  part  of  Columbia  county 
as  the  genial  and  accommodating  propri- 
etor of  a  general  country  store  at  the  village 
01  Otsego,  is  a  man  who  attends  closely  to 
business  and  well  deserves  mention  in  a 
book  of  the  more  prominent  and  upright 
citizens  of  the  county.  He  was  br)rn  in 
the  township  of  Hampden,  Columbia  coun- 
ty, June  30,  1859,  and  is  a  son  of  Horatio 
and  Lenora  (Eason)  Ritter,  both  natives 
of  Syracuse,  Xew  York.  His  uncle  was 
prominent  in  agricultural  and  horticultural 
circles  as  a  successful  fruit  grower  and 
an  interesting  and  liberal  contributor  to 
farm  journals  and  other  publications.  His 
grandfather  was  a  man  who  was  accounted 
well-to-do,  and  (jwned  large  properties  in  the 
East..  The  family  is  probably  sprung  from 
German  sources  and  has  long  been  repre- 
sented in  this  countrw  Horati(.)  Ritter  came 
west  about  1850  and  lived  for  at  least  two 
years  in  Whitewater,  \\'isconsin.  He  made 
se^'eral  trips  on  foot  into  Columliia  county, 
and  finally  bought  a  farm  in  the  ti.iwn  of 
Elampden.  He  settled  upon  this  farm  in 
1852,  and  made  his  home  upon  it  until  the 
day  of  his  death.  He  died  June  30,  1896, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years,  and  fol- 
lowed his  wife  into  the  great  beyond  by  an 
interval  of  less  than  three  weeks.  They 
left  a  family  of  five  children,  all  of  whom 
are  still  living:  JNIary  married  Charles  Wal- 
lace and  lives  at  Kansas  City ;  Ella  L.  is 
INIrs.   Birnev  Uefting,  and  \\\ts  in  Otsego; 


^\'illiam  is  the  jjresident  of  a  university  in 
California :  Frank  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch ;  Flora  O.  is  Mrs.  Benton  Babcock, 
of  Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin. 

Frank  L.  Ritter  received  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  Hampden,  and 
then  remained  at  home  and  helped  bis 
brothers  and  sisters  secure  such  an  ecjuca- 
tion  as  they  desired  and  the  family  situation 
permitted.  He  resided  on  the  home  farm 
until  April,  1899,  when  he  Ijougbt  out  the 
general  store  of  G.  H.  Lo\en  in  the  \-illage 
of  Otsego.  Since  that  time  he  has  Ijought 
another  store.  He  also  has  charge  of  the 
postoifice  and  the  public  telephone,  and  his 
place  of  business  is  becoming  quite  a  social 
center.  Mr.  Ritter  and  Clara  A.  Thomas 
were  married  December  24,  1885.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  Dr.  C.  H.  Thomas,  then  a 
leading  veterinary  surgeon  of  Columbus, 
Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Ritter  was  born  Septem- 
ber 17,  1866,  and  is  one  of  a  family  of  six 
children.  The  others  in  the  family  are 
Merritt,  Edward,  IMelvin,  Nellie  and  Edith. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ritter  have  one  child,  Will- 
iam, who  is  five  years  of  age.  Mr.  Ritter 
is  a  progressive,  active  man,  and  is  making 
a  genuine  success  of  his  enter]>rise.  He 
stands  well  in  the  community,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Otsego  Baptist  church.  His  in- 
fluence is  for  good  and  he  is  outspoken  in  his 
con\-ictions. 


A.  D.  DORSETT. 

A.  D.  Dorsett  was  born  in  Schuyler 
county,  Illinois,  May  2,  1867.  His  early 
vears  were  spent  on  a  farm,  and  he  attended 
country  school  during  the  winter  months. 
In  1883  his  father  retired  from  the  stock 
raising  business  and  moved  to  Rushville, 
where  the  son  had  the  [irivilege  of  attending 
an  excellent  high  school  and  from  which  he 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


ri9 


graduated  in  1886  as  the  valedictorian  of 
his  class. 

In  the  fall  of  1886  Mr.  Dorsett  entered 
the  preparatory  school  of  DePauw  Univer- 
sity at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  and  two  years 
later  was  admitted  to  the  freshman  class. 
He  graduated  from  the  institution  in  1892 
with  the  degree  of  Ph.  B. 

Mr.  Dorsett's  newspaper  experience  be- 
gan in  his  early  'teens,  when,  seated  on  a 
plow  while  the  horse  rested,  he  wrote  items 
for  a  county  seat  paper.  During  his  junior 
}-ear  in  college  he  was  exchange  editor  of  one 
of  the  college  weeklies  and  during  his 
senior  ^-ear  was  editor-in-chief  of  the  paper. 
At  that  time  he  was  also  president  of  the 
Irdiana  College  Press  Association  and 
chairman  of  the  executive  board  of  the 
\\"estern  College  Press  z\ssociation. 

After  school  days  were  ended  he  spent 
two  years  in  newspaper  work  in  Alton, 
Iowa,  and  La  Crosse,  Wisconsin,  and  in 
1894  became  a  partner  in  the  publication  of 
the  Baraboo  daily  and  weekly  "News." 

On  May  2t„  1894,  Mr.  Dorsett  was 
imited  in  marriage  to  Miss  Addie  Lane 
Priest,  of  Greencastle,  Indiana,  witli  whom 
he  became  ac(|uainted  while  in  college.  To 
them  one  daughter,  Dorothy  D.,  was  born 
June   16,   1897. 


CAIA'IX   L.   McELWAIX. 

Calvin  L.  ]\IcEl\vain,  a  large  land  owner 
and  prosperous  farmer  of  Adams  county, 
Wisconsin,  residing  on  section  8,  New 
Chester  township,  was  l)orn  in  the  town  of 
Stamford,  Bennington  county,  Vermont, 
February  4.  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Dolly  (Goodrich)  McElwain,  natives  of 
Massachusetts,  the  former  born  in  1788,  the 
latter  in  1782.  The  father  was  colonel  of  a 
regiment  in  the  Massachusetts  militia,  and 


was  a  lawyer  by  profession.  He  engaged  in 
teaching  school  for  many  years  and  was  also 
interested  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton 
cloth,  but  lost  three  mills  at  different  times. 
Fraternally  he  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Masonic  order.  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two,  his  wife  at  the  age  of  seventy-two 
years.  Their  children  were  John,  Dolly, 
Betsy,  David,  Mary  Ann,  Electa  and  Cal- 
vin L. 

Mr.  McElwain,  whose  name  introduces 
this  review,  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  state,  and  at  Stamford,  Verninnt.  he 
v,as  married,  November  13,  1841,  to  ]Miss 
BetS}-  Forbush,  a  daughter  of  Che\ar  and 
Elizabeth  Forbush,  who  moved  to  Elgin, 
Illinois,  in  1849,  and  three  years  later  came 
to  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where  they 
made  their  home  for  some  years,  but  about 
a  half  century  ago  they  went  to  [Minneapolis, 
[Minnesota,  where  they  spent  the  remainder 
of  their  lives.  In  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McElwain  were  several  children  namely: 
Imogen ;  Grace,  deceased  ;  John ;  Arabel ; 
Ruel  Bruce;  and  Bertha.  Those  living  are 
all  residents  of  Adams  county.  \\'isconsin. 

It  was  in  1857  that  Mr.  McElwain  came 
to  this  state  and  took  up  his  residence  on 
section  8,  New  Chester  township,  Adams 
county,  \\here  he  now  resides.  He  first  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  government  land,  to 
which  he  added  from  time  to  time  as  his 
financial  resources  increased  until  he  had  one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  but 
he  has  since  disposed  of  a  portion  of  this  and 
now  has  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  of 
which  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  are  un- 
der e-xcellent  cultivation  and  well  improved 
with  good  and  substantial  buildings.  He  is 
a  progressive  and  energetic  farmer,  whose 
success  in  life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own 
v.-ell-directed  efforts,  and  his  career  is  such 
as  to  commend  him  to  the  confidence  and 
high  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  has  come 
in  contact.     In  politics  he  always  affiliates 


720 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


^\•itIl    the    Repu1)Iican  party,   and   takes  an 
acti\-e  interest  in  liublic  affairs. 


ALFRED  \\'ILLCOX. 

Alfred  Willcox,  one  of  the  most  higlily 
esteemed  citizens  of  Fort  Winnebago  town- 
ship, Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  is  the 
possessor  of  a  handsome  property  which  now 
enables  him  to  spend  his  declining  years  in 
the  pleasurable  enjoyment  of  his  accumula- 
tions. The  record  of  his  early  life  is  that 
of  an  active,  enterprising,  methodical  and 
sagacious  business  man,  who  bent  his  ener- 
gies to  the  honorable  acquirement  of  a  com- 
fortalile  competence  for  himself  and  famih-, 
but  he  is  now  living  retired. 

A  native  of  England,  Mr.  \\'illcox  was 
born  near  ^^'ells,  in  the  parish  of  Meare, 
Si)mersetshire,  June  24,  1812,  and  is  a  son  of 
Edward  and  Elizabeth  (Dyer)  Willcox,  who 
spent  their  entire  lives  there.  One  of  their 
sons,  Edward  Willcox,  Jr.,  was  a  man  of 
fine  physique,  being  over  six  feet  high,  and 
was  a  soldier  in  the  British  army  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  scale 
the  Chinese  wall,  for  which  he  received  a 
medal,  and  he  also  received  another  for  com- 
mendable service  in  the  army. 

Alfred  ^^'illcox  was  engaged  in  farming 
in  his  native  place  until  1855,  when  he 
crossed  the  broad  .Atlantic  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  Fort  \\'innebago  township, 
Columbia  county,  \Visconsin,  where  he  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
wild  land,  paying  for  the  same  twelve  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars.  From  time  to  time  he 
bought  more  land,  owning  in  all  se\-en  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  acres,  which  is  still 
in  possession  of  him  and  his  sons.  When 
he  bought  the  land  only  a  few  acres  of  tim- 
ber had  been  cleared,  but  he  toiled  diligently 
early  and  late  until  he  now  has  one  of  the 


most  desirable  farms  in  the  county.  He 
eventually  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
farm  improved  with  first-class  buildings,  and 
his  crops  were  always  among  the  best  in  the 
county.  Several  veins  of  silver  ore  ha^•e 
been  found  upon  his  land  in  Marcellon  town- 
ship, but  have  never  been  developed.  Hav- 
ing well  earned  a  respite  from  labor,  he  has 
of  recent  years  lived  in  retirement,  enjoying 
the  fruits  of  former  toil. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1844,  Mr.  Willcox 
married  Miss  Ann  Savage,  who  was  born  in 
Polsom,  near  Wells,  England,  January  19, 
1810,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah 
(Welch)  Savage  and  granddaughter  of 
James  and  Hester  Savage.  Her  fatlier  owned 
a  fine  farm  at  Polsom,  upon  \\hich  be  lived 
and  died.  While  a  young  man  he  was  a 
member  of  a  troop  organized  at  Wells,  but 
was  never  called  into  active  militar}-  service. 
He  received  a  silver_cup  as  a  prize  for  ex- 
traordinary marksmanship,  having  hit  the 
bullseye  while  riding  at  a  gallop.  His  chil- 
dren were  Ann, ,  James,  William,  Charles, 
Robert,  Mary,  Sarah,  John,  Hester,  Jane 
and  Christo]3her.  The  last  named  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Toronto,  Ontario,  but  Mrs.  Willcox 
is  the  only  one  of  the  family  living  in  the 
United  States,  though  James  has  two  sons, 
Albert  and  Sidney,  living  near  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois, and  another  son,  James,  in  Kansas. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  three  chil- 
dren: John  Alfred;  Albert;  and  Sarah  Ann, 
wife  of  Frank  Day,  all  residents  of  Fort 
Winnebago  township.  They  also  have  nine 
grandchildren,  besides  two  adopted  daugh- 
ters of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Day.  Some  silver 
spoons  over  three  liundred  years  old,  once 
owned  by  Rebecca  Brooks,  the  great-grand- 
nidther  of  ]\Irs.  \\'illcox.  are  still  preserved 
by  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Day. 

Notwithstanding  their  advanced  age, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilcox  are  still  in  excellent 
health  and  retain  their  mental  faculties  in 
a  remarkable  degree.     Thev  were  reared  in 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


(21 


the  Episcopal  faitli,  but  after  coming;  to 
Wisconsin  helped  organize  the  Xnrth  Mar- 
cellon  Baptist  church,  with  which  they  are 
still  identified.  They  are  widely  and  fa- 
vorably known  and  well  merit  the  high  re- 
gard in  which  the\"  are  uniformly  held. 
Since  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  Mr.  Willcox  has  affiliated  with  the 
Republican  party,  but  has  always  declined 
official  honors. 


JAMES  S.  WORTHMAN. 

James  S.  ^\'orthman,  an  intluential  and 
well-to-do  citizen  of  Baraboo.  Sauk  county. 
Wisconsin,  ani  ex-soldier  and  present  city 
clerk,  was  born  at  Edgartown,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  Massachusetts,  May  17,  1841,  and 
was  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Polly  (Weeks) 
Worthman,  the  father  a  native  of  Galloway, 
Scotland,  and  the  mother  a  native  of  Ed- 
gartown, Massachusetts. 

The  father  of  our  subject  left  his  nati\e 
land  before  he  reached  his  majorit}',  and 
emigrated  to  Buenos  Ayres,  South  America, 
v.here  he  was  employed  as  foreman  in  a 
large  cooper  establishment,  that  being  his 
trade.  He  remained  there  two  years,  and 
then  came  to  the  United  States,  and  settled 
at  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  later  went 
to  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  he  married. 
He  became  a  seaman  and  spent  about  twenty- 
five  years  on  the  ocean,  and  owned  con- 
siderable sea  property,  vessels,  etc.  Fearing 
his  sons  would  take  to  the  sea,  he  decided  to 
seek  a  new  Eldorado,  and  accordingly  came 
to  Wisconsin  with  his  family,  and  located 
at  the  town  of  East  Troy.  He  purchased  a 
farm  and  gave  up  the  sea,  and  after  a  few 
years  his  two  oldest  sons  died,  and  he  then 
sold  the  farm  and  moved  to  Mukwonago, 
where  he  loaned  money  and  spent  some' 
years,  and  afterward  moved  to  Sauk  coun- 


ty, where  he  died  in  the  spring  of  1868. 
He  had  made  and  saved  a  competence  and 
liis  last  days  were  spent  in  comparative 
ease.  His  wife  survived  him  until  the  fall 
ot  the  same  year.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Polly  ^^'eeks,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Weeks,  a  native  of  England,  and 
a  sea  captain  in  the  inerchant  service,  and 
during  the  Revolutionary  war  kept  a  hotel 
at  Martha's  Vineyard.  He  was  a  descendant 
of  Sir  George  Osborn,  of  England.  Mrs. 
Worthman's  brother,  James  Weeks,  fol- 
lowed the  merchant  service  and  died  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Worth- 
man,  while  a  sea-faring  man,  was  a  strong 
Aljolitionist.  He  was  \-ery  proficient  in  his 
business,  and  at  one  time  was  assistant 
ganger  at  Boston.  He  was  a  son  of  Thomas 
Worthman,  a  captain  of  his  own  boat,  who 
was  drowned  in  St.  George's  Channel.  The 
family  adhered  strictly  to  the  Presbyterian 
faith  and  the  children  were  reared  in  that 
denomination.  Cajjiain  and  Mrs.  \Vorth- 
man  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  as 
follows;  JMargaret,  wife  of  Senator  Starks, 
who  was  also  state  prison  commissi(_)ner,  and 
a  very  prominent  man,  both  now  deceased ; 
L)-dia  P.,  who  married  Joseph  Consal,  of 
^Missouri;  Mary,  now  ]\Irs.  John  Young, 
whose  husband  is  a  resident  merchant  of 
Reedsburg,  Wisconsin ;  Jane  O.  married 
Isaac  Harland,  of  Waukesha,  Wisconsin; 
Thomas  died  in  1848;  Benjamin  died  in 
1848;  and  James  S.,  our  subject.  All  tlie 
children  were  born  at  Edgarton,  Martha's 
Vineyard. 

J.  S.  Worthman  resided  at  home  on  his 
father's  farm  until  it  was  necessary  to  im- 
prove his  education,  \\hen  he  went  to  Bara- 
boo, Wisconsin,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years, 
to  attend  school,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  joined  the  expedition  and  went  to 
Sidney  A.  Johnston's  command  to  Utah  to 
quell  the  Mormon  uprising  in  that  territory. 
He    was    employed  by  the  government  at 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


scouting  and  herding,  and  foi'  any  work 
whicli  he  was  called  upon  to  do,  and  suffered 
hardships  and  cold  winters.  He  was  located 
at  Fort  Bridger  and  made  trips  to  Denver 
before  that  was  a  city  of  any  size,  and  well 
understood  the  hardships  of  a  soldier's  life. 
Nevertheless,  in  1S62.  he  enlisted  in  the 
Badger  Guards,  which  afterward  became 
Company  F,  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Wiscon- 
sin Infantry,  and  he  was  with  his  regiment 
in  all  their  engagements  and  skirmishes. 
He'  was  assigned  to  the  Western  department 
and  was  in  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama, 
and  Texas.  He  entered  as  corporal  and  re- 
turned as  first  lieutenant  of  Company  F, 
Twenty-eighth  \Visconsin  Volunteer  Infan- 
try. He  was  never  wounded  or  captured, 
and  after  the  close  of  the  war  returned  to 
Wisconsin  and  settled  on  a  farm  at  Excel- 
sior, Sauk  county,  and  engaged  in  shipping 
live  stock,  grain  and  produce,  and  cooperage 
stock  for  several  years,  and  in  1876  moved  to 
Baraboo,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

Mr.  Worthman  was  married,  in  1864, 
to  Miss  Ursula  A.  Bixby,  a  native  of  Sus- 
quehanna county,  Pennsyhania.  Mrs. 
Worthman  was  rearetl  on  a  farm  and  her 
father  died  when  she  was  a  young  girl  and 
she  and  her  widowed  mother  settled  in  Wis- 
consin, where  the  mother  died,  leaving  the 
following  children:  lidmund ;  Alvina;  and 
Ursula,  our  subject's  wife.  Mrs.  Worth- 
man  was  a  lady  of  good  education  and  was  a 
public  school  teacher.  She  died  about  1871, 
and  was  the  mother  of  three  children :  Lu- 
ella,  who  died  in  childhood;  Theodore  J., 
■wdio  is  now  an  express  agent;  and  Arthur 
J.,  the  station  agent  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad  at  Baraboo.  She  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Congregational 
cluirch.  Air.  Worthman  married  Miss  Mary 
E.  Martindale,  of  St.  Lawrence  county. 
New  York,  about  1873.  Mrs.  Worthman 
came  west  with  her  father  and  acquired  a 


liberal  education,  was  a  teacher  and  was 
unexcelled  in  her  profession.  Two  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  as  follows :  Harry 
L.,  niiw  employed  by  a  railroad  company; 
and  Keid,  attending  high  school  at  Bara- 
boo. IsIy.  \\'orthman  holds  membership  in 
the  Masonic  fraternity.  Ancient  Order  of 
United  \Vorkmen,  and  Ci.  A.  R.  In  the  last 
named  he  has  been  a  member  of  Joe  Hooker 
Post  for  sixteen  }ears,  and  has  been  ad- 
jutant and  cc  immnnder  of  the  post  and  prom- 
inently identilied  with  tlie  G.  A.  R.  At  the 
incorporation  of  the  city  of  Baraboo,  in 
1882,  Mr.  \\'orthman  was  elected  alderman 
from  the  second  ward,  which  office  he  held 
three  years,  and  in  1885  was  elected  town 
clerk,  which  office  he  yet  holds.  He  is  close- 
ly identified  with  the  important  movements 
in  that  city,  and  is  deservedly  held  in  high 
esteem. 


JOSIAH     HEMMINGWAY     ROGERS, 
LL.   B.,  B.  A. 

Josiah  Hemmingway  Rogers,  LL.  B., 
B.  A.,  has  attained  distinction  as  one  of  the 
ablest  members  of  the  Portage,  Columbia 
county  bar.  In  this  profession,  probably 
more  than  in  any  other,  success  depends 
upon  indi\-idual  merit,  upon  a  thorough  un- 
derstanding of  the  ])rinciples  of  jurispru- 
dence, a  ])ower  of  keen  analysis,  and  the 
ability  to  present  clearly,  concisely  and 
forcibly  the  strong  points  in  his  case.  Pos- 
sessing these  necessary  qualifications,  Mr. 
Rogers  is  accorded  a  foremost  place  in  the 
ranks  of  the  profession  in  Columbia  county, 
and  stands  to-day  as  one  of  the  most  es- 
teemed meml)ers  of  the  Portage  bar._ 

He  was  born  in  Whitby,  Ontario  coun- 
ty, Canada,  July  27,  1841,  a  son  of  Benja- 
min Joslyn  and  Esther  (Hemmingway) 
Rogers.      On  both   sides   he  is   of  English 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ris 


descent.  His  parents'  ancestors  came  to  this 
country  from  London,  England,  during  tlie 
seventeenth  century,  and  located  in  Connect- 
icut. His  grandfather,  Benjamin  Rogers,  was 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  removed  to 
Canada  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  His  son,  Benjamin  J.,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born  in  Eaton, 
Quebec,  and  spent  his  later  years  in  tlie 
province  of  Ontario,  dying  at  Oshawa,  in 
1887,  at  th?  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-five  years. 
He  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  and 
aiso  engaged  in  preaching  as  a  minister  of 
the  Christian  church.  As  a  business  man 
he  met  with  excellent  success,  and  as  a  citi- 
zen took  an  active  and  prominent  part  in 
public  affairs  and  political  movements.  His 
estimable  wife,  wdio  was  a  native  of  ^lark- 
ham,  Ontario,  died  in  1885,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five  years.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Moses  Hemmingway,  whose  ancestors  were 
from  New  England  and  who  removed  to 
Canada  from  Cayuga  county.  New  York. 

After  completing  the  course  in  the  gram- 
mar schools  at  Oshawa,  Ontario,  Josiah  H. 
Rogers  entered  Victoria  University,  at  Co- 
burg,  Ontario,  where  he  pursued  a  classical 
course  and  was  graduated  in  1866,  with  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  He  also  received  the  gold 
medal  for  the  highest  scholarship  in  his 
class.  Subsequently  for  a  year  and  a  half 
he  studied  law  at  Osgood  Hall,  in  Toronto, 
and  then  entered  the  law  department  of  the 
Michigan  University,  at  Ann  Arbor,  where 
he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  LL. 
B.,  in  1868.  The  same  year  he  came  to 
Portage,  Wisconsin,  and  was  at  once  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  He  began  practice  at 
Poynette,  Columbia  county,  but  since  April, 
1 87 1,  has  made  his  home  in  Portage  and 
has  engaged  in  the  general  practice  of  law 
at  that  place  with  most  gratifying  results. 
For  three  terms,  from  1874  until  1880,  he 
served  as  district  attorney,  being  the  only 
incumbent  in  the  office  for  that  length  of 


time.  As  such  he  secured  eleven  con\'ic- 
tions  at  one  term  of  court,  and  seven  of  those 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  at  that  time 
were  taken  to  that  institution  by  the  sheriff 
at  one  trip.  One  of  the  most  co.nspicuous 
criminal  cases  with  which  he  has  been  con- 
nected was  the  defense  of  Clarence  H.  Wells, 
a  brakeman  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  Railroad,  who  was  accused  of 
criminal  negligence  in  connection  with  a 
w-reck  at  East  River,  Wisconsin,  in  1886, 
v.dien  twenty-five  or  more  lives  were  lost. 
The  case  naturally  attracted  much  public  at- 
tention and  Mr.  Rogers  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing the  acquittal  of  his  client. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  1872,  Mr.  Rogers 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  \'iola  J. 
Padley,  who  was  born  in  York  Mills,  near 
Utica,  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Abraham 
and  Mary  A.  (Walker)  Padley,  of  Portage. 
The  father,  who  was  a  teacher  of  music  and 
gave  instruction  in  that  art  to  more  people 
in  Columbia  county  than  any  other  ten  per- 
sons, came  to  Wisconsin  in  1856,  and  died 
in  Portage,  October  15,  1897,  at  the  age  of 
s-'xty-nine  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rogers 
liave  three  children :  Edith  Ethelyn,  born 
September  19,  1875,  is  now  the  wife  of  A. 
'\\'.  Pollard,  of  Portage;  Sheldon  Wallace, 
born  September  i,  1877,  is  a  student  in  the 
law  department  of  the  State  University, 
Madison,  Wisconsin;  and  Harlan  Bethune, 
born  December  9,  1886,  is  at  home. 

Mr.  Rogers  and  his  family  are  connect- 
ed with  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  he  has 
served  as  trustee  of  the  same  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  past.  Socially  he  affiliates  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity  and  Poynette  Lodge, 
>Jo.  173,  A.  O.  U.  W.,  and  politically  is 
prominently  identilied  with  the  Republican 
party  in  his  county.  He  has  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  county  committee  several  years, 
as  a  delegate  to  a  number  of  state  conven- 
tions, and  has  frequently  been  called  upon 
to  make  political  speeches  in  Columbia  and 


ri'4 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


adjoining  counties.  He  represented  the 
tliird  ward  of  Portage  on  the  county  board 
of  supervisors  for  eight  years,  and  for  three 
years  of  that  time  was  chairman  of  the 
board.  He  also  served  as  mayor  of  Port- 
age in  1887,  and  iiUed  the  office  of  city  at- 
torney for  five  or  six  years.  As  district  at- 
tornc}'  the  affairs  of  tiie  county  were  never 
better  managed  in  that  direction  than  under 
his  prosecution,  as  he  proved  a  most  efficient 
man  for  the  place  and  was  a  veritable  terror 
to  evil  doers.  He  is  not  only  an  able  law- 
yer, but  is  also  a  good  business  man,  and  is 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  City  Bank  and  a 
stockholder  and  director  of  the  Portage 
Hosiery  Company,  both  of  Portage. 


THOMAS   PETTIGROVE   COLBY. 

The  vast  farming  interests  of  Adams 
county  have  been  prominent  factors  in  the 
business  world  of  Wisconsin,  and  among 
tliose  who  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  a 
useful  career  within  the  borders  of  that 
county,  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads 
this  per,sonal  history  should  l)e  accorded  a 
prominent  place.  He  came  to  this  region 
Vv'ith  his  parents  when  the  land  was  not  yet 
surveyed,  and  assisted  in  bringing  the  agri- 
cultural pursuit  to  its  present  high  standard 
in  Adams  county.  Mr.  Colby  was  engaged 
in  general  farming  in  Quincy  township,  and 
possessed  a  fine  estate  comprising  two  hun- 
dred acres,  all  of  which  he  acquired  by  dint 
of  his  own  energetic  efforts,  supplemented 
Ijy  his  honest  dealings.  This  he  held  until 
lately.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Thorp,  Wis- 
consin. 

Our  subject  w-as  born  in  Topsfield, 
Washington  county,  Maine,  February  12, 
1840,  and  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  Corliss 
and  Sarah  Ann  (Pettigrove)  Colby.  His 
father  was  born  in  Bradford,  Vermont,  Oc- 


tober 2,  1806,  and  died  July  23,  1887,  at 
Easton,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  born  at  Calais, 
Maine,  August  27,  1809,  and  died  at  Easton, 
Wisconsin,  July  9,  1895.  The  father  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation  and  settled  in  Tops- 
field,  Maine,  where  he  remained  until  1850, 
when  he  moved  to  what  is  now  Easton, 
Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  At  that  time  it 
was  Indian  land  and'  not  on  the  market. 
He  was  the  first  settler  with  land  on  the 
banks  of  White  Creek,  and  his  family  of 
five  children  were  the  first  white  children  to 
reside  in  that  region.  They  were  as  follows : 
Thomas,  our  subject ;  William,  now  residing 
in  Clark  county;  Harriet  A.,  now  Mrs. 
Waterman,  of  Kilbourn;  Lucy,  now  Mrs. 
W.  Eddy,  of  Easton;  and  Mary,  now  Mrs. 
F.  York,  of  Monroe  Centre.  Two  other  chil- 
dren were  born,  as  follows :  Annie  E.  died 
April  20,  1897;  and  Warren  L,  now  resid- 
ing on  the  old  homestead  in  Easton  town- 
ship. On  his  arrival  at  Easton  the  father 
surveyed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
bnd  and  entered  a  claim,  and  cleared  the 
land  and  erected  a  shanty,  into  which  he 
moved  his  family,  and  remained  (in  the 
farm  until  his  death.  When  the  township 
of  Easton  was  organized  he  was  chosen 
supervisor.  He  was  a  man  of  retiring  dis- 
position and  did  not  accept  public  office. 
He  was  a  hard  worker  and  accumulated  a 
good  estate.  He  was  a  consistent  member 
of  the  United  Brethren  church,  and  a  man 
respected  by  all  in  the  community  for  his 
honesty  and  good  citizenship. 

Thomas  P.  Colby  was  the  oldest  of  the 
children  and  of  necessity  was  early  put  to 
work  to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  had  gained  some  schooling  before  com- 
ing to  Wisconsin,  but  afterward  did  not 
have  the  opportunity  to  attend  school.  He 
remained  with  his  parents  until  he  reached 
his  majority,  when  he  married,  and  he  and 
his  family  resided  on  land  which  his  wife 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


owned,  for  eigliteen  years,  in  Easton  town- 
s\.\\).  In  1878  he  purchased  two  hundred 
acres  in  Ouincy  township,  and  moved  his 
family  to  tliat  estate,  and  he  is  still  living 
on  the  farm. 

!Mrs.  Colby's  maiden  name  was  Louisa 
(ioodrich.  Her  parents  died  when  she  was 
but  a  young  girl,  and  she  \vas  adopted  by 
a  family  of  the  name  of  Raney.  At  the 
time  of  her  marriage  she  was  in  possession 
of  one  hundred  acres  in  Easton  township. 
Her  death  occurred  June  18,  1891,  aged 
sixtv-four  years.  Four  children  were  born 
to  Air.  and  Mrs.  Colby,  as  follows:  Francis 
E.,  born  April  7,  1861,  now  residing  in 
Thorp,  Clark  county,  Wisconsin;  Clara  A., 
born  April  27,  1862,  now  Mrs.  A.  H.  Green- 
wood, of  Quincy;  Daniel  G.,  born  April  3, 
1864,  now  a  resident  of  Thorp,  Clark 
county;  and  Charles  L.,  born  November  24, 
1867,  now  residing  on  the  homestead. 
Charles  L.  Colby  was  married  September 
8,  1890,  to  Josephine  A.  Mihm,  daughter  of 
Constantine  and  Margaret  Mihm,  of  Quincy. 
Three  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Airs.  Colby,  as  follows:  Charles  K.,  born 
March  13,  1891 ;  George  D.,  born  April  11, 
1892;  and  Alfred  D.,  born  October  4,  1896. 
They  are  an  interesting"  group  of  boys  and 
complete  a  pleasing  family  circle. 


CHRISTOPHER  EDWARD  BOHN. 

Christopher  Edward  Bohn,  who  is  suc- 
cessfully conducting  various  business  enter- 
prises, is  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  en- 
ergy and  ability.  He  is  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive lumber  manufacturers  of  Sauk  coun- 
ty and  is  also  proprietor  of  a  fine  estate,  on 
which  he  conducts  cheese  making  together 
Avith  general  farming.  His  buildings  on  the 
])lace  form  a  portion  of  the  town  of  Lime 
Ridge,  and  the  estate  is  a  valued  and  pro- 
<luctive  one. 


Mr.  Bohn  was  born  in  Remdendorf,  prin- 
cipality of  Reis,  Prussia,  May  21,  1843,  ^"^ 
was  the  son  of  Henr}^  Carl  and  Hendricka 
(Kachel)  Bohn,  natives  of  the  same  lo- 
cality. His  grandfather  was  a  justice  of  the 
peace  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Remdendorf.  The  father  of  our 
siibject  was  a  farmer  in  his  native  land,  and 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  Rebellion  of 
1848.  He  was  a  leading  citizen  of  Remden- 
dorf, and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1852, 
settling  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  his  death 
occurred  at  Olmsted  Falls,  Ohio,  April  12, 
1896,  aged  nearly  eighty  years.  He  was  a 
Republican  in  political  sentiment  and  a  faith- 
ful citizen,  and  made  a  success  of  the  pur- 
suit of  agriculture.  The  mother  died  about 
1867,  aged  forty-eight  years. 

Our  subject  was  nine  years  of  age  when 
the  family  came  to  America,  after  which  he 
attended  the  public  schools,  and  was  also 
\ersed  in  the  language  of  his  mother  coun- 
try. He  made  good  use  of  his  opportunities 
and  is  an  intelligent  and  capable  business 
man.  He  enlisted  in  November,  1861,  in 
Company  C,  Sixth  Ohio  Cavalry,  and  served 
three  years  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
taking  part  in  all  the  leading  campaigns  of 
that  army.  At  Upperville,  Virginia,  in  May, 
1863,  he  was  ca]itured  and  kept  one  month 
in  Libby  prison,  when  he  was  e.N;changed  on 
account  of  wounds  received  previously,  and 
thus  escaped  Andersonville.  Leaving  the 
hospital  at  Annapolis  in  November,  1863, 
he  rejoined  his  regiment,  and  at  Hawes' 
Shop  and  Yellow  Tavern  he  received  other 
wounds  which  disabled  him  for  a  short  time. 
His  record  shows  thirty-six  battles  and 
skirmishes,  and  in  all  he  did  his  duty  as  a 
Icyal  and  true  soldier. 

After  his  return  from  the  army  Mr.  Bohn 
spent  eighteen  months  learning  the  machin- 
ist's trade  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  going  from 
thence  to  Fayette  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
purchased  and  operated  a  saw-mill  in  company 


726 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


with  liis  brotlier,  Richard  Bohn,  and  cousin, 
Herman  Miesgier.  He  went  to  Lime  Ridge, 
Sauk  count}',  in  the  fall  of  1867,  and.  built  a 
steam  saw-mill,  which  he  began  to  operate 
the  following  spring.  For  some  years  he 
manufactured  large  quantities  of  staves  for 
the  Chicago  market,  and  still  is  extensively 
engaged  in  lumber  manufacturing.  He  also 
owns  and  operates  a  saw-mill  at  Cazenozia, 
in  Richland  county,  and  his  establishments 
are  well  known  throughout  the  state.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  tillable 
land,  aside  ivoxn  timber  and  pasture  land, 
and  his  residence  on  the  farm  and  his  barn 
are  among  the  largest  farm  buildings  in  the 
county,  while  the  cheese  factory  on  the  place 
and  other  buildings  are  prominent  features 
of  the  estate. 

Our  subject  was  married  September  6, 
1 87 1,  to  Jennie  Martin,  daughter  of  David 
B.  and  Rachel  (Dearholdt)  Martin.  Mrs. 
Bohn  \A-as  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch  descent, 
and  her  father  settled  in  Wisconsin  near 
Lmie  Ridge,  in  185s-  He  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany I,  Thirty-fifth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  died  at  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
while  in  the  service.  Mrs.  Bohn's  mother 
was  of  German  descent  and  was  born  in 
Baltimore  county,  Ohio.  She  died  at  Lime 
Ridge,  February  9,  1889,  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  her  age.  Mrs.  Bohn  was  born  at 
Westfield,  Ohio.  The  fullin\ing  children 
have  been  Ijorn  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bohn : 
Edith  L,,  burn  No\ember  16,  1873,  now 
Mrs.  Clark  Miner;  Edward  A.,  born  May 
14,  1875;  Arthur  G.,  born  July  26,  1877; 
Henry  J.,  born  January  27,  1881;  Cora  M., 
born  April  8,  1885;  Frank  B.,  born  Novem- 
ber II,  1887;  a  twin  brother,  Francis,  died 
November  13,  1887;  Bessie  B.,  born  July 
9,  1890;  Amy  v.,  born  May  17,  1892;  Ches- 
ter E.,  born  May  26,  1894;  and  Freda  L., 
born  December  27,  1896.  One  child  died 
in  infancy,  unnamed.  Mr.  Bohn  leads  a 
quiet  life,  and  is  not  an  aspirant  for  public 


favor.  l)ut  ad\-ances  the  interests  of  his  cnm- 
rinmity  in  e\"ery  possible  way.  Politically 
lie  is  a  Republican. 


DANIEL  HENRY  GRADY. 

Daniel  Henry  Grady,  of  Portage,  is  one 
t'f  the  3-ounger  members  of  the  Cohunliia 
ci.iunty  bar,  but  his  prominence  is  In-  no 
means  measured  by  his  years ;  on  the  con- 
tiary  he  has  won  a  reputation  wJiich  many 
an  older  practitioner  might  well  en\-y.  It 
is  largely  to  its  young  men  that  the  west 
owes  its  prosperity  and  progress. 

]\Ir.  Grady  is  a  native  of  Columbia  cnun- 
t}-  in  whom  many  of  her  citizens  feel  a  just 
pride.  He  was  born  in  Columbus,  .Vugust 
13,  1872,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Honora 
(Lavery)  Grady,  both  natives  of  county 
Lnnerick,  Ireland.  When  a  young  man  the 
father  came  to  this  country  and  made  his 
home  in  Tro)-,  New  York,  for  a  time,  but 
soon  after  the  Civil  war  came  to  Wisconsin, 
locating  at  Colum1)US,  where  he  has  since 
resided. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  our  subject 
entered  the  law  office  of  John  S.  Ma.xwell, 
ui'  that  place,  who  was  then  serving  as  dis- 
trict attorney  of  Columbia  county.  Subse- 
(juently  he  became  a  student  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  was 
giaduated  from  the  law  department  of  that 
famous  institution  in  1894.  On  the  26th  of 
May,  the  same  year,  he  was  admitted  to 
practice  before  the  supreme  court  of  Mich- 
igan. 

Soon  after  leaving  the  university  l\Ir. 
Grady  opened  an  office  at  Portage  and  pur- 
chased the  law  library  of  A.  G.  Cook,  of 
Columbus,  which  contains,  among  other 
valuable  liooks,  a  set  of  Ivent's  Commen- 
taries published  in  1826,  which  was  brought 
to    Wisconsin    by    ex-Governor  James   T. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY, 


121 


Lewis,  who  obtained  them  from  Governor 
Selden,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Grady  has  a 
th.orough  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
the  fnmkimental  principles  of  law.  is  ne\er 
at  a  loss  for  a  precedent,  and  has  alreatlv 
bnilt  up  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  Me 
liandles  most  of  the  criminal  cases  of  the 
county,  and  has  also  given  considerable  at- 
tention to  railroad  litigation.  He  was  ap- 
pointed city  attorney  in  April,  1897.  lie 
was  reared  in  the  Catholic  faith,  and  in  i)o- 
litical  sentiment  is  a  Democrat.  He  takes 
ari  active  and  prominent  part  in  the  agita- 
tion of  public  questions,  has  delivered  a  num- 
ber of  political  addresses  in  Columbia  and 
adioining  counties. 


HENRY    M.    SHANAHAN,    Deceased. 

Henry  M.  Shar.ahan,  deceased,  who  was 
an  influential  and  well-to-do  farmer,  who 
formerly  resided  on  section  30,  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  is  entitled 
to  more  than  passing  mention  as  a  gentle- 
man whose  force  of  character  placed  him 
in  the  lead.  He  pursued  the  calling  of  an  ag- 
riculturist from  his  boyhood,  and  reached  a 
degree  of  perfection  which  marked  the  pros- 
perous man.  His  estate,  although  not  among 
the  largest,  was  one  of  the  best  in  this  re- 
gion and  is  a  testimonial  to  the  painstaking 
care  exercised  by  our  subject  while  alive. 

Mr.  Shanahan  was  born  in  Milton,  Mich- 
igan, October  2,  1843.  His  father,  Hon. 
Edward  Shanahan,  was  born  in  Sussex 
county,  Delaware,  in  1806,  and  died  Octo- 
ber 24,  1891,  at  his  home  in  Dell  Prairie 
township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin.  He 
married  Miss  Rebecca  M.  Kimmey,  in  1829, 
the  daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  Kim- 
mey, of  Quaker  descent,  who  was  born  near 
Dover,  Delaware,  July  13,  1810,  and  died 
October  24,  1889.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shanahan 


lived  in  Delaware  until  1832,  when  they 
moved  to  the  territory  of  Michigan,  mak- 
ing- the  journey  in  a  cart  drawn  by  two 
horses,  one  hitched  ahead  of  the  other.  They 
resided  in  Michigan  until  1883,  when  they 
again  mo\-ed  west  and  settled  in  the  town- 
ship of  Dell  Prairie,  Adams  county,  Wis- 
consin, where  the}'  owned  large  landed  in- 
terests until  their  death,  respected  and  loved 
bv  all  who  knew  them.  Mr.  Shanahan  was 
a  farmer  all  his  life,  serving  as  overseer  of 
a  large  farm  for  a  number  of  years  before 
leaving  Delaware.  He  purchased  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  land  at  Milton, 
Michigan,  which  he  improved,  and  later  pur- 
chased five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
at  Jefferson,  Michigan,  where  he  also  made 
valuable  and  substantial  improvements.  He 
became  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  fertile 
land  in  Dell  Prairie  township,  Adams  coun- 
t}-,  and  was  a  successful  farmer,  industrious 
and  honest,  and  gained  a  comfortable  com- 
petence. He  gained  a  good  education,  but 
liad  very  restricted  opportunities  for  attend- 
ing any  institutions  of  learning,  and  was 
decidedly  a  self-made  man.  He  represented 
Cass  county,  Michigan,  in  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives in  the  session  of  1860-61,  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs 
where\'er  he  resided.  He  was  a  Republi- 
can in  political  sentiment  and  stood  stanchly 
for  the  principles  of  his  party.  Fifteen  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  ar.d  Mrs.  Edward 
Shanahan,  seven  of  whom  are  living.  Three 
reside  in  Dell  Prairie  township,  as  follows : 
Julia,  now  Mrs.  Raymond ;  Clifford ;  and 
Edward. 

Henry  M.  Shanahan  settled  in  Dell 
Prairie  township,  Adams  county,  in  1879. 
He  possessed  at  the  time  of  his  death  sev- 
enfy-two  acres  of  land,  all  of  which  is  in  a 
h-igh  state  of  cultivation,  and  his  residence 
and  beautiful,  well-kept  grounds  bear  evi- 
dence of  his  thrift  and  success. 

In  1861  Mr.  Shanahan  enlisted  in  Com- 


728 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


pany  M,  Fourth  Micliigan  Cavalry,  remain- 
ii';g  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  mus- 
tered out  August  II.  1865.  Mr.  Shanahan 
was  in  one  hundred  and  three  engagements, 
the  following  hard  fought  hattles  among  the 
number:  Ft.  Donelson,  Ft.  Henry,  Pitts- 
burg Landing.  Perryville.  Xashville,  Stone 
River.  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge, 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  Dallas,  Atlanta,  Jones- 
ville  and  in  Kilpatrick's  raid,  and  with  Gen- 
eral Wilson  on  his  raid.  He  was  wounded 
at  Chickamauga.  and  again  on  Kilpatrick's 
raid  at  Lovejoy  Station,  and  the  thir*l  time 
at  Selma,  Alabama.  He  was  one  of  the 
men  chosen  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Prichard 
to  go  in  pursuit  of  Jeff  Davis,  and  was  in 
the  aft'ray  which  occurred  between  the  First 
Wisconsin  and  the  Fourtii  Michigan  Cav- 
alry, by  mistake.  In  the  early  morning  just 
before  dawn,  at  Irwinsville,  the  First  Wis- 
consin supposed  the  Fourth  Michigan  Caval- 
ry was  Jeff  Da^■is'  body  guard  and  charged 
them,  when  se\-eral  were  wounded  and  two 
killed.  Our  subject  had  a  remarkable  mili- 
tary record,  and  was  a  brave  and  gallant 
soldier,  and   faithful   to  his  duty. 

Mr.  Shanahan  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
F.  \\'est.  October  2,  1866.  Mrs.  Shanahan 
was  the  daughter  of  Edward  and  Rachel 
West,  and  was  Ijorn  near  Dover,  Delaware, 
July  18,  1843.  She  is  a  lady  of  good  edu- 
cation and  taught  several  years  in  the  imb- 
lic  schools  of  Michigan.  Mr.  and  Airs. 
Shanahan  are  the  parents  of  the  following 
children:  Willie,  born  February  23,  1872, 
died  in  infancy;  Ina  M.,  born  December 
25,  i<i/"/",  Millie  Belle,  born  September  22, 
1879:  and  Earl  M.,  born  ]\Iay  11,  1882. 
Mr.  Shanahan  was  a  member  of  the  G.  A. 
R.  lie  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of  Dell 
Prairie  township,  and  also  served  as  town- 
ship assessor.  He  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  educational  affairs  of  his  district,  and 
was  a  school  ofificer  many  years.  He  well 
merited  the  success  and  the  high  regard  in 


which  he  was  held  liv  his  associates.  Air. 
Shanahan  died  July  7.  1900,  and  was  buried 
in  the  Spring  Gro\-e  cemetery  at  Kilbourn. 
His  remains  were  accompanied  t<i  tlie  gra\'e 
by  John  Gillespie  Post,  G.  A.  R..  and  bv 
a  very  large  concourse  of  friends  and  rela- 
ti\-es. 


PATRICK  HICKEY. 

Patrick  Hickey  is  the  first  settler  of  the 
town  of  Dellona  and  one  of  the  most  worthy 
and  esteemed  pioneers  of  Sauk  county. 
Though  he  has  passed  the  ninetieth  mile- 
stone in  life's  journey,  he  is  still  reinarkalilv 
active  in  Ixith  mind  and  Ijody  and  recalls 
many  interesting  reminiscences  of  his  early 
life  and  of  the  development  and  progress  of 
Sauk  county.  He  was  born  at  Ballycroy, 
county  Mayo,  Ireland,  March  17,  1809. 
His  parents,  Martin  and  Mary  (Barrett) 
Hickey,  li\ed  and  died  in  county  Alayo, 
where  their  ancestors  had  been  prosperous 
and  respected  farmers  for  many  generations. 
Many  memljers  of  this  family  have  been 
conspicuous  for  great  Ionge\-ity.  Among 
those  who  came  to  this  country  was  Mrs. 
Alice  Fadden,  a  sister  of  Martin  Hickey, 
who  died  in  the  town  of  Dellona,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-one  years.  Four  children  of 
Martin  and  Mary  Hickey  became  residents 
of  Wisconsin.  Besides  Patrick,  these  were : 
Michael,  who  died  in  the  town  of  Dellona  in 
1850,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years;  Mary, 
widow  of  Michael  Conway,  now  living  at 
Elroy;  and  Honora,  Mrs.  James  McHugh, 
who  died  at  Dellona. 

Like  most  boys  of  that  time.  Patrick 
Hickey  had  very  limited  educational  ad- 
vantages, but,  determined  to  better  his  con- 
dition in  life,  he  made  the  most  of  his  many 
opportunities  for  observation  and  experi- 
ence and  eventuallv  Ijecame  one  of  the  most 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


successful  farmers  of  Sauk  county.  In  com- 
pany witli  his  brother,  Michael,  in  1837,  he 
left  his  native  land  and  came  to  America. 
Landing  at  Quebec,  they  proceeded  to  Ken- 
nebec county,  Maine,  where  two  of  their  un- 
cles were  then  living.  For  the  next  few  years 
he  was  employed  for  the  most  part  upon 
public  works.  While  working  on  a  dam  in 
the  Kennebec  river  at  Augusta  he  was  ac- 
cidentally knocked  from  a  ladder  into  the 
stream  and  narrowly  escaped  drowning. 
He  was  carried  by  the  current  for  some 
distance  down  the  river,  but  eventually  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  shore.  The  ne.xt  year 
he  went  to  New  York  City  and  was  em- 
ployed for  a  time  on  tiie  construction  of  the 
Croton  water  works.  Owing  to  the  failure  of 
a  contractor,  by  whom  he  was  employed  at 
Yonkers,  New  York,  he  was  unable  to  obtain 
his  pay,  and  in  1840  he  came  to  Chicago 
and  spent  one  winter  on  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  canal.  His  pre\-ious  experience 
was  repeated  here,  fur  the  contractors  be- 
came financially  embarrassed  and  he  and  his 
brother  were  compelled  to  take  their  pay 
in  due  bills  upon  which  they  never  realized. 
Thence  he  walked  by  way  of  Janesville, 
Wisconsin,  to  Sugar  river.  Arriving  on  the 
bank  of  that  stream  in  March,  1841,  he 
found  it  much  swollen  and  full  of  floating- 
ice  and  as  there  was  no  bridge  he  was  obliged 
to  remove  his  clothing  and  swim  across. 
By  the  time  he  reachetl  the  nearest  house 
he  was  nearly  frozen.  The  following  sea- 
son he  worked  a  farm  on  shares  and  spent 
two  or  three  more  years  in  lead  mining  in 
Green  county. 

About  1845  he  and  his  brother,  with 
several  other  men,  went  land  hunting  in  the 
interior  of  the  state,  driving  a  team  from 
Green  county.  Selecting  the  site  of  his 
present  home  they  camped  there  for  two 
weeks  while  building  a  small  shanty.  In 
the  meantime  the  balance  of  the  party  re- 
turned to  the  settlements,  believing  this  por- 


tion of  the  state  too  far  removed  from  civili- 
zation to  e\'er  become  a  desirable  place  of 
residence,  l)ut  the  Hickey  brothers  had  great 
faith  in  the  future  of  Sauk  count}'  and  their 
foresight  and  wisdom  were  demonstrated  in 
due  time.  Two  years  later  they  became  resi- 
dents and  set  about  the  improvement  of 
tlieir  farm.  There  were  a  few  habitations 
between  there  and  Baraboo,  but  neighbors 
v.-ere  by  no  means  numerous.  At  one  time 
be  owned  a  half-section  of  land,  but  a  jjor- 
tion  of  this  was  sacrificed  by  being  ni;irt- 
gaged  to  assist  in  the  construction  of  the 
Milwaukee  &  La  Crosse  Railroad,  now  the 
La  Crosse  division  of  the  Chicago,  M  Iwau- 
kee  &  St.  Paul  Railroatl.  His  present  farm 
consists  of  two  hun<lred  and  eight\'  acres 
with  first-class  buildings  and  other  imjirove- 
ments.  Since  coming  to  this  county  he  has 
confined  his  attention  to  agriculture,  with 
the  exception  of  one  winter  spent  as  a  log- 
ging contractor  on  the  Lemonweir  ri\er. 

Mr.  Hickey  has  ahva\'s  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  his  neighbors  and  business  as- 
sociates to  a  remarkable  degree.  He  some- 
times acted  as  agent  for  diiTerent  dealers 
in  the  purchase  of  farm  products  from  his 
neighbors,  and  was  frecjuently  entrusted 
with  considerable  sums  of  money  for  that 
purpose.  ^V  few  years  after  its  erection  his 
log  house,  which  w  as  a  substantial  and  com- 
fortable building  of  the  kind,  took  fire  and 
burned  with  all  its  contents,  including  sev- 
eral sums  of  money  belonging  to  other  par- 
ties and  the  funds  of  the  school  district,  of 
which  he  was  treasurer.  Though  his  own 
loss  was  a  serious  one,  he  did  not  permit 
any  of  these  parties  to  suffer  by  this  disaster, 
but  conscientiously  repaid  them  in  full,  and 
this  action  greatly  strenghtened  the  credit 
which  had  previously  been  reposed  in  him. 
He  donated  five  acres  of  ground  from  his 
farm  for  the  site  of  St.  Michael's  Catholic 
church,  now  known  as  All  Saints'  church 
of   Dellona.      He   also   contributed    liberallv 


rso 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


of  cash  toward  the  erection  of  the  Iniilding 
and  was  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  so- 
ciety. He  has  always  consistently  supported 
the  Democratic  party,  havin^^  cast  liis  first 
presidential  ballot  for  ^Martin  ^^an  Buren 
in  1840.  He  has  filled  numerous  offices  in 
Dellona  and  represented  the  town  upon  the 
county  board  for  a  number  of  years. 

In  1855  he  was  married  to  Catherine 
Crowley,  daughter  of  Dennis  Crowley,  an 
early  settler  in  the  town  of  Winfield.  Mrs. 
Hickey  was  borii  in  count\-  C"r>rk,  Ireland, 
and  departed  this  life  January  11.  1SS6,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-eight  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hickey  were  the  parents  of  three  sons  and 
three  daughters:  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Will- 
ic'un  Hayes,  of  the  town  of  Dellona;  Cath- 
erine died  December  20,  1894,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-six  years;  Martin  is  a  well-known 
business  man  of  Reedsburg;  Michael  car- 
ries on  the  homestead  farm ;  John  is  also  in 
business  at  Reedsburg;  and  Anna  also  re- 
sides on  the  homestead  farm.  Nine  grand- 
children also  delight  the  heart  of  Mr.  Hickey 
and  an  extensi\-e  circle  of  friends  unite  in 
^\ishing  him  continued  life  and   happiness. 


DAVID  ROBERTSON. 

David  Robertson,  now  leading  a  quiet 
and  retired  life  at  Rio,  Columbia  county, 
has  been  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the 
growth  and  development  of  that  thriving  vil- 
lage. He  was  born  in  Beath.  Scotland,  in 
1839,  and  was  a  son  of  Robert  and  Marian 
(King)  Robertson.  His  father  li\'ed  on  a 
farm  owned  by  his  grandfather,  but  was  not 
willing  to  spend  his  life  amid  the  narrow 
opportunities  of  the  old  world,  and  about 
1840  came  to  Canada,  settling  near  Ham- 
ilton, Ontario.  There  he  claimed  and 
cleared  a  farm  out  of  the  virgin  forest. 
He  was  a  man  of  much  character,  and  al- 


most reached  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  His 
wife  died  many  years  before  him,  when  she 
was  only  about  fifty.  She  was  a  descendant 
or'  the  Kings  of  Giffen  Mills,  Scotland,  and  a 
sister  of  William  King,  of  Cambria,  of 
whom  notice  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
record.  She  was  the  mother  of  five  sons 
and  five  daughters :  James,  Winnebago 
City,  Minnesota;  Janet,  Mrs.  William  Chis- 
holm,  deceased ;  Robert,  Arlington,  Wis- 
consin; Margaret,  widow  of  Robert  Mc- 
Conochie ;  Jane,  Hamilton,  Ontario ;  Will- 
iam, Arlington,  Wisconsin ;  John,  Lancas- 
ter, Ontario ;  David ;  Marian,  Mrs.  Ji  ihn 
Stewart,  Lancaster,  Ontario;  Agnes,  Mrs. 
Peter  Stewart,  Lancaster,  Ontario. 

Mr.  Robertson  left  his  home  in  Canada 
in  1 861,  and  came  into  Columbia  county, 
and  spent  the  next  five  years  at  farm  labor. 
After  this  time  had  passed  he  engaged  in 
lumbering  at  Mannville  and  Warrens.  Wis- 
consin, in  company  with  F.  M.  Thompson. 
The  firm  did  an  extensive  wholesale  business 
for  a  number  of  years.  In  1882  Mr.  Rob- 
ertson settled  in  Rio,  and  established  a  lum- 
I>er  business  in  this  village,  dealing  also  in 
grain  and  farm  produce.  He  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  this  venture,  and  in  1893  retired 
from  everything  except  lumber.  Five  years 
later  he  gave  up  all  business  activities  and 
is  now  spending  his  last  years  in  peace  and 
comfort.  He  has  led  an  active  and  honorable 
career,  working  hard  and  giving  ah  his  en- 
ergies to  his  business,  and  now  he  is  getting 
what  rest  and  satisfaction  there  can  be 
found  in  the  reflection  that  he  has  "fought 
a  good  fight,  and  has  kept  the  faith."  When 
he  came  to  Rio  it  consisted  of  about  a  dozen 
houses  on  the  south  side  of  the  railroad. 
He  bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
which  he  platted  and  subdivided,  and  the 
best  part  of  the  village  now  stands  upon  that 
ground.  He  has  erected  a  number  of  resi- 
dences and  business  places,  several  of  which 
he  still   owns.     His  own  commodious  and 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


731 


elegant  home  was  put  up  in  1892,  and  stands 
upon  one  of  the  principal  streets  of  the 
town.  He  was  married  in  Tf^73  to  Miss 
Emily  S.  Brown.  She  has  made  him  the 
father  of  four  children,  one  of  whom, 
Daxid,  died  in  infancy.  Those  living  are: 
John;  Alice  Emma  (Mrs.  George  Phelps), 
Rio;  and  Essie  Isabella,  who  is.  at  home. 
There  are  four  grandchildren  in  the  family. 
Mrs.  Robertson's  father,  David  Brown,  was 
born  in  London,  England,  and  was  em- 
jjloyed  as  a  tea  tester  b\-  a  whnlesalc  house 
in  that  city.  He  came  to  \\'isciinsin  in  1855, 
and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Dekorra,  where 
he  died  when  over  eighty  years  of  age.  An 
ancestor  of  his  wife  was  a  steward  on  the 
estate  of  Lord  Salisbury,  a  progenitor  of  the 
present  premier  of  England.  Mr.  Robert- 
son is  a  Mason  of  most  excellent  standing, 
and  is  affiliated  with  the  Rio  lodge.  Since 
coming  to  the  United  States  he  has  been  a 
Republican,  and  is  proud  of  the  fact  that 
he  was  able  to  vote  for  Grant  in  1868.  He 
has  never  been  an  active  politician,  though 
he  has  from  time  to  time  filled  certain  local 
offices.  He  retains,  however,  what  he  has 
always  exhibited — a  keen  interest  in  any 
measure  calculated  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  village  of   Rio. 


THOMAS  C.  KERSHAW. 

Thomas  C.  Kershaw  is  one  of  the  hon- 
ored veterans  of  the  Ci\il  war,  whose  de- 
votion to  his  country  was  tested  not  only 
by  service  on  the  field  of  battle  but  in  the 
still  more  deadly  dangers  of  southern  pris- 
ons. This  gallant  soldier  is  now  success- 
fully engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  on 
section  3,  New  Ha\'en  township.  Adams 
county,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Kershaw'  was  born  June  22,  1833, 
in  Larne,  county  Antrim,  Ireland.       His  fa- 


ther, William  ]\I.  Kershaw,  was  born  in  the 
same  place,  in  February,  1807,  and  in  his 
native  land  folIowe<l  the  r(>])e-maker's  trade. 
In  1845  lie  came  to  the  United  States  and 
located  in  \\'est  Troy,  New  York,  where  he 
remained  eight  years  while  working  on  the 
canal.  In  1853  he  came  to  New  Haven 
township,  Adams  county,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  entered  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
government  land,  which  he  at  once  l)egan 
to  improve,  but  was  not  long  permitted  to 
enjoy  his  new  home,  as  he  died  March  15, 
1862.  In  1829  he  married  Miss  Catherine 
Clark,  A\ho  was  born  in  Newtownards, 
county  Down,  Ireland,  in  January,  1798,  and 
to  them  were  born  children :  Wdliam 
J.,  Thomas  C,  Catherine  and  Mary  A.  The 
latter  is  the  w^ife  of  Robert  Warner,  of 
Trempealeau  county,  Wisconsin.  William 
J.  was  for  siime  years  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Adams  county,  and  represented  his  district 
in  the  lower  house  of  the  state  legislature 
and  also  in  the  senate.  In  the  fall  of  1862 
lit  was  commissioned  captain  of  Company 
K,  Eighteenth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, and  joined  the  army  in  Tennessee,  In 
the  battle  of  Shiloh  he  w'as  slightly  wound- 
ed and  in  the  fall  of  1862  he  came  home  on 
a  sick  furlough.  After  his  recovery  he  was 
deputy  provost  marshal  for  this  section  of 
the  state,  and  ser\-ed  in  that  capacity  for 
four  months.  Later  he  was  commissioned 
major  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  In  the  battle  of  Peters- 
burg he  was  shot  through  both  legs  and 
sent  to  Alexandria  hospital  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.  .After  his  recovery  he  re- 
joined his  regiment  and  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Hatcher's  Run,  Deep  Bottom  and 
Chapin's  Farm,  and  \vas  mustered  out  in 
the  spring  of  1865.  He  died  in  Kilbourn 
City,  April  5,   1883. 

Thomas  C.  Kershaw  accompanied  his 
parents  on  their  emigration  to  America,  and 
came  with  them  to  Adams  countv,  Wiscon- 


ISi 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


sin.  He  received  a  common-school  educa- 
tion and  in  early  life  worked  on  the  home 
farm,  in  the  pineries  and  upon  the  river. 
He  is  now  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  on  section  3,  New 
Haven  township,  sixty  acres  of  which  are 
under  excellent  culti\ation  and  forty  acres 
in  meadow  land.  He  is  engaged  in  di\'er- 
sified  farming  and  is  meeting  with  well  mer- 
ited success. 

(3n  the  5th  of  August,  1879,  Mr.  Ker- 
shaw was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Adaline  Stafford,  who  was  born  in  Madison, 
Wisconsin,  June  26,  1852,  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  Stafford,  of  New  Haven  township. 
She  was  educated  in  the  common  and  high 
schools  of  her  native  city,  and  was  granted 
the  first  teacher's  certificate  under  Thomas 
Freeman,  county  superintendent  of  schools 
for  Adams  county.  Before  she  was  sixteen 
years  of  age  she  began  teaching  and  suc- 
cessfully followed  that  profession  in  Adams 
county  for  eight  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ker- 
shaw have  three  children:  Robert  \V.,  born 
August  5,  1880,  is  at  home;  Jennie  K.,  born 
December  10,  1882,  was  educated  in  the 
Kilbourn  high  school,  and  is  now  engaged  in 
the  pul:)lic  schools  of  Adams  county;  and 
Katie,  born  November  7,  18S7,  is  at  home. 

In  1864  Mr.  Kershaw  joined  the  boys 
in  blue  as  a  member  of  Company  K,  Thirty- 
seventh  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
was  in  front  of  Petersburg  from  June  29  to 
July  30,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner.  After 
being  held  at  Petersburg  for  a  time,  he  was 
sent  to  Danville,  Virginia,  where  he  re- 
mained six  months,  and  then  to  L-il)l)y  prison, 
where  he  was  incarcerated  for  six  weeks. 
He  was  then  paroled  at  Richmond  and  sent 
to  the  parole  cam])  in  Annapolis.  He  was 
mustered  out  at  St.  Louis,  May  30,  1865. 
He  is  an  honored  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  is  a  quiet,  un- 
assuming citizen,  but  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors recognize  his  worth    and    abilitv    and 


have  called  him  to  several  local  offices,  the 
duties  of  which  he  has  most  capably  and  sat- 
isfactorily discharged.  He  has  been  town 
supervisor  several  times,  has  filletl  a  number 
of  school  ofiices,  and  is  now  district  treas- 
urer. 


\\TLLIAM  ANDRUS. 

William  Andrus,  the  well-known  and 
efficient  superintendent  of  the  Sauk  county 
poor  farm  and  insane  asylum,  was  born  in 
Avon,  Lorain  coinitv,  Ohio,  October  21, 
1840,  a  son  of  Edwin  and  ]\Iacena  (Abjure) 
Andrus,  who  were  among  the  prominent 
pioneers  and  highly  respected  citizens  ui 
Sauk  county,  ^\'isconsin.  The  name  of  An- 
drus or  Andrews  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  his- 
tory and  has  been  common  in  England  for 
several  centuries.  The  founders  of  the  fam- 
ily in  America  were  John  Andrews  and  his 
wife,  Mar}-,  whu  settled  in  Farmington 
(then  called  Tunxis),  Connecticut,  in  i()40. 
Me  died  in  i08i  and  she  in  1694.  Their  de- 
scendants h'cwe  modified  the  spelling  of  the 
name;  Andrus,  Andros  and  Andrews  being 
the  most  pre\alent  forms.  The  posterit^■  of 
John  Andrews  included  some  of  the  most 
conspicuous  citizens  of  Connecticut  during 
the  colonial  period  and  in  more  recent  times. 
Edwin  Andrus,  father  of  our  subject, 
was  a  natixe  of  Glastonbury,  Connecticut, 
whence  he  went  to  Sullivan  county.  New 
York,  and  in  183 1  to  Ohio,  where  he  carried 
on  a  sawmill  for  a  numljer  of  }-ears.  In 
1854  he  came  to  Sauk  comity,  Wisconsin, 
and  cleared  up  a  large  farm  in  Reedsburg 
township,  owning  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  at  the  time  of  his  deatli,  which  oc- 
curred A])ril  14,  1883,  when  he  was  se\'- 
ent3r-seven  years  of  age.  He  was  reared 
in  the  Baptist  faith,  but  liecanie  a  Unitarian 
in.  his  religious  views,  and  was    always    a 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


7b3 


Christian  in  practice  and  precept.  In  po- 
litical sentiment  he  was  a  Democrat.  He 
was  always  very  kind  to  the  Indians,  who 
c;im]ied  in  considerable  numbers  near  his 
house  and  held  him  in  high  reg'ard.  He 
first  married  Susan  Gillett,  by  whom  he  had 
one  daughter,  Mrs.  Frank  Avery,  of  Bara- 
boo,  now  deceased.  Mrs.  Macena  Andrus, 
the  mother  of  our  subject,  was  born  at  Wills- 
boro,  New  York,  July  22,  1810,  and  died 
May  20,  1896.  She  was  also  reared  in  the 
Baptist  faith.  Her  father,  Joseph  Moore, 
who  sprang-  from  an  old  colonial  family, 
was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  entered  the  Continental  army 
during  the  Revolutionary  war.  in  which  he 
served  six  years  or  more.  His  brcjther,  John, 
was  killed  in  a  massacre  by  the  Indians  dur- 
ing that  struggle.  Four  sons  of  Joseph 
Moore,  Norman,  Theron,  Joseph  and  Seth, 
were  all  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812,  as  well 
as  two  sons-in-law,  and  all  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  third  in 
order  of  birth  in  a  famih'  of  five  children, 
the  others  being  Ranson  M.,  a  resident  of 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin;  /Amelia,  wife  of  F.  M. 
McClure,  of  Reedsburg  township,  Sauk 
county;  Adelaide,  wife  of  O.  B.  Titus,  of 
Reedsburg;  and  Rosette,  deceased  wife  of 
H.  Sorge. 

W^illiam  Andrus  was  a  lad  of  fourteen 
years  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Sauk  countv,  and  for  fifteen  years  he  op- 
erated the  saw-mill  which  his  father  erected 
two  years  after  their  arrival,  manufactur- 
ing considerable  hard  wood  lumber.  In 
1864  he  purchased  a 'farm  of  one  hundrcil 
and  sixty  acres  in  Reedsburg  township, 
which  he  still  owns.  He  alsn  li\"ed  several 
years  in  the  city  of  Reedsburg  while  edu- 
cating his  children. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  1864,  Mr.  An- 
drus married  Miss  Adarene  C.  Terrall,  who 
was  b(irn   in   North  Ridgevillc.    Ohio,    and 


came  to  Wisconsin  in  1863.  Her  parents 
were  Gillespie  and  Lucretia  (Tucker)  Ter- 
rall, the  former  born  in  North  Ridgeville, 
Ohio,  in  1824,  the  later  in  Canandaigua 
countv,  New  York.  Her  grandfather,  Icha- 
bod  Terrall,  removed  from  New  England 
to  Ohio  in  1810,  and  took  with  him  the  coat 
of  arms  of  the  fanfily.  The  children  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrus  are  as  follows: 
Mary  Belle  is  now  the  wife  of  Jolm  Brum- 
mitt,  of  Spokane,  Washington.  .Vdelaide 
Amelia  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Umsted.  of 
the  same  place.  William  Terrall,  who  at- 
tended the  Wisconsin  University  for  three 
years,  is  now  carrying  on  the  homestead 
farm.  Frank  C,  who  was  connected  with 
the  Merchants  Retail  Collecting  Agency  for 
some  time,  died  December  22.  1893.  aged 
twentv-four  years.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
Ijeen  murdered,  as  his  body  was  found  in 
the  Chicago  river  in  March,  1894.  Ruliert 
C.  has  for  .several  years  been  emplnyed  in 
the  Sauk  county  institutions  of  which  his- 
father  has  charge.  All  of  the  children  re- 
ceived good  high  school  educations.  In 
religious  faith  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrus  are 
Unitarians,  and  in  his  social  relations  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Wiirkmen.  I'lilitically  he  aftiliates  w^th  the 
Democratic  [larty,  but  is  not  a  politician  in 
the  sense  of  oi^ce  seeking,  though  he  has 
held  a  number  of  township  offices. 

Since  December,  1891,  Mr.  and  ?\lrs. 
Andrus  ha\"e  been  in  charge  of  the  Sauk 
county  poor  farm  and  insane  asylum  and 
have  wrought  many  remarkable  reforms  in 
the  conduct  of  those  institutions  and  in 
their  equipments.  The  county  farm  com- 
Ijrises  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  one-half  of  which  is  co\cred  with 
timber,  and  from  this  fi\e  hundix-d  cords  of 
wood  are  cut  and  used  annuall\-.  Since  our 
subject  took  charge  the  buildings  have  been 
more  than  douliled  in  size,  and  man\'  con- 
veniences and   impro\ements  ha\e  been   in- 


7M 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


troduced.  An  adiiiiraljle  system  of  water 
works  and  electric  lights  have  been  fitted  up 
aiKl  the  work  of  carrying-  on  the  institution 
hias  been  greatly  simplified,  while  adding 
very  much  to  the  comfort  and  convenience 
of  both  inmates  and  employes.  Telephone 
connection  has  been  established  with  the  city 
of  Rccdsburg,  five  miles  distant.  There  is 
an  average  of  forty  inmates  in  the  county 
house  and  one  hundred  in  the  asylum,  pa- 
tients from  six  other  counties  being  accom- 
modated in  the  latter  institution.  The  most 
noteworthy  feature  of  the  establishment  is 
the  uniform  quiet  and  harmony  wdiich  pre- 
vails among  the  inmates.  Both  Mr.  and 
]\Jrs.  Andrus  have  the  peculiar  faculty  of 
securing  the  confidence  and  exerting  a  pow- 
erful influence  over  the  unfortunates  (jlaced 
in  their  charge.  The  patients  are  allowed 
the  utmost  liberty  and  take  pride  in  merit- 
ing the  confidence  reposed  in  them.  Doors 
are  ne\er  locked  night  or  day,  and  force  is 
A'ery  rarely  ref|uired  to  carry  out  the  rules 
of  the  establishment.  In  this  respect  the 
Sauk  county  asylum  is  a  model  of  its  kind. 
Tliough  many  insane  patients  are  i^ro- 
nounced  incurable  Vv'hen  returned  from  the 
state  hospital  at  Mendota,  a  number  have 
been  jiractically  cured  by  the  humane  meth- 
ods ])racticed  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrus.  Re- 
ligious services  are  conducted  regularly,  and 
though  attendance  is  not  compulsory,  most 
o:  the  inmates  participate.  There  are  some 
talented  musicians  among  them  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  this  and  other  wholesome  amuse- 
nients   is   encouraged. 


HON.  WINSLOW  BULLEX. 

This  gentleman,  whose  home  is  in  Ar- 
lington, Columbia  county,  caiuKit  rightfully 
be  rimitted  from  any  list  pretending  to  re- 
capitulate   the    names  of  the  honored   and 


helpfiU  citizens  of  Columbia  county.  He 
has  been  an  industrious  and  upright  farmer 
litre  for  many  years.  He  h.as  taken  an  act- 
i\c  [lart  in  public  affairs,  and  his  actions 
have  been  determined  by  motives  of  right 
and  public  welfare.  He  has  dealt  in  trade 
and  conducted  a  considerable  ctjmmercial 
eitablishment,  and  his  reputation  as  a  busi- 
ness man  is  unblemished.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  genera!  assembly  of  the  state 
of  Wisconsin,  and  his  vote  and  voice  were 
always  for  higher  and  better  public  inter- 
ests. 

\Vinslow  Bullen  was  born  in  Oswego 
county.  New  York,  April  27,  1826,  and  is 
a  son  of  David  and  Jane  (Murdie)  Bullen, 
the  former  being  of  English  descent  and 
the  latter  Scotch.  The  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  article,  Captain  Bullen,  was 
an.  officer  in  the  American  Revolutionary 
forces,  and  the  family  traces  its  ancestry  back 
to  Queen  Anne  Boleyn.  David  Bullen  and 
family  came  west  in  1836.  He  made -the 
journey  overland  in  the  winter  in  a  cov- 
ered sleigh,  wdiile  his  family  followed  by 
boat  to  Milwaukee,  and  there  the  boat  drift- 
ed ashore  in  a  storm.  From  there  they  pro- 
ceeded by  wagon  to  Pike  River,  Kenosha 
county,  where  Mr.  Bullen  had  settled.  They 
remained  there,  doing  fairly  well  until  1850, 
\^'hen  Mr.  Bullen  mo\-ed  himself  and  family 
to  \\'ashington  county.  In  1857  Mrs.  Bul- 
len died  in  that  county,  and  her  death  broke 
up  the  home.  Mr.  Bullen  came  to  Arlington, 
v.'here  his  sons  were  already  settled,  and 
niade  his  home  with  them  until  his  death  in 
1870.  He  was  the  father  of  three  girls  and 
five  boys :  James,  deceased ;  Winslow,  the 
subject  of  this  narrative;  Jane  married  Nel- 
son Hull,  and  has  her  home  in  Marathon 
county,  Wisconsin;  David,  Arlington;  Mary 
became  Mrs.  Brown  and  is  now  dead ;  Will- 
iam lives  at  Sioska,  Wisconsin;  and  Sarah- 
is  Mrs.  W^estcott,  of  Marathon  county. 

When  Mr.  Bullen  came  to  Wisconsin  Mil- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


ri35 


waukee  had  but  one  house  with  a  shingled 
roof,  and  Racine  was  but  a  collection  of 
iiuts.  He  was  then  about  ten  years  old 
and  had  attended  school  in  New  York.  So 
wild  and  unsettled  a  i"egion  as  Wisconsin 
at  that  time  could  afiford  little  or  no  opportu- 
nity for  school  work  for  some  years.  Finally 
there  was  a  select  school  opened  near  his 
hiome  in  Kenosha  county,  which  he  was  glail 
to  attend.  Me  remained  at  home  and  worked 
with  his  lather  until  he  was  about  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  when  he  bou.ght  a  quar- 
ter-section of  land  in  Washington  county, 
to  which  he  devoted  himself  for  some  years. 
He  also  purchased  a  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  especially  choice  land  in  the  town 
of  Arlington,  and  he  made  it  his  home  in 
1856.  Here  he  lived  and  labored  until  1882, 
\vhen  he  moved  into  the  village  of  Arling- 
ton, and  entered  int(>  a  store,  and  established 
c|uite  a  reputation  as  an  honorable  and  up- 
right tratlesman.  He  has  now^  given  up  act- 
i\e  business  laljors,  and  is  spending  his  last 
days  in  [)eace  and  (juiet  among  the  neigh- 
bors and  scenes  of  his  most  busy  day. 

Mr.  Bullen  and  Salina  F.  Gilmore  were 
married  November  27,  1852.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Kelsey  and  Clarinda  (Hins- 
dale) Gilmore,  natives  of  \'erniont,  who 
came  to  Kenosha  county  at  an  early  date. 
Mr.  Gilmore  died  April  21,  1850,  and  hi^ 
wife,  October  29,  1846.  They  were  the  jwr- 
er;ts  of  nine  children,  all  of  whom  have 
passed  o\'er  to  join  the  great  majority.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bullen  have  had  five  children,  all 
of  whom  are  living:  Sarah  Ellen,  William 
Kelsey,  David  Murdie,  Mary  Eleanor  and 
Jennie  Elmira.  They  all  reside  in  Arling- 
ton. Mr.  Bullen  is  a  Republican  through 
and  through  and  has  held  many  public  of- 
fices. He  has  been  town  clerk  and  was 
chairman  of  the  town  board  some  four  or 
five  years;  and  in  1869  was  elected  to  the 
state  legislature  from  the  second  assembly 
district  of  Columbia  county.      DuiMug    his 


term  the  important  ciuestions  of  the  removal 
cl  the  capital  to  Milwaukee  and  the  control 
of  the  Eau  Claire  river  came  up,  and  he  was 
much  interested  in  the  result,  as  imi>i >rtant 
interests  depended  upon  the  outcome,  ^^''ill- 
iam  Price,  afterwards  a  member  of  con- 
gress, was  a  colleague  of  his  at  that  time. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  public  labors, 
and  has  been  a  leading  man  in  his  com- 
munity. Very  largely  a  self-educated  man, 
bv  his  native  force  of  character  and  executive 
aljility  he  has  made  himself  felt  in  the 
ci.'unty. 


NED  C.  WOOD. 

Among  the  sturdy,  energetic  and  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Adams  county,  who 
thoroughly  understand  the  vocation  which 
they  f(_illi)W  and  are  consequently  enabled  to 
carry  on  their  calling  with  profit  to  them- 
selves, is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  is 
actively  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Springville  township. 

Mr.  Wood  was  born  in  Ludlowville, 
Tompkins  county.  New  Y(jrk,  iVugust  4, 
1851,  a  son  of  Amasa  and  Isabella  (Clark) 
Wood,  prominent  citizens  of  that  county, 
where  the  father  was  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture iif  furniture.  The  maternal  grandfa- 
ther, Daniel  Clark,  was  a  quartermaster  in 
the  war  of  1812,  and  the  great-grandfather, 
Colonel  Ji-ihn  Harper,  served  with  distinction 
as  a  C(>l(Tnel  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The 
latter  was  very  wealthy. 

During  his  boyhood  Ned  C.  Wood  re- 
ceived a  good  common-school  education,  and 
he  worked  in  his  father's  furniture  shoj)  un- 
til sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to 
Wisconsin,  locating  in  Friendship,  Adams 
county,  May  4,  1868.  After  living  with  his 
Ijrother-in-law,  J.  W.  Shaw,  for  a  short  time, 
he  worked  for  James  Hinman,  a  well-known 


rsG 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY 


farmer,  for  several  _vears,  durino-  wliich 
time  by  industry  and  economy  he  managed 
ti;  save  some  money.  Later  he  spent  sev- 
eral years  on  the  J-  !'•  Shultz  farm,  and  had 
charge  of  the  Shaw  farm  one  year.  At  dif- 
ferent times  he  lived  on  other  farms,  and 
in  1887  purchased  the  Murray  Hay  farm  at 
Twin  \'alley,  upon  which  he  has  made  many 
impro\cnients  and  which  he  now  success- 
full}-  operates. 

jNlr.  Wood  was  married,  September  17, 
1879,  to  Miss  Anna  E.  Cook,  who  was  born 
near    Ibirnellsville,    Steuben    county.    New 
York,   May  24,    1857,   a  daughter  of  Ora 
and  Rosella  (Donaldson)  Cook.    The  Cooks 
were  land   owners   and   well-to-do   farmers 
of  Steuben  county,  and  people  of  prominence 
in  the  community.     Mrs.  \\'ood's  father  was 
b(jrn   in   New  York,   and  when   four  years 
old   Mrs.    \\'ood   came   to   Wisconsin   with 
her    mcither.     locating    at    Billings     Ferry, 
Adams  county.     Her  mother  lived  on  the 
Hinman  farm  for  a  time,  in  a  house  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road,  and  then  bought  prop- 
erty in  Ulin.     She  died  May  29,  1869,  and 
the  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Wood,  then  made 
her  home  with  James  Hinman.     She  attend- 
ed the  country  school  and  the  high  school  of 
Kilbourn  City,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
began    teaching    school    in    Twin    \'alley. 
Later  she  taught  in  several  different  coun- 
ties and  successfully  followed  that  pursuit 
for  six  years.      Our  subject  and   his   wife 
have  two  children :  Glen  C,  born  May  20, 
1881,    and   John    F.,   born    May    12,    1891. 
The  former  is  now  in  Delton,  Sauk  county. 
Politically  Mr.  Wood  affiliates  with  the 
Republican  party  and  he  has  capably  filled 
several  township  and  school  offices.  Frater- 
nally he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
the  IModern  Woodmen  of  America,  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  are  charter  members  of  the 
Dells  Home  Forum,  No.  181 3,  of  which  he 
was  elected  treasurer,  but  declined  to  serve. 
]\Irs.  Wood  has  been  a  member  of  the  Meth-  I 


odist  Episcopal  church  since  seventeen  years 
of  age  and  has  served  as  superintendent  of 
the  Sabbath  school,  in  wdiich  position  she  has 
done  much  toward  starting  the  young  in  the 
right  course.  She  ever  takes  an  active  and 
prominent  part  in  all  church  work,  and  she 
and  her  husband  well  merit  the  high  regard 
in  which  they  are  uniformly  held. 


HON.  JOHN  KELLOGG. 

Perhaps  no  man  in  Reedsburg  is  better 
known  or  more  highly  esteemed  than  the 
present  postmaster,  John  Kellogg,  who  has 
resided  at  that  place  for  nearly  half  a  century 
and  from  time  to  time  has  been  prominently 
identified  with  a  number  of  the  most  import- 
ant industries  of  that  progressive  citv.  He 
has  also  taken  quite  an  active  and  influential 
part  in  public  affairs,  and  has  been  honored 
with  a  number  of  responsible  offices. 

He  was  born  in  Dix,  Steuben  county, 
New  York,  December  11,  1833,  a  son  of 
George  and  Hannah  (Kellenger)  Kellogg. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  John  Kellogg, 
lived  and  died  on  a  farm  in  Cornwall,  Con- 
necticut, and  filled  numerous  local  offices. 
His  ancestiirs  came  from  England  to  the 
new  world  and  settled  in  Boston  during  the 
earlier  days  of  the  colony.  The  father  of  our 
subject  \\'as  a  native  of  Cornwall,  Litchfield 
cijunty,  Connecticut,  removed  to  New  York 
al)out  1830.  and  in  1850  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin. After  one  season  spent  in  Whitewater, 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Reedsburg,  and 
about  i860  removed  to  a  farm  in  Sumner 
township,  Sauk  county,  upon  which  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  dying  in  February, 
1899,  at  the  extreme  old  age  of  ninety  years. 
Politically  he  was  first  a  Whig  and  later 
a  Republican.  He  was  a  man  of  decided 
\'iews,  was  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  and  was  honored  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  him.  His  wife 
and   the  mother   of  our   subject   was   born 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


737 


near  the  head  of  the  Cayug-a  Lake,  in 
CaA'uga  county,  New  York,  and  died  in 
Reedsburg,  Wisconsin,  in  1853,  at  the  age 
(if  forty-one  years. 

John  Kellogg  came  witli  his  parents  to 
Reedsburg  and  completed  his  education  in 
its  public  and  select  schools.  He  continued 
to  assist  his  father  in  the  operation  of  the 
home  farm  until  the  fall  of  1857,  when  he 
opened  a  restaurant  and  grocery  in  Reeds- 
burg, which  he  successfully  conducted  for  a 
time.  Later  he  became  a  partner  with  A. 
L.  Harris  in  a  general  mercantile  store,  and 
on  selling  his  interest  ni  1880  he  purchased 
the  Reedsburg  Flouring  Mills,  which  he 
carried  on  for  several  years  with  marked 
success.  In  1882  he  also  became  one  of  the 
l^artners  in  tlie  Reedsburg  Building  &  Lum- 
ber Company,  and  built  a  planing-mill  on 
their  property,  but  some  time  later  the  plant 
and  a  c|uantity  of  their  lumber  was  destroyed 
by  fire  at  considerable  loss.  After  rebuild- 
ing the  mill,  Mr.  Kellogg  sold  out  to  the 
present  proprietors.  Subsequently  ill  health 
I'jrevented  him  from  engaging  in  active  busi- 
ness for  some  years. 

On  the  1st  of  Janaiary,  18 — ,  Mr.  Kel- 
logg was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Sarah  J.  Chandler,  of  Beaver  Dam,  Wis- 
consin, who  was  born  near  Lake  George, 
New  York,  and  they  have  become  the  par- 
ents of  two  children,  namely :  Hettie  M., 
now  the  widow  of  Bertine  Pew  and  a  resi- 
dent of  Reedsburg;  and  Iva  M.,  wife  of 
A.  K.  Kellogg,  of  Fort  Atkinson,  W'iscon- 
sin.  The  family  hold  membership  in  the 
Methodist  church  of  Reedsburg,  which  Mr. 
Kellogg  assisted  in  organizing.  He  was  one 
of  the  chief  contributors  to  the  erection  of 
the  present  house  of  worship,  and  has  also 
given  liberally  to  the  building  of  all  other 
churches  of  Reedsburg.  Socially  he  is  an 
honored  member  of  the  blue  lodge  and  chap- 
ter of  the  Masonic  order  of  that  city,  for 
many  years  was  secretary    of    the    former 


branch ;  and  also  belongs  to  St.  John's  Com- 
mandery,  K.  T.,  and  has  been  financier  of 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  for 
some  years  past. 

'Mv.  Kellogg's  political  support  is  always 
gi\en  the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republi- 
can part}',  and  on  its  ticket  was  elected  to 
the  general  assembly  in  1873,  in  which  au- 
gust body  he  served  for  one  term  with  credit 
to  himself  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of 
his  constituents.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Republican  county  committee  during  the 
Greenback  campaigns  of  1876  and  1878,  and 
has  always  worked  efi:'ectively  for  the  inter- 
ests of  his  party.  In  1868  he  was  first  ap- 
pointed postmaster  of  Reedslnn-g  liy  Presi- 
dent (irant  and  held  the  office  until  1873, 
when  he  resigned  in  favor  of  A.  L.  Harris. 
He  was  again  appointed  to  the  same  position 
in  1884,  but  was  removed  as  an  "offensive 
partisan"  by  President  Cleveland  the  fol- 
lowing year.  In  June,  1898,  he  again  took 
the  office  and  is  its  present  incumbent.  When 
he  first  took  charge  of  the  same,  in  1868,  he 
was  able  to  transact  all  the  business  alone, 
but  two  assistants  are  now  required.  He 
has  been  called  upon  to  fill  a  number  of 
town  and  village  offices,  including  that  of 
justice  of  the  peace,  which  he  held  for  four 
or  five  years,  resigning  upon  his  last  ap- 
pointment as  postmaster.  While  in  that 
office  he  did  most  of  the  justice  business  in 
the  city,  was  absolutely  fearless  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  and  favor  could  not 
tempt  him  fnmi  the  straight  path.  His  pub- 
lic and  ])rivate  life  are  above  reproach,  for 
his  career  has  ever  been  one  characterized 
l)y  the  utmost   fidelity  to  duty. 


CAPTAIN  GIDEON  L0\^^ 

Among  the  gallant  officers  of  the  United 
States  army,  who  were  successfully  placed 
in  command  of  Fort  Winnebago  during  the 


738 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


maintenance  of  the  garrison  at  that  place, 
none  are  more  kindly  remembered  by  their 
contemporaries  and  none  perhaps  are  better 
entitled  to  honorable  mention  in  the  annals 
of  Columljia  county  than  Captain  Gideon 
Low. 

He  was  born  in  Ulster  county,  New 
York,  November  15,  1779,  and  died  at  Port- 
age May  8,  1850.  At  an  early  age  he  en- 
tered the  United  States  regular  army  and 
was  commissioned  an  ensign  June  i,  1812. 
He  served  with  distinction  through  the  war 
of  1 81 2- 1 5,  being  promoted  to  second  lieu- 
tenant of  the  Twenty-second  Infantry  in 
April,  1813,  and  ten  months  later  became  first 
lieutenant.  He  was  v>-ounded  in  an  engage- 
ment on  Lake  Ontario,  receiving  a  scar  which 
he  bore  to  his  grave.  After  the  war  his  com- 
pany was  disbanded  and  he  spent  about 
three  years  in  private  life  at  Easton,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Li  1 819  he  was  reinstated  in  the  army 
and  ordered  to  St.  Louis.  During  the  next 
nine  years  he  was  successively  stationed  at 
Jefferson  Barracks,  Ft.  Edwards,  Ft.  Arm- 
strong and  Fort  Shelling.  Li  August, 
1828,  he  receivetl  a  captain's  commission  and 
the  same  year  was  ordered  to  Green  Bay. 
He  made  the  trip  to  that  place  from  St. 
Louis  with  his  wife  and  two  daughters  in 
a  small  boat,  going  by  way  of  "The  Port- 
age," w'hich  at  that  time  could  have  been 
the  habitation  of  no  more  than  a  few  Li- 
dian  traders,  and  probal^ly  was  not  the  home 
of  a  single  white  woman. 

In  1 83 1  Captain  Low  was  ordered  to 
Fort  Winnebago,  the  construction  of  which 
had  been  commenced  the  previous  year,  but 
it  was  not  completed  when  he  arrived.  Here 
ho  served  under  Major  Plimpton  and  other 
officers  and  eventually  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand himself. 

During  the  Black  Hawk  war  he  saw 
considerable  active  service,  and  was  sent  at 
one  time  to  reinforce  Fort  Atkinson  while 


the  notorious  Sac  chief  was  operating  in  that 
vicinity.  It  would  probably  be  impossible 
to  write  a  better  account  of  life  at  the  Fort 
than  the  description  by  Mrs.  Kinzie  in  her 
famous  book,  "Wau-Bun." 

Among  Captain  Low's  associates  here 
were  a  number  of  men  who  afterwards 
achieved  great  distinction  in  both  the  United 
States  and  Confederate  armies,  as  well  as 
in  civil  life.  February  29,  1840,  he  resigned 
his  comniissi(.>n  and  spent  the  balance  of  his 
da_\"s  in  practical  retirement.  When  the 
Winneljago  Portage  began  to  develop  as  a 
place  of  some  commercial  importance.  Cap- 
tain Low  realized  the  need  of  a  place  of 
entertainment  fur  travelers,  and  in  1838  he 
built  the  "Franklin  House,"  the  first  regular 
hiitel  in  the  ])lace.  It  was  long  famous  as 
a  place  of  entertainment  and  social  inter- 
course. A  store  and  postoffice  were  con- 
nected with  the  establishment  and  it  was  also 
used  as  a  court  house  and  for  the  transac- 
tion of  other  public  business,  until  better 
accommodations  could  be  provided. 

Captain  Low  also  speculated  to  some 
e.xtent  in  lands,  but  was  never  very  success- 
ful as  a  business  man,  being  too  free-hearted 
and  hospitable  to  thrive  in  the  capacity  of 
landlord,  and  often  extended  shelter  to  peo- 
ple from  w  hom  he  never  expected  to  receive 
any  remuneration.  He  was  ever  fearless  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duty,  whether  of  a  mil- 
itary or  a  civil  nature. 

Captain  Low  was  first  married  July  14, 
1805,  to  Melissa  Scriber,  of  Pleasant  Val- 
ley, Dutchess  county,  New  York.  She  died 
a  few  years  later,  leaving  one  son,  Jacob, 
who  became  a  prominent  citizen  of  Colum- 
bia county,  also  a  daughter,  Mary  Ann,  who 
married,  first.  Captain  Thomas  Winship 
(by  whom  she  had  one  son,  George  Henry 
Winship),  second,  John  Schaumberg. 

On  August  10,  1 81 5,  Captain  Low  was 
married  to  Miss  Margaret  C.  Foulk,  daugh- 
ter of  Stephen  Foulk  and  Sarah   (DeLap) 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


r39 


Foulk,  of  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania.  Two 
daughters  were  born  of  this  union,  Mar- 
garet Foulk  (now  Mrs.  Charles  Temple),  of 
Chicago,  and  Elizabeth  Missouri  (Mrs. 
Henry  Merrellj,  both  of  wIidui  are  now  de- 
ceased. 


MARVIN  E.  LATHROP. 

Marvin  E.  Latlirop,  whose  pleasant  home 
is  in  the  town  of  Colburn,  where  he  has  a 
fertile  and  well-cultivated  farm  on  section 
12,  near  the  postoffice  of  Hancock,  is  one 
of  the  successful  agriculturists  of  Adams 
county,  and  he  has  been  identified  with  its 
interests  for  many  years.  He  is  a  native 
of  the  state,  and  was  born  m  the  town  of 
Ontario,  Waushara  county,  March  29,  1850. 
He  is  therefore  in  the  very  prime  of  his 
manly  powers,  and  though  fifty  years  have 
passed  away,  still  the  natural  fire  of  his  youth 
is  not  abated  nor  his  strength  exhausted. 

Mr.  Lathrop  comes  of  good  old  American 
stock,  his  ancestral  lines  running  back  into 
old  colonj^  times.  Ira  R.  Lathrop,  his  fa- 
ther, was  born  in  Genesee  county.  New 
York,  March  21,  1823,  and  his  mother.  Avis 
Alvira  Foster,  in  the  town  of  Greenwich, 
Hampshire  county,  Massachusetts,  May  14, 
1830.  They  were  married  September  i, 
1847,  i"  Winnebago  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
at  once  took  a  prominent  position  in  the 
community,  a  position  they  always  main- 
tained. They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 
Marvin,  their  eldest  child,  is  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  Annie  is  the  wife  of  S.  E. 
Brown,  a  prominent  farmer  and  leading  citi- 
zen of  Brown  county,  Kansas.  Frank 
moved  to  Emmett  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
has  long  been  recognized  as  an  upright  and 
worthy  citizen  and  a  most  capable  farmer. 
His  wife  was  known  when  a  girl  as  Louisa 
Jenkins.  Edgar  married  Mary  Davis,  and 
lives  in  Washington  county,   Kansas.     He 


liad  his  home  for  a  time  in  Brown  count)^ 
of  that  state.  Charles  found  his  wife,  Kate 
Ames,  at  Burnett,  Dodge  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  was  long  a  resident  of  this  state,  but 
is  now  register  of  deeds  at  Algona,  Iowa. 
Of  these  four  boys,  widely  scattered  and  ex- 
posed to  the  temptations  of  frontier  life, 
it  is  somewliat  ren^arkable  that  they  have 
all  grown  tu  middle  age  without  one  nf 
them  so  much  as  learning  the  taste  of  malt 
or  spirituous  liquors.  It  is  a  fact  that 
s]jeaks  well  for  the  high  moral  character  of 
the  home  in  which  they  were  nurtured. 
The  paternal  Lathrop  accompanied  his  fa- 
ther and  mother  to  Indiana  when  he  was 
only  twelve  }"ears  old,  and  remained  with 
them  until  he  attained  his  majority.  He 
was  strong  and  sturdy,  not  afraid  of  hard 
work,  a  fact  evidenced  by  his  entering  the 
Wisconsin  pine  woods,  following  a  lumber- 
man's career  for  the  winter.  In  1846  he 
made  his  home  in  Green  Lake  county  (then 
Marquette),  where  he  lived  for  more  than 
thirty  3'ears.  In  1S79  he  removed  to  Adams 
county,  where  he  took  possession  of  a  choice 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  which 
still  continues  to  be  his  home.  Throughout 
his  life  he  has  been  an  active  and  intelli- 
gent farmer.  His  upright  character  and 
manifest  ability  ha\e  always  commanded 
respect,  and  his  neighbors  have  repeatedly 
commanded  his  services  in  public  position. 
For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the 
board  of  super\-isors  of  the  town  of  Berlin, 
Green  Lake  county.  He  was  also  treas- 
urer of  Leola  township,  Adams  county,  one 
year.  His  father,  Abiel  Lathrop,  was  a 
miller  in  early  life,  and  followed  his  trade 
in  Connecticut,  his  native  state.  When 
somewhat  advanced  in  years  he  removed  to 
Indiana,  took  up  a  farm,  and  died  after  a 
long  and  godly  life.  He  was  for  many  )-ears 
a  deacon  in  the  close  communion  Baptist 
church,  and  was  always  found  on  the  side  c; 
right. 


r40 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Marvin  Lathrop  came  to  Adams  county 
in  1 87 1,  and  from  tliat  time  he  lias  been 
an  honored  resident  of  tlie  count\'.  Miss 
Orvilla  A.  Flyte  became  his  wife,  January 
21,  1 87 1,  and  has  proved  everything  that  a 
loyal  and  devoted  wife  should  be.  Mr. 
Lathrop  was  county  surveyor  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  and  has  also  served  on  the 
county  board.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that 
there  has  not  been  a  year  since  he  entered 
the  county  that  he  has  not  held  some  town 
office  of  more  or  less  importance.  He  lives 
on  the  old  home  farm,  and  in  its  manage- 
ment displays  both  industry  and  a  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
agricultural  world.  Here  he  has  a  good 
house,  a  large  barn  and  ample  outbuildings, 
and  at  the  present  moment  has  some  ninety 
acres  under  cultivation.  He  gives  much  at- 
tention to  the  raising  of  high-grade  Jersey 
cattle,  and  has  won  considerable  distinction 
as  a  breeder  of  desirable  stock.  He  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  a  prominent  Mason.  He  was 
a  charter  member  of  the  Edwards  Lodge, 
No.  268,  at  Hancock,  and  with  his  wife  be- 
longs to  the  Eastern  Star.  He  is  now 
master  of  the  local  lodge,  and  has  long  been 
a  faithful  worker  in  the  order.  They  are 
the  parents  of  one  child,  Harry  A.,  and  have 
manv  friends  in  the  communitv. 


HENRY  STECKELBERG. 

Henry  Steckelberg  is  entitled  to  promi- 
nent mention  among  the  progressive  farm- 
ers of  Sauk  county.  He  has  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  in  that  region,  and 
his  labors  for  the  advancement  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  has  chosen  his  home 
make  him  one  of  the  prominent  and  re- 
sjDected  citizens.  He  is  a  son  of  the  German 
Empire,  but  gives  his  services  for  the  cause 


of  his  adopted  land,  and  in  every  possible 
way  has  aided  in  transforming  the  wilder- 
ness which  first  met  his  eye  into  a  pleasant 
and  beautiful  farming  country.  He  has  a 
home  of  more  than  usual  comforts  in  West- 
field  townshi]:).  and  his  residence  is  on  sec- 
tion 27. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Kirchweihe, 
Hanover,  Germany,  November  14,  1850,  and 
was  a  son  of  Jahn  G.  and  Mary  (Lichte) 
Steckelberg,  who  were  natives  of  the  same 
locality.  His  mother  died  in  her  native 
land,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.  The 
father  was  a  farm  laborer  in  Germany  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1868,  and  set- 
tled in  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
died  in  Westfield  township  in  1887,  aged 
sixty-six  years. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  our  sub- 
ject came  to  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  since 
which  time  he  has  lived  in  Westfield  town- 
ship. He  attended  school  two  winters  in 
Lodi,  and  soon  acquired  a  knowledge  of 
American  ways  and  customs  and  the  Eng- 
lish language.  He  purchased  his  present 
farm  about  seven  3'ears  after  coming  to  the 
county,  and  at  the  time  there  were  but  four 
or  five  acres  of  the  land  cleared  for  culti- 
vation. He  is  now  the  possessor  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  land,  and  has  about 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  cleared  and 
tillable.  He  erected  a  commodious  and  sub- 
stantial brick  house  in  1884,  and  in  1896 
built  one  of  the  largest  barns  in  the  county. 
It  measures  40x104  feet  and  has  a  base- 
ment under  the  entire  structure.  He  makes 
stock  raising  and  dairying  the  features  of 
the  place,  and  does  not  engage  extensively 
in  grain  raising. 

INIr.  Steckelberg  was  married  January 
24,  1874,  to  Catharine  Meyer,  daughter  of 
George  and  Catharine  (Freese)  Meyer. 
Mrs.  Steckelberg  was  born  in  Repdorf, 
Hanover,  Germany,  and  came  to  the  LTnited 
States  in  company  with  her  parents  in  1872. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


741 


The  family  settled  in  Westfield  township, 
where  the  parents  still  reside.  Six  children, 
two  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  have  been  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steckelberg,  the  four  sur- 
viving children  named  as  follows :  Henry ; 
Ida,  now  Mrs.  Herman  Licht,  of  Westfield 
township;  Emma;  and  Rosella. 

The  family  are  connected  with  the  Lu- 
theran Zion  church,  of  Westfield,  and  Mr. 
Steckelberg  is  an  elder  of  the  society.  He 
is  a  man  of  great  force  of  character  and 
under  his  charge  many  of  the  substantial 
new  bridges  have  been  built  and  other  im- 
provements made  in  the  highways  of  the 
township.  He  has  served  as  chairman  of 
the  township  board  since  1891,  and  his  effi- 
cient service  is  appreciated  by  the  citizens 
of  his  community.  Politically  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, and  stands  firmly  for  the  principles  of 
his  part}'. 


FREMONT  JAY  CROSS. 

Fremont  Jay  Cross,  a  well-known  busi- 
ness man  of  Cambria,  is  a  native  of  the 
Badger  state  and  traces  his  lineage  from 
some  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  United 
States.  A  number  of  his  progenitors  have 
won  distinction  in  professional  and  military 
circles  and  their  record  as  a  whole  is  one  to 
which  any  citizen  might  point  with  pardon- 
able pride. 

Mr.  Cross  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Greenfield,  Milwaukee  county,  January  9, 
1857.  His  parents  were  William  Wallace 
and  Jane  H.  (Strong)  Cross  and  his  pater- 
nal grandparents  were  Levi  and  Loa  (John- 
son) Cross.  Levi  Cross  was  an  industrious 
farmer,  who  lived  and  died  in  Jefferson 
county,  New  York.  He  was  remotely  of 
English  lineage,  but  the  exact  time  of  the 
emigration  of  the  family  to  America  is  un- 
known. Loa  Johnson  represented  the  sev- 
enth generation  of  her  family  in  this  countrv. 


being  descended  from  John  Johnson  and  his 
wife,  Susanna,  who  came  from  Hern  Hill, 
county  of  Kent,  England,  and  settled  at 
Andover,  Massachusetts,  previous  to  the 
year  1635.  Their  posterity  is  now  scattered 
through  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union, 
and  in  many  other  places.  Among  the  num- 
ber may  be  mentioned  Professor  Osgood 
Johnson,  who  was  principal  of  Phillips 
Academy  at  Andover,  from  1833  to  1837, 
Josiah  Johnson,  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Loa 
Cross,  served  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Sixteenth 
Company,  Fifth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts 
Militia,  during  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
his  son,  Othniel,  father  of  Mrs.  Cross,  was 
a  captain  of  infantry  during  the  war  of  1812. 
William  W.  Johnson,  a  brother  of  Mrs. 
Cross,  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  of 
]\Iassachusetts  militia  in  1836,  but  as  far  as 
known  was  never  called  into  active  service. 
This  gentleman,  who  is  still  living,  is  dis- 
tinguished for  his  literary  tastes.  He  has 
prepared  a  volume  of  family  genealogy,  to 
which  we  are  indebted  for  much  of  the  infor- 
mation contained  in  this  article.  He  is  a 
remarkably  fine  penman,  as  shown  in  a  let- 
ter written  to  the  subject  of  this  notice  when 
he  was  eighty-two  years  of  age.  In  this 
letter  he  gives  the  fohowing  description  of 
the  coat  of  arms  granted  to  William  John- 
son, B.  D.  "Ar,  a  chev.  az.  between  three 
Pheons  gu.  On  a  chief  of  the  second  an 
open  book  representing  the  Holy  Bible  ppr. 
edged  and  sealed  or.,  thereon  inscribed 
Proverbs  XXII,  verse  6,  between  two  crosses 
flory  of  the  last.  Crest :  a  Pheon  as  in  the 
arms,  surmounted  by  a  star  of  eight  points 
or." 

William  W.  Cross  was  born  at  Rossie, 
Jefferson  county.  New  York.  In  1849  he 
came  to  Wisconsin  and  located  at  North 
Greenfield,  near  Milwaukee,  where  he  car- 
ried on  a  blacksmith  shop  for  over  forty 
years,  dying  there  in  December,  1897, 
al  the  age  of  sixtv-four  years.    He  inherited 


742 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


the  patriotic  instincts  of  his  ancestors,  and 
when  the  o-reat  Civil  war  broke  out  prompt- 
ly offered  his  services  and  spent  two  years 
in  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment,  Wisconsin 
\'olunteer  Infantry,  at  the  end  of  whicli  time 
he  was  discharged  owing  to  disabilities. 
He  had  four  brothers,  each  of  whom  did 
military  service  for  two  )-ears  or  more  dur- 
ing the  same  conflict.  JMrs.  Jane  H.  Cross 
is  now  living  in  Cambria,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
four  years.  She  was  born  in  Onondaga 
county,  New  York.  Her  father,  Reuben 
Strong,  was  probably  of  English  descent. 
His  wife,  I'armelia  (Fuller),  was  of  Dutch 
lineage.  This,  family  came  to  NVisconsin 
in  1836,  settling  at  Greenfield,  where  they 
were  among  the  earliest  pioneers.  Two 
brothers  uf  Mrs.  Cross  served  in  the  Union 
army  during  the  Ci\'il  war,  a  third  being  too 
young  for  militar}-  duly  at  that  time.  Mrs. 
Cross  is  the  mother  of  two  sons  and  one 
daughter :  the  latter,  Emma  Loa,  became  the 
wife  of  Edwin  A.  James,  of  Brandon,  Wis- 
consin, and  Clarence  was  accidentally  killed 
b\-  a  train  of  cars  while  crossing  the  tracks 
near  his  home  at  Greenfield.  This  sad  event 
occurred  in  1897,  when  he  had  reached  the 
age  of  twenty-seven  years. 

Freiuont  Jay  Cross,  who  is  the  eldest 
and  only  survivor  of  his  father's  family,  at- 
tended the  public  school  at  Greenfield  and 
at  an  early  age  began  to  manifest  an  aptitude 
for  fine  mechanical  work.  When  twenty 
years  of  age  he  went  to  jNIihvaukee  and 
studied  dentistry  with  Dr.  David  Ritchey. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  years  he  has 
jiracticed  his  ])rofession  since  that  time;  he 
also  learned  the  jeweler's  trade,  which  was 
more  to  his  taste.  After  working  a  few 
years  at  McHenry,  Illinois, ^  and  elsewhere, 
in  1883  he  located  in  Cambria,  bringing  the 
first  stock  of  jewelry  to  that  village,  where 
he  continues  to  be  the  only  workman  in  that 
l:ne.  He  had  been  here  but  a  short  time 
when  he  resumed  the  practice  of  dentistrv 


and  still  carries  on  the  two  occupations  con- 
jointly, his  skill  in  both  pursuits  having  at- 
tracted a  liberal  patronage. 

In  1879  Mr.  Cross  was  married  to  Miss 
Ella  E.  James,  daughter,  of  John  T.  and 
Eliza  (Braithwaite)  James,  of  Greenfield, 
Wisconsin.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  James  came  to 
that  place  from  England.  One  son  and  three 
daughters  brighten  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cross,  named,  respectively:  Wilfred 
James,  Cordello  Eliza,  Ethelyn  Jane  and 
Elva  Enola.  Wilfred  J.  is  now  his  father's 
assistant  in  the  jewelry  store,  for  which  he 
evinces  a  decided  taste.  Mr.  Cross  is  iden- 
tified with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  is  a 
past  master  of  Cambria  Lodge,  No.  15J. 
He  is  also  connected  with  the  local  organi- 
zations of  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
^^'orkmen  and  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America.  A  Republican  in  sentiment,  he  at- 
tends numerous  political  gatherings,  but 
sometimes  supports  worthy  candidates  with 
whom  he  disagrees  in  matters  of  national 
policy.  He  has  several  times  been  elected  a 
member  of  the  \'illage  board  of  trustees  and 
lias  also  ser\-ed  as  president  of  that  body. 
He  has  also  been  a  meml:)er  of  the  county 
board  of  supervisors  and  is  the  present  treas- 
urer of  the  village. 


DAVID  THOMPSON  BONNELL. 

Da\'id  Thom])son  Bonnell,  one  of  the 
most  popular  public  oflicials  of  Adams  coun- 
ty, was  born  in  Mendon,  Morris  county. 
New  Jersey,  July  i  r,  1849.  ^^^  nearly 
half  a  century  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
Adams  county,  and  enjo_ys  a  large  acquaint- 
an.ce  and  the  respect  of  the  entire  community. 

Mr.  Bonnell  was  the  youngest  son  born 
to  Charles  Pinkney  and  Jane  (Garrabrant) 
Bonnell.  His  father  was  a  brick  mason  and 
plasterer  by  trade,  and  followed  it  in  New- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


743 


nrk.  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  other  cities 
of  the  east,  and  in  1853  moved  to  Wiscon- 
sin, settling  on  his  farm  in  Adams  county,, 
and  plying  his  trade  in  the  town.  He  laid 
the  foundation  of  several  of  the  first  build- 
irigs  in  Kilbourn,  and  was  forced  to  abandon 
that  line  of  work  on  account  of  an  injury 
received  by  falling  from  a  scaffold.  He  died 
Xovember  14,  1876,  aged  seventy-one  years. 
}le  led  an  honorable  and  useful  life  and  was 
resjiected  where  he  made  his  home.  The 
n^other  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Morris 
enmity,  Xew  Jersey,  and  her  ancestors  were 
among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  that  state.  Her 
<leath  occurred  in  June,  1872,  aged  sixty- 
nine  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  Bonnell 
reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  nine  sons  and 
one  daughter.  Seven  sons  served  in  the  Civil 
var,  and  their  service  aggregated  over  nine- 
teen years.  John  W.  died  in  Detroit,  ]Min- 
ntsota,  in  1899:  Charles  H.,  deceased,  the 
onl}'  one  of  the  sons  who  did  not  enter  the 
service;  William  T.,  deceased;  Cornelius,  of 
Rochester,  New  York^  wounded  in  the  knee 
at  Fredericksburg;  Aaron  H.,  killed  in  the 
battle  of  Antietam,  July  24,  1864;  Edward 
J.,  wounded  at  Marietta,  Georgia,  now  re- 
siding in  Tomah,  \Visconsin;  Octavius,  of 
Blanchard,  North  Dakota ;  Sarah  J.,  now 
Mrs.  Edward  Lawrence,  of  \Vonewoc,  Wis- 
consin; and  David  T.,  our  suliject.  One 
other  son  died  in  childhood.  Four  of  the 
sons,  John  ^^^,  Cornelius,  Edward  J.,  and 
Octavius,  re-enlisted  as.  veterans,  after  the 
expiration  of  their  first  terms  of  service. 

David  T.  Bonnell  attended  the  public 
.schools,  and  later  Brunson  Institute,  at  Point 
BiuiY,  and  resided  on  the  farm  with  his  par- 
ents until  he  enlisted,  July  24,  1864,  in  Com- 
pany E,  Thirty-eighth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry.  He  was  in  the  army  of  the  Po- 
tomac and  in  active  service  through  the  clos- 
ing campaigns  of  the  war,  at  Petersburg,  and 
^\■eldon  R.  R.,  and  was  discharged  July  26, 


1865.  After  the  war  he  engaged  in  lumber- 
ing on  the  Wisconsin  river  for  several  years, 
and  then  followed  the  carpenter's  trade  four- 
teen years.  He  then  purchased  a  dairy  farm 
near  Point  Bluff,  comprising  two  hundred 
and  two  acres,  which  he  improved  and  still 
owns.  He  was  elected  county  registrar  in 
the  fall  of  1898,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  a  resident  of  Friendship. 

Our  subject  was  married  October  3,  1869, 
tc  Marilla  Morris,  a  native  of  New 
York,  and  a  daughter  of  Morgan  L. 
and  Marilla  (Butler)  Morris,  of  Adams 
county.  Mr.  and  IMrs.  Bonnell  are  the  par- 
ents of  two  children:  Alfred  L.,  a  resident 
of  Kansas  City,  Missouri;  and  Bertha  W'ini- 
fred,  now  Mrs.  WilHam  Graves,  of  Han- 
cock, W^isconsin.  Mr.  Bonnell  is  an  hon- 
ored member  of  Badger  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  and 
Ouincy  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  In  political 
sentiment  he  is  a  Republican,  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  the  movements  of  his  party. 
He  has  filled  the  office  of  town  clerk  in 
Springville  township  for  nianv  years,  and 
is  always  awake  to  the  general  welfare  of  his 
communitv. 


DANIEL  S.  HASKINS. 

Daniel  S.  Haskins,  a  representative 
farmer  and  leading  citizen  of  Richfield  town- 
ship, Adams  county,  W^isconsin,  was  born  in 
St.  Lawrence  county.  New  York,  Septem- 
ber 28,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Allen  and 
Eleanor  (Schrever)  Haskins,  the  former  a 
native  of  Vermont,  born  1789,  and  the  latter 
in  Oswego  county.  New  York.  The  father, 
who  was  also  a  farmer  by  occupation,  came 
to  Wisconsin  in  1855,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence on  Burr  Oak  Prairie,  Adams  county, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his   life. 

Daniel  S.  Haskins,  of  this  review,  was 
rcaretl  in  nnich  the  usual  manner  of  farmer 


744 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


boys  of  his  day,  and  since  attaining  to 
man's  estate  has  devoted  his  energies  to  ag- 
ricultural i)ursuits,  now  owning  and  operat- 
ing a  good  farm  of  eighty  acres  in  Rich- 
field township,  Adams  county.  He  was 
married,  July  27,  1871,  to  Miss  Mary  Eliza- 
beth Parks,  of  Richfield  township,  a  daugh- 
ter of  \\'illiam  and  Mary  (Mead)  Parks, 
the  former  a  nati\e  of  Germany,  the  latter 
of  New  York.  Her  father  gave  up  his  life 
for  his  adopted  country  in  the  Civil  war, 
being  killed  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  He 
had  enlisted  in  the  fall  at  Richford,  \Vau- 
shara  county,  \\'isconsin,  in  the  Sixteenth 
Wisconsin  N'olunteer  Infantry.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Haskins  ha\e  two  children :  Henry 
wedded  Mary  A.  Burdick  and  lives  in  Rich- 
field townshi]),  Adams  county ;  and  Emma, 
wife  of  Charles  Payne,  who  is  living  on  the 
home  farm  in  the  same  township. 

The  Haskins  family  has  been  well  rep- 
resented in  the  wars  of  this  country  and  has 
been  noted  for  its  patriotism  and  loyalty. 
Our  subject's  father  was  a  soldier  of  the 
war  of  1812,  and  his  grandfather,  John  Has- 
kins, valiantly  fought  for  the  freedom  of 
the  colonies  during  the  Revolutionary  war. 
'1  he  latter  was  thrown  from  a  horse  and 
killed.  Our  subject  was  one  of  the  boys  in  blue 
during  the  Civil  war,  enlisting  August  8, 
1864,  in  Company  K,  Thirty-eighth  Wiscon- 
sm  Volunteer  Infantry,  under  command  of 
Captain  Thomas  Marsdin.  The  regiment  was 
assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
spent  the  winter  of  1864-65  in  the  ditches 
in  front  of  Petersburg.  They  began  the 
siege  five  hundred  strong,  but  when  the  fort 
surrendered  only  eighty  were  aljle  to  en- 
gage in  active  duty.  When  the  war  ended 
and  his  services  were  no  longer  needed,  Mr. 
Haskins  was  honorably  discharged  June 
2,  1865.  He  is  an  ardent  Republican  in 
politics,  and  gives  his  support  to  every  en- 
terprise which  he  believes  will  prove  of  pub- 
lic benefit. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  YOUNG. 

William  Henry  Young,  a  prominent  rep- 
resentati\-e  of  the  agricultural  interests  (if 
Reedsburg  t(jwnship,  Sauk  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, was  born  in  Minden,  Montgomery  coun- 
tv.  New  York,  May  10,  1824,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  Christian  and  Hannah  (Dlngman) 
Young,  also  natives  of  the  Empire  state,  born 
in  Minden  and  Kinderhook,  respectively. 
Our  subject's  great-grandfather,  Godfrey 
\'oung,  a  native  of  Wurtemburg,  German}-, 
served  his  king  as  collector  of  tithes,  and 
his  discharge,  signed  by  the  king,  is  still 
preserved  by  our  subject.  About  the  mifldle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  he  came  to  Amer- 
ica and  settled  in  Montgomery  county.  New 
\'ork,  becoming  one  of  the  pioneers  of  that 
region.  He  and  four  of  his  sons,  Christian, 
Godfrey,  John:  and  Daniel,  served  through 
the  French  and  Indian  war  and  also  fought 
in  the  Revolution  for  the  independence  of 
the  colonies.  Godfrey  Yoimg,  Jr.,  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  was  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Oriskany  and  ilied  from  the  eft'ects 
of  the  same  forty  years  later.  A  fiiwling 
])iece, which  he  captured  during  the  war  from 
an  Indian  shari)shooter,  who  had  been  armed 
by  the  English,  is  also  in  the  possession  of 
our  subject.  John  C.  Young,  the  father, 
was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812  and  partici- 
pated in  the  battle  of  Sacket  Harbor.  Dur- 
ing his  youth  he  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade,  which  he  followed  for  many  3'ears.  In 
1856  he  came  to  Sauk  county,  Wisconsin, 
and  lived  near  Reedsliurg  until  calleil  from 
this  life  in  February,  1877,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  His  wife  passed  away 
two  or  three  years  previously  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four.  Her  father  was  John  Ding- 
man,  a  farmer,  who  had  descended  from  an 
old  Dutch  family  of  New  York. 

In  early  manhood,  William  H.  Young,  of 
this  review,  went  to  Springfield  Stone  Mills, 
New  York,  where  he  worked  as  a  stone  ma- 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


745 


son  and  carpenter  until  coming  to  tliis  state 
in  .1854.  He  lived  for  a  short  time  in  White- 
water and  other  places,  but  in  January. 
1855,  came  to  Reedsburg,  and  the  fnllnwing 
year  purchased  eighty  acres  of  his  present 
farm  in  Reedsburg  township,  to  the  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement  of  which  he  has  since 
devoted  his  energies  with  marked  success. 
As  his  financial  resources  have  increased  he 
has  extended  the  boundaries  of  his  farm 
from  time  to  time  until  he  now  has  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  valuable  land  under  a  higli 
state  of  cultivation  and  well  improved. 

In  December,  1856,  Mr.  Young  married 
Miss  Adelaide  Crawford,  a  daughter  of 
James  Crawford,  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin, 
who  was  from  Ohio.  She  died  in  July,  i860, 
at  the  early  age  of  4;wenty-four  years,  leav- 
ing one  son,  Clarence  Orville,  now  a  resident 
of  Wigg,  Minnesota.  Mr.  Young  was  again 
married  in  i86j,  his  second  union  being  with 
Miss  Lydia  Dewey,  a  nati\-e  of  Oconomo- 
woc,  Wisconsin,  and  a  daughter  of  Henr} 
Dewey,  of  Reedslnirg.  Two  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  namely:  George;  and 
Winnie,  now  the  wife  of  Alliert  Xinnaman, 
of  fronton,  Wisconsin. 

During  the  Ci\  il  war  Mr.  Young  served 
for  a  time  in  the  ([uartermaster's  department 
as  a  carpenter  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  but 
becoming  disgusted  with  the  dilatory  tactics 
of  the  office  he  resigned.  In  politics  he  has  al- 
ways been  a  pronounced  Democrat,  and  for 
several  years  he  has  served  as  a  member  of 
the  town  board  of  super\-isors  and  as  chair- 
man of  the  same  for  two  years.  He  has  ever 
taken  a  deep  and  commendable  interest  in 
puljlic  affairs,  and  was  very  active  in  the 
management  of  the  Reedsburg  Grange,  P.  of 
H.,  while  that  organization  existed.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  has  affiliated  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  having  united  with  the 
order  at  Stone  Mills,  New  York,  and  he  is 
now  a  prominent  and  honored  member  of 
Reedsburg  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Reeds- 


burg Chapter,  R.  A.  ^I.,  having  filled  the 
principal  offices  in  the  former.  He  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  oldest  Mason  in  Wisconsin, 
and  is  a  man  highly  respected  by  all  who 
know  him. 


ADELBERT  EDWARDS,  M.  D. 

Adelbert  Edwards,  M.  D.,  was  born  near 
Elmira.  Chemung  county.  New  York,  No- 
vember 22.  1860.  He  is  a  son  of  David  15. 
and  Amanda  (  Ketchum )  Edwards,  and  on 
the  paternal  side  is  doubtless  of  English  in- 
Welsh  lineage. 

David  B.  Edwards  is  a  native  of  New 
York.  In  the  early  "sixties  he  came  to  \\"is- 
cousin  and  lived  on  a  farm  in  Adams  coun- 
ty until  1889.  when  he  went  to  Phillips  coun- 
ty. Kansas,  where  he  still  resales  at  the  age 
of  eighty-six  years.  His  wife  died  soon 
after  their  removal  to  that  state,  aged  about 
seventy  years. 

Adelliert  Edwards  spent  most  oi  his 
early  life  in  Adams  county.  Wisconsin,  de- 
veloping a  rugged  constitution,  for  the 
formation  of  which  the  climate  and  environ- 
ment of  the  Badger  state  seem  to  be  peculiar- 
Iv  adapted.  After  leaving  the  public  schfiols 
he  spent  two  years  at  the  State  Normal 
School  at  Oshkosh  and  devoted  four  or  li\e 
years  more  to  teaching  in  .Vdams  county. 
He  began  to  study  the  healing  art  with  Dr. 
Jenkins,  of  Kilbourn,  and,  after  a  time,  went 
to  Thayer,  Kansas,  where  he  was  associated 
in  practice  with  Dr.  Houston.  He  aijplied 
himself  to  the  work  with  considerable  /-eal 
and  enthusiasm  and,  with  a  view  to  fitting 
himself  thoroughly  for  the  art,  took  a  course 
at  the  Medical  school  of  the  Iowa  University 
at  Iowa  City,  graduating  in  1885.  He  then 
engaged  in  practice  at  Kingston,  W' isconsin, 
and  later  located  at  Plainfield,  in  the  same 
state.  Desiring  to  perfect  himself  in  the  pro- 
fession, be  went  to  Rush  Medical  College. 
Chicago,  and  received  a  diploma  from  that 


746 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


famous  institution  in  1889.  At  that  date  he 
located  in  Sauk  county,  opening-  an  office 
first  at  Loganville.  From  there  he  removed 
to  Lime  Ridge,  where  he  practiced  for  three 
)-ears,  also  conducting  a  drug  store.  His 
growing  patronage  admonished  iiim  to  seek 
a  wider  field  for  its  development  and.  in 
1894,  he  opened  an  office  at  Reedsburg 
where  he  has  since  pursued  a  general  prac- 
tice. He  keeps  fully  abreast  of  the  latest 
developments  in  medical  science  and  for  a 
dozen  A-ears  past  has  taken  post-graduate 
courses  semJi-annually,  making  a  special 
study  of  surgery,  gynecology  and  diseases 
of  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and  tlu-oat.  Having 
a  practical,  as  well  as  a  theoretical  knowledge 
of  these  subjects,  accounts  in  a  measure  for 
his  remarkable  success  and  the  increasing  de- 
n-^and  for  his  services. 

Dr.  Edwards  was  first  married  to  Miss 
Ella  Jones,  of  Oxford,  \Visconsin.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Norman  Jones,  a  prominent 
farmer  near  that  village,  in  Adams  county, 
of  wlioni  an  extended  biographical  notice 
a])pears  elsewhere  in  this  \-olume.  The  mat- 
rimonial joys  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Edwards  were 
severed  by  the  death  of  the  latter,  which  oc- 
curred in  1883.  She  was  twenty-two  years 
of  age  and  left  one  daughter,  Ella  .M.  The 
Doctor  married  j\Iiss  Nellie  Jones,  a  sister 
of  his  first  wife,  and  the  present  partner  of 
Ins  joys  and  sorrows.  She  has  borne  him 
two  daughters,  named,  respectively,  Ethel 
and  Jessie,  and  a  son,  named  Har\ey.  Dr. 
and  I\Irs.  Edwards  are  connected  with  the 
Congregational  church.  Their  ])leasant 
home  is  a  very  popular  resort  for  children, 
vlio  always  meet  a  hearty  welcome  there. 
The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  has  been  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  ])art}-  from  boy- 
hnod,  but  is  in  no  sense  a  ijolitician.  Un- 
tiring in  his  professional  lal^ors  and  genial 
in  disposition,  he  certainly  merits  the  popu- 
larit\-  which  he  has  won. 


HON.  LEMUEL  PUTNAM  HINDES. 

Lemuel  Putnam  Hindes,  the  j^resent  pop- 
ular and  capable  postmaster  at  Lodi,  Wis- 
consin, is  a  gentleman  of  much  force  of  char- 
acter. He  has  been  a  resident  of  this  com- 
munit}'  for  many  years,  and  has  impressed 
himself  ujion  its  business  interests  in  a  man- 
ner that  attests  his  worth  and  integrity. 

Mr.  Hindes  was  born  at  Cameron,  Steu- 
ben county.  New  York,  April  3,  1848,  and  ia 
a  son  of  Dexter  Henry  and  Sarah  (Bab- 
cock)  Hindes.  The  father  was  born  in  Ot- 
sego county.  New  York,  October  26,  181 5, 
and  is  still  an  active  and  industrious  man, 
notwithstanding  his  great  age.  Darius 
Hindes,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  Lodi 
postmaster,  was  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  the  musket  which  he  carried  during  that 
war  is  still  preserved,  and  is  in  the  posses- 
sion of  L.  P.  Hindes.  His  son,  Lemuel 
Hindes,  the  father  of  D.  H.,  was  born  in 
New  York,  and  was  a  farmer.  D.  H.  Hindes  • 
became  a  merchant  in  Cameron  and  was 
very  successful  in  his  business  ventures.  In 
1856  he  came  to  Lodi.  ^^'isconsin,  and 
opened  a  grocery  store,  and  Ijuilt  up  a  very 
extensive  trade.  After  the  passing  of  a 
number  of  years  he  found  his  health  demand- 
ed a  more  vigorous  and  out  of  door  life.  He 
disposed  of  the  store  and  engaged  in  farm- 
irig  for  a  time,  and  then  opened  a  blacksmith 
shop  in  Lodi,  and  carried  on  a  very  extensive 
business.  In  1888  he  gave  up  active  busi- 
ness, and  has  lived  a  retired  life  since  that 
time,  and  presents  a  remarkable  example  of 
the  retention  of  health  and  vigor  to  a  great 
age.  Mrs.  Sarah  Hindes  died  in  Lodi,  \\'is- 
consin,  in  November,  1894,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  \-ears.  She  was  Ixjrn  at  Exe- 
ter, Otsego  county.  New  York,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Elijah  Babcock,  a  farmer,  who 
lived  and"  died  in  that  communit}'.  She  was 
the  mother  of  three  sons  and  one  daughter : 
Sherman  H.,  a  merchant  in  Lodi;  Eliza  M. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


747 


married  S.  A.  Koonce  and  lives  in  Sliarjis- 
ville,  Pennsylvania;  Elijah  B.  li\-es  in  Lodi ; 
and  L.  P.,  who  is  the  suhject  of  this  sketch. 
Elijah  and  Lemuel  both  wore  Union  blue, 
and  served  in  the  Federal  armies  during  the 
\\ar  of  the  Rebellion.  Elijah  was  in  the  Sev- 
crth  ^^'isconsin  \^)lunteer  lnfantr\-.  and  was 
a  i^art  of  the  famous  Iron  Brii^ade.  lie  spent 
four  years  in  the  ser\'icc,  and  was  nine 
months  a  jirisoncr  of  war  in  .Vndersonville. 

Lemuel  Plindes  has  ])eeu  a  resident  of 
Lodi  since  he  was  seven  years  old,  and  grad- 
uated from  the  high  school  of  this  place 
when  he  was  twenty  years  old.  His  school 
days  were  broken  into  by  service  as  a  sol- 
dier. He  enlisted  Auoirst  27,  1864,  as  a 
member  of  Comjxuiy  C,  Forty-second  \\'is- 
consin  Volunteer  Infantr)-,  being  just  ])ast 
the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  was  assigned  to 
the  army  in  the  southwest.  He  served  much 
of  his  time  at  Cairo,  Illinois,  and  was  dis- 
charged June  20,  1865.  When  he  left  school 
iie  took  charge  of  his  father's  farm,  and  hat! 
become  largely  interested  in  hn])  culture 
when  the  great  collapse  came  in  that  Imsi- 
ness  in  1869.  Mr.  Hindes  gradual!)  worked 
into  the  produce  business,  bought  and 
shipped  large  quantities  of  butter,  eggs  and 
cheese.  He  is  still  actively  interested  in  this 
line.  In  the  month  of  February,  1899,  he 
disposed  of  his  store  interests,  which  had 
grown  very  large,  and  de\-otes  himself  as- 
siduously to  the  duties  of  his  official  position. 
Lie  has  erected  a  number  of  business  blocks 
in  Lodi,  and  is  one  of  ihe  public  siiirited  and 
-aggressive  business  men  dl  the  tnwn. 

Mr.  Hindes  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1896  and  was  an  able 
arid  influential  member  of  that  body.  He 
served  on  the  committee  on  education,  and 
largely  secured  the  defeat  of  the  measure  to 
prohibit  retail  trading  in  the  dairy  products 
of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  He  fought 
the  license  tax  on  teachers'  certificates,  and 
helped  to  pass  the  bill  prohibiting    railwa}' 


passes  to  public  officials.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  county  board  nine  years  and  justice  of 
the  peace  twenty  years.  In  December,  1898, 
he  was  ajjpointed  jjostmaster,  and  has  filled 
that  position  to  the  very  general  satisfaction 
of  the  public.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his 
party  in  this  end  of  the  county. 

Mr.  liindes  and  Miss  Sylva  A.  Sawyer 
were  married,  October  19,  1870.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Prescott  and  Zeriua  Sawyer, 
and  was  born  in  ^^'illiams  county,  Ohio, 
June  24,  1844.  She  died  in  Lodi,  March  9, 
1896.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  a  good  woman  in  every  sense 
of  the  word.  She  was  the  mother  of  three 
children:  Etta  Dell,  the  wife  of  C.  J.  Knut- 
son ;  Nellie  Zeriua,  the  wife  of  Edmond  Per- 
ry ;  and  Edward  Lemuel.  They  are  all  liv  - 
ing  in  Lodi,  where  they  were  born  and 
reared.  Mr.  Hindes  contracted  a  second 
matrimonial  alliance  in  May,  1898,  ■with, 
Mrs.  Emma  Du  Bois,  of  Reedsburg,  \Vis- 
consin,  the  widow  of  Charles  Du  Bois.  Mrs. 
Hindes  is  the  daughter  of  John  C.  and  ]\Iary 
(Worthman)  Young,  and  is  a  nati\'e  of 
Mukwonago,  Wisconsin.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Orange  county.  New  York,  and  was 
left  an  orphan  when  very  young.  He  went 
to  sea  very  early,  and  spent  thirteen  years 
on  the  water.  He  received  a  captain's  com- 
mission, but  never  commanded  a  vessel.  He 
married  and  came  to  Wisconsin.  He  located 
at  Mukwonago,  where  he  kept  store  and 
served  as  postiuaster  for  many  years.  At  the 
present  time  he  is  li\'ing  at  Reedsburg  at  the 
\-enerable  age  of  eighty-six.  For  many 
years  he  took  an  active  part  in  Reedsburg 
politics.  His  wife,  Mary  Young,  died  in 
1880,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four.  She  was  born 
in  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  lady  of  much 
character  and  many  attractive  traits.  The 
present  Mrs.  Hindes  is  the  mother  of  two 
sons,  Floyd  M.  and  Claude  A.  Du  Bois,  both 
now  residing  in  Lodi.    The  late  Charles  Du- 


74S 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Bois  was  born  in  Niagara  connty,  New- 
York,  and  died  in  Reeds1nn-g-,  October  8, 
1888,  at  the  age  of  forty-two.  His  progeni- 
tors came  from  France,  but  have  had  a  home 
in  this  conntry  fmrn  the  early  part  of  tlie 
sixteentli  century.  The  family  are  connect- 
ed with  the  Presbyterian  churcli,  where  Mr. 
Hindes  is  a  trustee.  He  belongs  to  George 
H.  Irwin  Post,  No.  25,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  also  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America. 


DAVID  HENRY  R(3BERTSON. 

Da\-id  Henry  Robertson  is  one  of  the 
leading  capitalists  of  Lodi,  Wisconsin,  and  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  old  pioneer  fam- 
ilies which  has  always  been  influential  in  both 
Columbia  and  Dane  counties.  He  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Vienna,  Dane  county,  Wis- 
consin, October  7,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of  Da- 
vid and  Marietta  (Mcintosh)  Robertson. 
David  Robertson  was  a  native  of  Ayrshire, 
Scotland,  where  his  father  was  a  farmer  and 
a  dealer  in  cheese.  He  died  when  David 
was  lint  twelve  years  old.  The  young 
Scotchman  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1842,  and  located  in  Dane  oxuitv,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  began  his  career  in  this  coun- 
try by  taking  a  place  as  a  farm  laborer.  In 
Ins  home  country  he  had  been  engaged 
in  mercantile  business,  but  owing  to  a  wide- 
spread financial  depression  found  it  impos- 
sible to  maintain  himself.  He  was  obliged 
to  liegin  anew  in  this  country,  and  a  i^art  of 
the  meager  capital  he  brought  with  him  was 
loaned  to  irresponsible  parties,  and  liecame 
a  total  loss.  In  1847  'le  bought  government 
land  to  which  he  had  made  a  squatter's  claim 
two  years  before.  From  time  to  time  he  add- 
ed to  his  real  estate  holdings  until  he  was 
possessed  of  twelve  hundred  acres  of  real 
estate,  and  a  large  amount  of  personal  prop- 
erty at  the  time  of  his  death.   He  was  eighty- 


one  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Au- 
gust 21,  1895,  and  througiiout  his  long  and 
singularly  successful  life  he  was  an  activiT 
and  vigorous  man,  in  the  best  of  health,  and 
methodical  in  his  habits.  He  was  a  stock 
liolder  in  the  bank  at  Lodi,  but  his  chief  at- 
tention was  given  to  agriculture,  and  he  be- 
came one  of  the  most  successful  farmers  of 
Dane  count}-.  He  was  alile  to  extend  \-aluable 
financial  assistance  to  his  less  fortunate 
neighbors,  but  never  sought  to  take  undue 
advantage  of  their  necessities.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished not  only  for  fairness  and  justice 
but  for  generosity  in  his  dealings  with  his 
debtors.  His  wife  died  ^larch  7,  1863,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-four  years.  She  was  born 
near  Elangor.  Elaine,  and  was  a  daughter 
of  \\'illiam  Mcintosh,  whn  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin in  1845,  '^ii'l  settled  near  Mr.  RuliertSDU 
in  the  town  of  Arlington,  LVilumbia  cnunty. 
He  was  interested  in  lumbering  for  a  time  at 
Wausau,  Wisconsin,  but  kept  his  residence 
on  his  home  farm  where  he  died  when  aljDUt 
eight}-  years  old.  His  wife,  Ruth  (Caleb) 
Mcintosh,  reached  the  age  of  ninety-tln-ee. 
She  and  her  husband  were  born  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  were  Imth  of  Scotch  descent.  Mr. 
r.nd  Airs.  David  Robertson  were  the  jiarents 
of  fi\-e  children  :  David  H. ;  Jennie  M.  (Airs. 
James  Baird),  deceased;  John  A.,  of  Lodi; 
William  \\'.,  of  Morrisonville,  Wisconsin; 
and  Frank  L.,  deceased,  of  tlie  town  of  A'i- 
enna.  After  the  loss  of  his  wife  in  her  early 
youth,  Air.  Robertson  married  Aliss  Hannah 
Thomas,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Roxy 
Idiomas,  of  the  town  of  Dekorra.  She  was 
l)orn  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Alay  18, 
1828,  and  is  now  li\-ing  in  Lodi  with  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

David  H.  Robertson  grew  to  manhood 
on  the  paternal  estate,  and  kept  his  home 
there  until  the  spring  of  1900.  He  attended 
the  Lodi  high  school,  and  afterward  the 
L^'niversity  of  Wisconsin.  He  became  the 
owner  of  the  home   farm   and   (jthcr   lands. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


749' 


and  as  a  farmer  devoted  himself  extensively 
to  stock  breeding  of  all  kinds.  For  some 
years  past  he  has  made  a  specialty  of  short 
horn  cattle,  and  his  herd  is  widely  known 
as  it  has  carried  off  many  premiums  at  fairs 
and  exhibitions,  and  this  in  competition 
with  some  of  the  best  herds  in  \\'isconsin. 
He  was  one  of  the  stockholders  in  the  de- 
funct bank  of  Lodi,  his  interest  in  that  in- 
stitution being-  augmented  by  his  share  of 
his  father's  estate.  He  finally  became  presi- 
dent of  the  bank.  Owing  to  mismanage- 
ment on  the  part  of  its  previous  officers,  the 
affairs  of  the  bank  became  hopelessly  in- 
volved. ]\Ir.  Ro])ertson  and  his  colleagues 
decided  it  would  be  wise  to  suspend  business 
after  paying  all  the  depositors  in  full,  though 
this  was  accomplished  at  a  heavy  loss  to  him- 
self and  the  other  responsible  stockholders. 
In  1897  he  became  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  State  Bank  of  Lodi,  and  was  elected 
itspresident.  Lender  his  careful  and  conserva- 
tive management,  together  with  that  of  hij 
colleagues,  it  has  become  one  of  the  most 
solid  financial  institutions  of  Columbia 
county.  In  politics  he  has  always  been  a 
Republican. 

Mr.  Robertson  and  Miss  Daisy  J.  Don- 
berg  were  married  March  i,  1900,  and  im- 
mediately following  their  marriage  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Robertson  established  themselves  in 
Lodi.  Mrs.  Robertson  was  born  in  Wells, 
Minnesota,  and  is  a  daughter  of  George  H. 
and  Mamie  A.  Donberg.  She  is  a  lady  of  re- 
fined and  cultivated  tastes  and  many  accom- 
plishments. She  and  her  husband  attend 
the  Presbyterian  church  of  Lodi. 


JOHX  SCOTT. 


John  Scott,  a  public-spirited  and  enter- 
prising member  of  the  farming  community 
of  Columbia  countv.  has  devoted  his  life  to 


the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  in  which  he  has 
been  very  fortunate,  and  is  now  the  pro- 
prietor of  as  good  a  farm  as  can  be  found 
within  the  limits  of  Dekorra  township,  where 
his  homestead  is  located. 

Mr.  .Scott  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  and- 
was  Ijorn  in  Milwaukee,  June  i,  1862,  and 
was  tlie  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Hart) 
Scott.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Scotland 
and  was  born  about  18 10,  and  was  a  shep- 
herd in  his  native  country,  and  also  dealt 
in  sheep.  He  came  to  America  in  1857,  and 
worked  in  a  foundry  at  Fall  River,  Massa- 
chusetts, about  one  year,  and  then  went  to 
New  York  City,  where  he  married  INIary 
Hart,  in  i860.  They  came  to  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  and  the  father  worked  for  J.  L. 
Mitchell,  on  the  ])lace  which  the  government 
later  purchased  for  a  site  for  the  Soldiers'' 
Home.  The}-  came  to  Columbia  county^ 
\A'isconsin,  in  1869,  and  purchased  a  small 
farm  in  Dekorra  townslii]).  which  is  part  of 
the  farm  now  owned  by  our  subject.  ]\Ir. 
Scott,  Sr.,  died  at  the  homestead  in  Dekorra 
township,  in  1890,  leaving  a  widow  and  one 
son,  J(jhn,  our  subject.  The  mother  was 
born  in  Ireland.  December  26,  1817,  and  now 
resides  with  her  son.  John,  at  an  ad\-anced 
age. 

(3ur  subject  has  a  fine  estate,  comprising 
four  hundred  and  five  acres  of  land,  and  he 
makes  a  s])ecialt\^  of  sti:)ck  raising.  His  farm 
is  \vell  ke[)t,  and  e\idences  thrift  and  pains- 
taking care.  He  is  progressive  and  modern 
machinery  and  methods  enter  into  the  work 
incident  to  rural  life. 

Mr.  Scott  was  married  Septemljer  6,, 
1894,  to  Mary  J.  Murphy,  daughter  of  Mich- 
ael Murphy.  Mrs.  Scott  was  born  in  Buf- 
falo, New  York,  September  30,  1859,  and 
her  father,  Michael  Murphy,  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, and  died  May  11,  1887,  aged  seventy- 
three  years,  and  her  mother  was  born  March 
15,  183 1,  and  still  survi\-es.  Two  sons  and 
one  daughter  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.- 


750 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


Scott,  as  follows :  John  A.,  born  October 
18,  1895;  Mary  J.,  born  September  19,  1896, 
and  \\'alter  H.,  born  December  27,  1899. 
The  family  are  communicants  of  the  Catholic 
church.  Mr.  Scott  holds  membershi|)  in  the 
Order  of  Forresters.  He  is  chairman  of  the 
t(.\vnship  board,  and  is  now  chairman  of  the 
board  of  super\'i.sors  of  Columbia  county, 
and  in  all  matters  of  a  public  nature  holds  a 
prominent  place.  He  takes  an  active  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  his  community  and  is  a  g'en- 
tleman  of  intelligence,  and  is  progressive  in 
his  labors.  He  is  a  firm  Republican  in  politi- 
cal belief,  and  works  for  the  principles  of  his 
party.  He  has  spent  his  entire  life  among 
the  people  of  Wisconsin  and  thev  have  al- 
ways found  him  worth}-  of  respect,  and 
Avielding  an  influence  for  good  in  his  com- 
munity. His  calling  is  one  well  suited  to  his 
nature,  and  he  is  among  the  better  class  of 
agriculturists  who  have  done  so  much  to 
gi\-e  \\'isconsin  a  reputation  as  a  thriving  ag- 
ricultural state.  He  has  pursued  the  even 
tenor  of  his  way,  asking  of  no  man  more 
than  was  his  due,  and  willingly  according 
every  man  justice  and  equity,  and  is  one  of 
the  rising  young  men  of  Dekorra  township. 


CHESTER  JOXES. 

The  farming  community  of  Jackson 
township  for  many  years  numbered  among 
its  most  esteemed  members  the  gentleman 
whose  name  introduces  this  review.  He  now 
lives  in  practical  retirement  in  the  city  of  Ivil- 
bourn. 

Mr.  Jones  was  born  in  Ixockingham, 
A\'in<lham  county,  Vermont,  March  21, 
J  823.  His  parents  were  Asa  K.  and  I^Iercy 
{Streeter)  Jones,  mentitin  of  whom  will  be 
found  in  the  biography  of  Norman  Jones. 
Chester  Jones  came  to  Wisconsin  in  the  fall 
of   1848.     After  two  years  spent  in   Rock 


county,  he  located  in  Jackson  township,  in 
Adams  county.  He  established  a  squatter's 
claim  to  a  tract  of  land  in  1849.  At  this  time 
his  nearest  neighbor  was  seven  miles  dis- 
tant, and  in  1852,  the  land  having  been  sur- 
\eyed  in  the  meantime,  he  purchased  it  from 
the  government  at  the  United  States  land  of- 
fice at  Mineral  Point.  He  built  a  log  cabin 
on  his  claim,  and  with  the  o.xen  that  had 
brought  his  movables  from  Rock  county  he 
made  a  trip  to  Stevens  Point  for  lumber  for 
roof  and  floor.  On  this  trip  he  traveled  all 
day  until  ten  p.  m.  before  seeing  a  house. 
For  several  j^ears  he  marketed  his  produce 
at  Grand  Rapids,  forty-five  miles  distant, 
drew  his  grain  to  Oxford  to  lie  ground,  and 
thence  to  Grand  Rapids,  the  round  trip  re- 
quiring fi\-e  days.  During  nearly  forty  )-ears' 
residence  in  i\dams  county  he  has  \vitnessed 
wonderful  development,  and  the  improve- 
ments on  his  farm  have  kept  pace  with  mod- 
ern ideas.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres  of  land,  the  \-alue  of 
which  is  enhanced  by  the  addition  of  many 
improvements  and  conveniences,  including 
first-class  residence  and  farm  buildings. 
Three  years  of  this  period  were  spent  in 
Portage,  \\'isconsin,  and  since  1891  he  has 
lived  in  retirement  in  Kilbourn. 

Mr.  Junes  was  married  May  11,  1848,  to 
Olive  E.  Williams,  daughter  of  Josiah  and 
Olive  (Wakefield)  Williams.  I\Irs.  Jones 
was  born  in  Groton,  Massachusetts.  She 
died  June  25,  1851,  aged  twenty-two  years. 
She  was  the  mother  of  two  sons :  Norman 
M.,  a  prominent  merchant  and  postmaster  of 
Friendship,  Wisconsin;  and  Homer,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  In  1853 
our  subject  married  Mary  E.  Spaulding,  the 
daughter  of  Abram  and  Elizabeth  (Gibson) 
Spaulding,  of  Pelham,  New  Hampshire. 
She  died  in  1884,  aged  fifty-five  years,  leav- 
ing one  daughter,  Cora  E.,  now  Mrs.  Os- 
borne, who  lives  on-the  homestead  farm  in 
Jackson  township.     Mr.  Jones  was  married 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


r5i 


September  3,  1891,  to  Mrs.  Louise  Seaman, 
widow  of  Andrew  Seaman,  and  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Abiah  (Botsford)  Clark.  Mrs. 
Jones  was  born  in  ^Ve^dsport,  Cayuga  coun- 
t}^,  New  York.  Her  childhood  days  were 
mostly  spent  in  Connecticut,  and  she  came  to 
Wisconsin  with  her  parents  in  1855.  They 
located  at  Packwaukee,  in  Marquette  county. 
Her  father  died  in  Sharon,  Connecticut,  and 
the  mother  died  at  Packwaukee.  J\Ir.  and 
Mrs.  Jones  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Kilbourn,  of  which  he  has  also 
been  a  trustee.  JNlr.  Jones  takes  an  active 
interest  in  public  affairs,  and  is  an  adherent 
to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
has  gi\'en  his  support  to  its  candidates  since 
the  formation  of  the  party. 


HEXRY  RICH. 


Fortunate  is  he  who  has  back  of  him 
an  ancestry  honorable  and  distinguished,  and 
happy  is  he  if  his  lines  of  life  are  cast  in  har- 
mony therewith.  Our  subject,  now  a  lead- 
ing business  man  of  Baraboo,  ^^'is..  is  Ijlessed 
in  this  respect,  for  he  springs  from  an  old 
and  prominent  Xew  England  family.  He 
traces  his  ancestry  back  to  Elisha  and  Mary 
(DavisJ  Rich,  wlm  were  married  December 
21,  1737.  Tlieir  son,  Charles  Rich,  was  born 
November  9,  1738,  and  died  August  22, 
1828.  He  was  married  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1770,  to  Millicent  Conant,  who  was  born 
August  25,  1754,  and  died  March  3,  183 1. 

Charles  Rich,  Jr.,  son  of  Charles  and 
Millicent  Rich,  and  grandfather  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  September  13,  1771,  and  died 
October  16,  1824.  He  was  a  leading  farmer 
and  prominent  and  influential  citizen  of 
Shoreham,  Vt.,  and  represented  his  district 
in  Congress  several  terms.  He  was  first 
married,  February  24,  1 791,  to  Molly  Watts, 
who  was  born  September  i,  1774.  and  died 


April  24,  1817.  The  children  bom  of  this 
union  were  as  follows:  Clark,  born  March 
17,  1792,  died  January  13,  1852;  Davis, 
father  of  our  subject,  is  next  in  order  of 
birth;  Polly,  born  June  15,  1796,  died  De- 
cember 14,  1820;  Hiram,  born  September  15, 
1798,  died  March  2,  1858;  John  Thurman, 
born  October  12,  1800,  died  October  12, 
1846;  Charles,  born  July  30,  1802,  died  July 
16,  1873;  Ouintus  Cincinnatus,  born  Sep- 
tember 18,  1804,  died  in  November,  1879; 
Clarissa,  born  September  30,  1806,  died  De- 
cember 23,  1822;  Virtulon,  born  April  12, 
1809,  died  January  28,  1892;  Gasca,  born 
October  13.  181 1,  died  in  1895;  and  Cath- 
erine, born  JNIay  29,  18 14,  died  in  April, 
1817.  The  father  of  these  children  was  again 
married  in  1818,  his  second  union  Ijeing 
with  Mrs.  Phcebe  Hewlet,  by  whom  he  had 
one  daughter,  Harriet.  \\\\o  was  born  in 
April,  1824.  and  died  in  January,  1826. 

Da\-is  Rich,  father  of  our  subject,'  was 
born  in  Massachusetts,  February  17,  1794, 
and  when  a  young  man  located  in  Shoreham, 
Vermont,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  and  also  in  farming,  in  both  of 
which  undertakings  he  met  with  good  suc- 
cess. In  his  ]3olitical  views  he  was  tirst  a 
\\'hig  and  later  a  Republican,  and  as  one  of 
the  representative  and  prominent  citizens  of 
his  community  he  served  for  several  terms  in 
the  \  ermont  Legislature.  Plis  death  oc- 
curred on  the  2^d  of  March,  1879.  He  was 
married  December  7.  1815,  to  Miss  Aftia 
Wright,  a  daughter  of  Warner  Wright,  a 
prominent  farmer  of  Shoreham.  She  died 
at"  that  place  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years. 
In  their  family  were  the  following  children: 
Charles,  born  March  29,  181 7,  died  in  St. 
Albans,  Vermont,  August  27,  1889;  Ellen 
Douglas,  l)orn  February  10,  1819,  died  Octo- 
ber 28,  1837;  Affia.  wife  of  Miner  B.  Catlin, 
b,orn  December  3,  1821,  died  in  Burlington, 
Vermont,  July  12,  1867;  Clarissa,  wife  if 
John   B.   Wilson,  Iiorn  November  5,    1824, 


•752 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


died  in  Lapeer,  Michigan,  June  i6,  1894; 
Davis  Jefferson,  born  January  24,  1827, 
died  in  Raleigh,  North  CaroHna,  February 
16.  1869;  Lucina  Artemisia,  born  September 
12,  1830,  is  now  the  widow  of  Archibald  S. 
Dewey,  and  a  resident  of  Burlington,  Ver- 
nmnt:  Jane  Antoinette,  born  June  17,  1832, 
^\as  a  physician  of  New  York  city,  where 
she  died  April  23,  1876;  and  Henry,  our 
subject,  is  the  youngest  of  the  family.  The 
father  was  again  married  July  17,  1845,  li's 
second  -union  being  with  Mrs.  Seraph  S. 
Southniayd,  and  by  her  he  had  two  children : 
^^'illisBush,  born  April  17,  1846,  still  living; 
and  Sarah  Ellen,  born  April  17,  1846,  first 
married  John  T.  Rich,  and  second  John 
Chadwick,  and  died  in  Shoreham,  Vermont, 
May   12.    1 89 1. 

Henry  Rich,  of  this  review,  was  born  in 
Shoreham,  Vermont,  September  27,,  1838, 
and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  that 
place  and  Newton  Academy.  Leaving  home 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to  Burlington, 
Vermont,  where  he  clerked  in  an  express 
office  for  several  years,  and  on  his  return  to 
Shoreham  in  i860  succeeded  liis  father  in 
the  store.  It  was  in  1865  that  he  came  to 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  and  soon  afterward  he 
purchased  an  interest  in  the  Island  Woolen 
JNIills,  with  which  he  has  since  been  con- 
nected. For  a  number  of  years  past  he  has 
owned  a  controlling  interest  in  the  business 
and  has  practically  been  proprietor  of  what 
is  now  the  leading  enterprise  of  the  place. 
In  business  affairs  he  is  energetic,  prompt 
and  notably  reliable  and  carries  forward  to 
successful  completion  whatever  he  under- 
takes. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1867,  Mr.  Rich 
\\as  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Emma 
Leonard,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Artemisia 
(Foster)  Leonard,  of  Chipman's  Point,  Ver- 
mont, and  by  this  union  has  been  born  one 
son.  Robert,  who  is  now  connected  with  the 
Island  Woolen  Mills.   The  familv  hold  mem- 


bership in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Bara- 
boo,  of  which  Mr.  Rich  has  been  a  trustee  for 
a  number  of  years.  In  his  political  affiliations 
he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  prominent  in 
business  and  social  circles,  his  pleasant  man- 
ner wins  him  friends,  and  he  is  one  of  the 
popular  and  honored  citizens  of  Baraboo. 


THE  ISLAND  WOOLEN  MILLS. 

The  Island  Woolen  Mills  i-epresent  the 
most  important  manufacturing  industry  in 
the  city  of  Baraboo,  Wisconsin,  and  for 
man}-  years  past  have  furnished  employment 
to  many  people.  They  have  also  draw'n 
to  the  city  many  skilled  workmen  from  a 
distance,  and  have  ser\-ed  to  increase  the 
population  of  Baraboo  by  a  most  desirable 
class.  The  Baraboo  river  is  a  considerable 
stream  the  year  around,  and  passes  through 
the  city  in  a  succession  of  rapids.  The  most 
important  of  these  are  occupied  by  three 
water-power  sites,  all  within  the  present  lim- 
its of  the  city.  The  largest  and  most  valuable 
of  these  is  that  where  the  Island  \\'oolen 
Mills  stand.  The  first  dam  at  that  point  was 
built  in  1840  by  Aliram  Wood  and  Wallace 
Rowan,  who  put  up  a  saw  mill.  This  plant 
had  varying  fortunes  for  many  years,  and  in 
1863  gave  way  to  a  woolen  mill,  which  was 
constructed  and  operated  by  M.  J.  Drown. 
The  enterprise  grew  in  importance,  and  Mr. 
Drown  associated  with  him  a  Mr.  Andrews, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Drown  &  Andrews. 
After  some  },'ears  Mr.  Andrews  retired  in 
favor  of  D.  S.  Vittum,  who  became  the 
junior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Drown  &  Vit- 
tum. In  1867  a  decided  advance  was  made 
by  Mr.  Henry  Rich,  who  purchased  an  inter- 
est in  the  plant,  and  organized  a  stock  com- 
pany, considerably  enlarging  the  business. 
In  1873  Mr.  Rich  and  D.  S.  Vittum  bought 
out  the  corporation,  and  combined  the  vari- 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


753 


ous  branches  of  the  business  under  the  gen- 
eral name  of  the  Island  Woolen  Company. 
Two  years  later  James  A.  McFetridge 
bought  the  Vittum  interest  and  gave  his  per- 
sonal attention  to  the  management  for  many 
years.  He  died  in  1893.  but  his  heirs  still 
retain   a   large   interest   in   the  mills. 

The  establishment  is  conducted  under 
modern  metliods,  and  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
]jortant  in  the  west  outside  the  great  cities. 
It  employs  about  one  hundred  and  fiftj'  peo- 
ple, and  consumes  yearly  more  than  three 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  wool,  much  of 
Avliich  comes  from  a  distance.  Its  goods 
have  a  high  reputation  and  are  sold  through- 
out the  United  States.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  enterprises  of  the  city,  and 
what  it  has  done  to  give  Baraboo  and  Sauk 
county  steadiness  in  times  of  panic  and  peril 
no  one  can  tell.  Its  pay  roll  has  been  large, 
and  every  month  it  has  put  into  circulation 
a  large  amount  of  money,  which  has  perco- 
lated through  every  department  of  trade  and 
industry. 


ELIJAH  L.  SHAKER. 

Among  the  thorough  rmd  enterprising 
farmers  of  Adams  county,  the  record  of 
whose  lives  fills  an  important  ]:)]ace  in  this 
Aolume.  it  gives  us  pleasure  to  commem- 
orate the  name  of  this  gentleman.  He 
has  borne  an  active  and  i)rominent  part 
in  the  work  of  developing  and  improving  the 
county,  and  from  the  wild  land  has  made  for 
himself  a  most  desirable  farm  in  Jackson 
township. 

Mr.  Shafer  was  born  in  Blenheim,  Scho- 
harie county.  New  York,  March  19,  1845, 
and  on  the  paternal  side  is  of  German  descent, 
though  generations  of  his  ancestors  have  re- 
sided in  this  country.  The  great-grand- 
father was  one  of  General  Washington's 
body  guard  in  the  Revolutionary  Vvar,  and 


the  grandfather,  David  Shafer,  was  a  soldier 

in  the  war  of  181 2.       The  father,  

Shafer,  was  one  of  the  successful  farmers  of 
Schoharie  county. 

During  his  boyhood  and  youth  our  sub- 
ject worked  on  his  father's  farm  and  attended 
the  public  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  began  life  for  himself, 
arjd  with  his  wife's  family  came  west,  land- 
ings in  Kilbourn  City,  Wisconsin,  March  7, 
1864.  He  located  on  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Tomlinson  place,  and  soon  afterward  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  now 
owned  by  Frank  Davidson,  which  at  that 
time  was  ]5ractically  unimproved.  He  lived 
in  the  first  frame  house  built  at  Davis  Cor- 
ners. At  that  place  was  an  old  log  tav- 
ern known  as  the  Downing  house.  It 
was  owned  by  W .  \.  Davis,  the  first  settler 
at  Davis  Corners,  ami  the  man  who  laid  out 
several  of  the  roads  leading  from  the  place. 
In  1871  Mr.  Shafer  sold  his  first  place  and 
removed  to  the  tract  now  occupied  by  Irvin 
Ambler,  on  which  he  made  many  improve- 
ments. In  1884  he  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land  in  section  31. 
Jackson  township,  upon  which  not  a  tree  had 
been  cut  or  an  improvement  made,  but  by 
diligence,  perse\'erance  and  energy  he  has 
since  converted  one  hundred  acres  of  the 
amount  into  a  fine  farm,  free  from  stumps 
and  improved  with  good  buildings.  His 
place  is  supplied  with  modern  machinery, 
and  everything  needed  l)y  the  progressive 
farmer  of  the  present  day. 

Mr.  Shafer  was  married  Oct.  23,  1863, 
t.j  Miss  Jane  M.  Phillips,  who  was  born  in 
New  York  city,  March  10,  1846,  and  is  of 
English  and  German  descent.  Her  father, 
William  J.  PhilliiJS,  came  to  this  state  in 
1847,  and  located  near  Davis  Corners.  He 
is  still  living  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety 
years,  an  honored  pioneer  and  a  highly  es- 
teemed citizen  of  Adams  county.  Mrs. 
Shafer  died    at    Davis  Corners  August  6, 


754 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


1899.  and  was  there  laid  to  rest.  To  our 
subject  and  his  wife  were  born  five  children : 
Julia  L.,  born  at  Davis  Corners,  February 
10,  1864,  taught  school  for  one  year  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  and  then  married  Alonzo 
Hosford,  now  a  business  man  of  Spokane 
Falls,  Washington.  George  B.,  born  No- 
vember 10,  1866,  married  Estella  Nogle,  and 
is  engaged  in  the  laundry  business  with  Mv. 
Hosford  at  Six)kane  Falls.  Ida  May,  born 
April  17,  1869,  who  died  November  2,  1889. 
Franklin  O.,  born  January  2,  1871,  died 
March  26,  1872.  Nellie  E.,  liorn  February 
I.  1874,  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  this  state  and  the  Northern  Indiana  Nor- 
mal School,  and  then  began  teaching  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  and  successfully  followed 
herprofession  in  the  public  schools  of  Adams 
county  and  the  state  of  \^'ashington  for  seven 
years.  She  married  Arthur  Tyler,  of  Spo- 
kane Falls,  Washington,  July  21,  1899.  Will- 
iam D.,  born  March  13,  1876,  was  educated 
in  the  public  schouls  and  the  academy  at 
Endeavor,  and  lives  at  home  with  his  father. 
Mr.  Shafer  is  a  recognized  leader  in  the 
local  Republican  organization,  and  has  often 
'represented  his  township  in  the  count}-  con- 
ventions of  the  party.  He  was  also  a  dele- 
gate to  the  state  convention  that  chose  the 
delegates  to  represent  the  state  in  the  na- 
tional convention  of  1896,  and  cast  his  vote 
for  McKinley.  He  has  most  creditably  filled  a 
number  of  local  offices  of  honor  and  has 
been  officially  connected  with  the  schools  of 
his  district  for  over  a  c|uarter  of  a  century, 
always  giving  his  influence  for  good  schools 
and  competent  teachers.  During  the  Civil 
war,  August  10,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany K,  Thirty-eighth  Wisconsin  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  remained  in  the  service  until 
hostilities  ceased,  being  mustered  out  June 
15,  1865.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Hatcher's 
Run,  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  and  many  skir- 
mishes, and  was  at  Fort  Steadman  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre. 


MRS.  ELLA  J.  MARDEN. 

I\Irs.  Ella  J.  Marden,  widow  of  the  late 
Rev.  Alfred  C.  Marden,  belongs  to  that  type 
of  woman  that  possesses  all  the  noble  cjuali- 
ties  of  a  true  mother,  but  who  has  found  am- 
ple time  to  labor  in  behalf  of  her  sex  and  to 
bring  the  moral  and  intellectual  standard  to 
a  much  higher  plane.  She  was  born  Decem- 
ber 23,  1854,  at  Baraboo,  Sauk  county,  \\'is- 
consin,  and  there  received  her  education, 
later  attending  the  high  school  at  Ironton. 
Mrs.  Marden,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ful- 
ler, was  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  Baraboo,  who  came  from  the  east.  Her 
father,  Putnam  ]*"uller,  was  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Fuller  &  Tower,  which  operated  a 
foundrv  and  iron  works  in  Baraboo  for  two 
years.  He  departed  this  life  at  Ironton  in 
1863,  mourned  by  many  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances. His  wife  survived  until  1893, 
when  she,  too,  passed  away  in  the  city  of 
Oshkosh. 

February  14,  1875,  '^^'''s  celebrated  the 
ceremony  that  united  Miss  Ella  J.  Fuller  and 
.\lfred  C.  Marden  in  the  holy  bonds  of  wed- 
lock, and  their  union  has  been  blessed  by 
the  presence  of  a  bright  and  interesting  fam- 
ily of  four  children,  whose  names  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Maggie  M.,  born  at  Ithaca,  February 
18,  1876,  was  educated  in  the  common 
schools,  and  later  attended  the  Wisconsin 
Endeavor  Academy,  from  which  she  was 
graduated  with  honor,  began  teaching  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  taught  for  six  years,  and 
is  still  an  active  member  of  the  profession; 
Freddie  B.,  born  September  22,  1877,  ^^^^^ 
died  September  22,  1879;  Nellie  G.,  born 
August  3,  1 88 1,  and  died  August  3,  1884; 
and  Katie  R.,  born  April  3,  18S4,  was  educat- 
ed in  the  common  and  high  schools  of  Kil- 
bourn,  and  is  now  preparing  to  teach. 

Rev.  Alfred  C.  Marden  was  born  June  13, 
1 85 1,  at  Epsom,  New  Hampshire,  and  when 
six  years  of  age  he  accompanied  his  parents. 


COMPENDIUM    OF    BIOGRAPHY. 


755 


wlio  died  when  he  was  quite  young,  to  Rich- 
land Center,  Richland  county,  Wisconsin, 
lie  worked  for  his  father  on  the  farm,  and 
took  charge  of  the  same  when  he  \\'as  ten 
years  old,  as  his  father  gave  his  services  to 
aid  in  repressing  the  Rebellion.  Mr.  Mar- 
den  v;as  graduated  from  the  Sextonville 
High  School,  and  began  teaching  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  in  the  state  of  Minnesota  and 
Richland  county,  Wisconsin.  He  followed 
this  occupation  four  years,  and  was  a  very 
successful  teacher.  However,  feeling  that  this 
was  not  to  be  his  life  work,  he  began  pre- 
paring liimself  for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
and  devoted  all  his  spare  time  and  attention 
to  acquiring  the  knowledge  that  would  enable 
him  to  impress  this  knowledge  on  his  fellow 
men.  He  studied  for  a  long  time,  and  was 
ably  assisted  in  his  work  l^y  the  Rev.  Simon 
Spiker,  under  whose  tutelage  he  developed 
into  an  earnest  and  conscientious  worker 
in  the  cause  of  Christianit}'.  He  was  or- 
dained in  1886,  to  preach  the  word  of  God, 
and  to  the  day  of  his  death  was  an  active 
worker  in  the  Congregational  church.  Prior 
to  his  entering  the  ministry  he  had  been  act- 
ively engaged  in  Sunday-school  work,  and 
for  thirteen  years  he  was  superintendent  of 
the  same  at  Ithaca,  Richland  count}',  Wis- 
consin. The  first  charge  he  was  intrusted 
with  was  nt  X'eptuue,  Little  Willow  and 
Loyd,  Richland  county,  Wisconsin,  and  dur- 
ing the  six  years  which  he  remained  on  this 
charge  he  erected  a  church  and  organized  a 
membership  of  eighty  communicants  at  Nep- 
tune, also  organized  a  church  at  Little  Wil- 
low, wath  an  enrolled  membership  of  thirty- 
five.  Called  to  \\'hite  Creek  upcm  a  two 
weeks'  trial.  Rev.  A.  C.  Marden  afterward 
came  upon  the  unanimous  call  of  that  con- 
gregation, and  it  was  during  this  charge  that 
he  organized  the  Adams  County  Sunday- 
school  Association,  wliich  society  was  largely 
due  to  his  untiring  efforts,  and  the  success 


achieved  cannut  be  overestimated.  He 
ministered  faithfully  to  the  spiritual  needs 
of  his  people  and  gave  powerful  and  effective 
aid  to  all  influences  which  work  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  community.  Revered  and 
loved  l\v  his  own  flock,  he  also.won  the  honor 
and  esteem  of  all  others  who  watched  his  de- 
votion to  his  noble  calling,  and  the  liard  work 
and  untiring  efforts  put  forth  by  him  in 
zealous  ardor  for  his  Itrethren  undoulUedlv 
shortened  his  life.  He  was  a  true  and  sincere 
Christian  and  faithfully  devoted  his  life  to 
the. sacred  cause  of  saving  souls,  and  his 
death,  which  occurred  without  a  moment's 
warning  on  February  i,  1898,  at  White 
Creek,  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  community,  and 
he  was  sincerely  mourned  by  all  who  knew 
him. 


^YILLIAM  WALLACE  FULLER. 

William  \\'allace  Fuller,  of  Merrimack, 
Sauk  county,  Wisconsin,  was  born  October 
8,  1855,  at  Milford,  Jeft'erson  county,  Wis- 
consin, and  is  a  son  of  Alljert  Fuller  and 
Keziah  (I'daj  P^iller.  His  father  was  the 
son  of  David  and  Sallie  Fuller,  and  was  a 
native  of  Vermont,  and  was  born  in  A.  D. 
1829.  Fie  came  into  the  west  when  about 
twenty  years  old,  and  settled  at  Milford,  Jef- 
ferson count}-,  Wisconsin,  and  died  there 
March  2Ti,  i860.  His  grandfather,  David 
Fuller,  ^\as  liorn  in  X'ermont,  March,  1784, 
and  Sallie,  his  wife,  was  born  mi  the  1st  day 
of  May,  1792.  Their  union  was  blessed 
with  eleven  children,  four  of  whom  died  in 
infancy;  three  survived  them,  two  sons  and 
one  daughter.  Albert  Fuller,  the  fatiier 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  died  when  but 
thirty-one  years  of  age. 

W.  W.  Fuller  grew  to  manhood  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  and  contracted  an  early  marriage 
with  Gertrude  Carr,  February  24,  1877.    She 


75G 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY 


was  the  daughter  of  James  C.  Carr  and  Mary 
(Crocker)  Carr,  of  Fountain  Prairie,  Wis- 
consin. Mr.  J.  C.  Carr  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
was  familiarly  known  as  Esquire  Carr.  He 
owned  a  farm  just  west  of  Fall  River,  in  said 
town.  He  was  the  first  county  clerk  in  1846, 
its  first  treasurer  in  1847,  and  again  elected 
county  clerk  in  1848.  Mr.  Carr  was  born  in 
Laurens,  Otsego  county.  New*  York,  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1 81 7,  came  to  Wisconsin  and 
settled  at  Columbus  in  the  early  '40s.  He  was 
twice  married,  his  first  wife  dying  in  August, 
1845,  leaving  one  daughter  five  months  old, 
now  Mrs.  C.  B.  Shepherd,  of  Winona,  Min- 
nesota. 

Mary  Crocker,  of  Columbus,  became  his 
wife  in  JNIay,  1846.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Mar}^  Crocker,  who  became  the 
jjarents  of  thirteen  children,  fi\-e  daughters 
and  eight  sons.  Her  grandmother's  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Roe;  her  people  were  orig- 
inally from  the  state  of  New  York.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Carr  were  blessed  with  six  children — 
fdur  daughters  and  two  sons,  ]\'Irs.  Fuller 
being  the  second  child.  The  four  youngest, 
two  girls  and  two  bo)-s,  are  now  li\-ing  in 
Idaho. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  W. 
I'uller  was  blessed  with  three  daughters, 
Hattie  Margaretta,  born  February  29,  1880, 
now  Mrs.  Emmett  Anthon)^,  residing  at  Rut- 
land, Dane  county,  Wisconsin ;  Carrie  May, 
burn  June  5,  1882,  is  n<iw  teaching  school: 
I'.dna  K.,  born  June  29,  1884,  living  at  home. 
.  .\fter  their  marriage,  in  1877,  Mr.  and 
Mrs..  Fuller  rented  a  farm  near  Milford,  Jef- 
ferson county,  and  began  farming  with  little 
other  capital  than  youth,  courage  and  reso- 
lute spirits.  There  they  remained  four  years, 
then  moving  to  Sauk  county,  where  they 
located  on  a  farm  two  miles  west  of  Merri- 
mack. They  purchased  this  place  January 
18,   1882,  and  ^Ir.  Fuller  has  converted  it 


into  a  valuable  and  productive  establishment. 
Recently  they  lx)ught  another  farm  lying  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road,  opposite  the  home 
farm,  which  makes  it  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  acres,  situated  on  section  3, 
of  the  town  of  Merrimack. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fuller  never  had  a  son, 
but  have  devoted  their  means  and  time  to  the 
education  of  three  daug*hters,  charming 
young  women,  in  such  a  manner  that  they 
would  be  prepared  for  any  station  in  life. 
Some  years  ago  they  took  one  of  the  wards 
of  the  state  school  into  their  family,  and  they 
are  proving  a  father  and  mother  to  them. 

Mr.  Fuller  ceased  his  school  attendance 
at  fifteen  and  has  largelv  made  himself  what 
he  is.  a  level-headed,  sensible  man  of  business 
nul  a  kind  and  obliging  neighbor. 

Mrs.  Fuller  taught  school  some  years, 
and,  with  her  husband,  has  been  deeply  anx- 
ious that  their  children  should  share  iathe  in- 
tellectual privileges  denied  to  them  in  their 
youth. 

Mr.  Fuller  is  a  Republican,  l)ut  takes  a 
lilieral  and  generous  view  of  life,  both  in 
pol.'tics  and  religion.  The  entire  family  is 
quite  in  sympathy  Avith  modern  spiritualism, 
and  bears  a  good  reputation  throughout  the 
neighborhood.  They  are  all  known  as  hon- 
est, respectable  and  progressive.  Mr.  Fuller 
has  one  sister  and  two  brothers : .  Mary  F., 
wife  of  Henry  Black,  of  Rutland,  Dane  coun- 
ty-, Wisconsin.  S'he  was  born  July  18,  1857. 
Thev  were  married  July  i,  1S85,  and  are 
the  parents  of  sjx  children,  fi\'e  of  whom  are 
living.  \\'esley  Fuller  was  born  Xox-ember 
1 1.  T859.  He  was  married  in  1882,  and  li\cs 
on  a  farm  near  Berlin,  Wisconsin.  He  is  the 
father  of  four  children.  Aberto  Fuller,  the 
}T)unger  brother,  was  born  October  19,  1861. 
He  married  Fannie  Sherman,  of  \\'in(lsor, 
Dane  county,  Wisconsin,  and  the}-  are  now 
living  on  a  farm  near  that  place,  and  are  the 
l)arents  of  two  daughters. 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


1^1 


HENRY  HUGH  REACH. 

Henry  Hugh  Keach,  a  progressive  and 
enterprising  agricultvnnst,  who  resides  in 
Jackson  township,  Adams  county,  Wiscon- 
sin, is  one  of  the  most  inteUigent  representa- 
tives of  the  farming  community  for  which 
tliis  part  of  the  state  is  justly  noted.  He  is 
a  son  of  Israel  and  Margaret  (Cook)  Keach, 
the  fomer  being  a  native  of  Madison  county. 
New  York,  of  French  ancestr}-.  The  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  Israel  Keach,  Sr.,  came 
to  this  country  from  Canada,  settled  at  Una- 
dilla.  New  York,  at  a  time  when  that  town 
was  sixty  miles  from  any  other  settlement, 
and  endured  many  hardships  and  privations 
incidental  to  pioneer  life,  havLug  been  forced 
to  live  for  six  weeks  on  grain,  without  bread. 
He  erected  a  saw  mill,  and  did  considerable 
lumbering  business  on  the  Susquehanna  river 
and  died  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety  years. 

Israel  Keach,  Jr.,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
jtxt,  was  a  nati\-e  of  Madison  county.  New 
York,  where  he  followed  the  occupation  of 
an  agriculturist,  and  died  in  his  native  county 
at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years.  Both  he 
and  his  father  had  been  stanch  members  of 
the  Democratic  party,  and  exercised  consid- 
erable influence  in  the  local  affairs  of  their 
community.  Mrs.  Margaret  (Cook)  Keach, 
ouf  subject's  mother,  was  a  daughter  of 
Uavid  Cook,  wlio  was  a  lifelong  resident  of 
Madison  county.  New  York.  She  departed 
this  life  at  the  age  of  forty-five. 

Henry  Hugh  Keach  was  born  at  Una- 
dilla,  Otsego  county.  New  York,  July  23, 
1848.  He  received  the  rudiments  of  his 
education  and  passed  his  boyhood  days  in 
tliat  locality,  and  in  the  fall  of  1863  enlisted 
in.  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 
New  York  \'olunteer  Infantry,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  term  of  .service  for  that 
regiment  had  expired,  when  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Company  B.  Ninetieth  New  York 
X'olunteer  Infantry.     His  regiment    was    a 


part  of  the  Army  of  the  Gulf,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  Red  river  expedition  under 
General  Banks.  He  was  detailed  to  work 
on  the  dams,  by  wdrich  means  the  vessels 
were  enabled  to  descend  the  river.  In  1864 
he  was  ordered  to  Washington,  from  thence 
to  Pennsylvania,  and  then  up  the  Shenan- 
doah, under,  the  famed  General  Sheridan, 
being  detailed  as  sharpshooter  on  the  skir- 
mish line  in  the  battle  of  Winchester.  It 
was  in  this  famous  battle  that  he  contracted 
the  rheumatism,  wdiich  confined  him  to  the 
hospital  for  a  time.  After  his  recovery  he  was 
sent  with  his  regiment  to  Hawkinsville, 
Georgia,  where  he  remained  six  months,  as, 
owing  to  the  ravages  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan, 
that  region  was  kept  under  martial  law,  and 
constant  vigilance  was  necessary  in  preserv- 
ing order  in  that  locality.  Mr.  Keach  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge  from  the  ser- 
vice on  the  9th  of  February,   1866. 

H.  H.  Keach  came  to  Wisconsin  from 
New  York  in  1866,  located  in  the  town  of 
New  Chester,  where  he  remained  until  1884, 
when  he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  town 
of  Jackson,  where  he  has  made  his  home 
ever  since.  Fle  has  erected  a  fine  house,  new 
barns,  and  other  buildings  necessary  for  the 
housing  of  his  grain  and  stock,  on  his  well- 
improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  of  which  one  hundred  acres  are  under 
a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and,  taken  as  a 
whole,  presents  as  fine  appearance  as  any  es- 
tate in  that  vicinity,  being  well  watered  by 
the  south  branch  of  Neenah  creek,  which 
affords  Iiim  ample  water  power  for  his  mill. 
In  ciinnection  with  his  agricultural  pursuits 
Mr.  Keach  also  operates  a  sorgham  mill, 
p/iaiuifacturing  as  high  as  three  thousand  gal- 
lons per  annum. 

On  the  23rd  of  Jul}-,  1S66,  Henry  Hugh 
Keach  was  united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  matri- 
mony to  Miss  Viola  Colton,  a  daughter  of 
Benjamin  and  Lydia  Colton,  and  ;i  native  of 
Unadilla,  New  "S'ork.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keach 


758 


COMPENDIUM    OF   BIOGRAPHY. 


are  the  parents  of  the  following"  children : 
Mary,  who  died  in  her  seventeenth  year ; 
George  ;  Lucy,  now  ^Nlrs.  E.  \\'orden ;  Scott ; 
Lee  and  John. 

Mr.  Keach  has  filled  numerous  offices  of 
trust  and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  hy 
his  many  friends  and  accjuaintances  has 
never  been  abused.  Politically  he  is  a  stanch 
adherent  to  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
jjarty,  ha\ing  been  a  loyal  supporter  of  that 
cause  since   his  youth.     He  has  also  been 


a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  the  L  O. 
O.  F.,  but  owing  to  his  failing  health  during 
recent  years  he  has  severed  his  connections 
v.ith  the  above  mentioned  fraternal  societies. 
Mr.  Keach  is  a  man  of  much  energy  and 
is  one  of  the  successful  and  systematic  agri- 
culturists of  the  county.  As  a  citizen  he  is 
loyal  in  his  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
good  government,  and  he  has  planted  him- 
self firmly  in  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow  citizens. 


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